Alberta NDP opposition leader Nasheed Nenshi talked with the Trending 55 Newsroom about some of the major things that happened in Alberta politics over the past year.
Changes in Alberta’s health care system was a major talking point.
The Alberta government has passed legislation to expand the use of some private health care services, but Nenshi says many Albertans are still having issues with access to public health care.
“Wait times in emergency rooms get longer and longer, a million Albertans do not have access to a family doctor, and we’re spending more and more of our taxpayer money on private-for-profit providers to try and fill the gap but they haven’t been able to fill the gap and it really is a problem.”
While Nenshi does like the opening of the new rural doctor training schools in Grande Prairie and Lethbridge, it will be a few years before any new doctors come out of those programs.
Meanwhile one of the biggest stories in Alberta was the province-wide teachers strike in the fall, and how it ended.
The provincial government used the notwithstanding clause to bring in a new collective agreement, Nenshi says there was other steps the government could have taken.
“When the strike started, they could’ve stopped it in the first or second day without going to the legislature by calling for arbitration. Even when they passed the law to force the teachers back to work, they didn’t have to use the notwithstanding clause. We’ve had lots of back to work legislation without the notwithstanding clause.”
You can hear that full interview we did with Nenshi below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
