Public fights brewing between Alberta government and doctors, nurses groups

It seems the province and two major factions of its health-care system — nurses and doctors — are headed for showdowns.

After nearly a full month of mediation talks with the United Conservative Party government, the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) — the union that represents more than 30,000 health employees including registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses — says negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement have come to an end with the two sides "far apart."

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And after a year of trying to work with the government on moving ahead with a new compensation model agreed to in April, the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) — which represents the province's physicians — says its tired of being ignored by the Premier Danielle Smith-led UCP and launched a campaign Tuesday to raise awareness of overcrowded emergency waiting rooms, hundreds of delayed surgeries and the more than 700,000 Albertans who don't have a family doctor.

Dr. Shelley Duggan, the AMA's president, says "it's certainly hard to trust" the province given the many delays and broken promises as the two sides worked over the last year-plus on a new physician pay model to replace the current fee-for-service one.

Alongside that saw-off is a health system under strain. Duggan says without a new pay model, the number of people without a family doctor in Alberta will only grow larger.

She said stabilization of the system is needed immediately to prevent the loss of doctors and to stabilize acute care.

Duggan said the lack of government action "is very frustrating, not only for the physicians and trying to keep their clinics open and trying to keep acute care running, but our biggest concern is for our patients."

"The health care system is in a significant amount of distress right now," she told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday.

"You need to invest in it, and you need to stabilize it. I think that's our biggest concern, aside from feeling like we aren't being listened to. We need investment, and we need to make sure that Alberta patients who pay for their health care have it when they need it."

David Harrigan, UNA's director of labour relations, says his union's member nurses could strike in a matter of weeks with it far apart in negotiations with the UCP government on issues such as compensation.

"The relationship at the bargaining table, I think, is very respectful, and all sides are doing their best to keep things calm and let's see if we can reach an agreement away from the bargaining table," Harrigan told CTV News Edmonton.

"It seems to be a different story, and we haven't spoken directly with the premier for some time, and nor with the minister, but the fact that they don't seem to take things seriously is what I think frustrates most of our members, the fact that they just don't acknowledge what's really happening on a day to day basis."

Harrigan said, in terms of money, the government's position is two per cent in the first year, two per cent in the second and then 1.75 per cent in each of the third and fourth years, while UNA is seeking 20 per cent in the first year and 10 per cent in the second.

"Those (numbers) are obviously very far apart, but our members have been clear: they've been taking either zero or certainly less than inflation for almost a decade, and that's why we're in the crisis that we're in right now," Harrigan said, adding he expects "the direction will be given to proceed with the strike route."

"With the government actively what appears to be destroying the health care system, it's become almost impossible to attract new nurses to this province."

In August, Smith said she planned for a new doctors' deal to be in place by the end of September. Speaking on her radio show last weekend, the timeline has shifted.

"We also have other employee groups that are in the middle of negotiations, without a contract, and today I am just asking everyone to be patient. We have to go through the process to ensure everyone is treated fairly," Smith said on the show.

"We also have to be mindful that we have a lot of bargaining within the Health Ministry at the moment. We'd hope to be able to get to the finish line."

Political scientist Duane Bratt says a public fight with doctors and nurses isn't what most Albertans want but says it could be politically palatable to some UCP members who mistrust medical professionals, suggesting the premier's priorities are elsewhere.

"The health of Albertans is ultimately at stake, but there is also political risk to the government," Bratt told CTV News Edmonton.

"This is not a government that is concerned with 4.5-million Albertans. This is a government that seems to be concerned about 4,000 UCP members."

Bratt, who is based at Calgary's Mount Royal University, said the same pressures the education system is experiencing because of an influx of people moving to Alberta — which Smith addressed in a TV speech two weeks ago to announce an $8.6-billion plan to fast-track construction of new schools — are also being felt by the health-care system, a situation that's "worse" in rural Alberta, the base of support for the UCP.

He said he doesn't have a firm answer as to why Smith's government doesn't seem to be putting a higher priority on the health system.

"It's not like they're not unwilling to fiddle with the health-care system," Bratt said.

"They're entirely dismantling (Alberta Health Services) in order to do so, but I do wonder if part of the reason isn't just money, but a suspicion about medical expertise in the aftermath of COVID, and I'm wondering if that's a factor at play as well. ...

"They have got so much on their plate right now, but some of it is the stuff that they've chosen to fixate on, such as changing the (Alberta) Bill of Rights to allow guns, to changing vaccine status, to now building schools, to restructuring Alberta Health Care. They seem to have missed an opportunity to do this."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski