David Eby and Donald Trump. New Surrey mayor Kevin Van Paassen and Jason Kenney. New Athens mayor, a Conservative federal MP and a P.E.I. candidate. Brian Clark and Gordie Hogg. Brad Wall and Kenney. It was a star-studded rally in the heart of eastern Alberta, but less star-studded in terms of attendees.
Some 1,100 doctors stood before the stage in the stifling heat, many in stethoscopes dangling from their necks.
For more than two hours, they criticized the Liberal government for imposing drug and dental insurance reforms on them without going to arbitration. Now they’re being asked to put in additional money to help them grow new and experimental treatments in the hopes of improving patient survival rates.
We’re leading the way, and now, along with Albertans, we’re choosing to go it alone on our new drug research and development plan, COVID-19, and we are not waiting for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. As the first province to announce we would make health care a priority in this new, more collaborative era of government, COVID-19 is our blueprint to make health care a priority for every Canadian.
The doctors aren’t waiting for any plan. They’re going about building innovative therapies, fighting disease together, and, with funding from the federal government, using science to reduce death and suffering.
And there was one very happy man in the crowd.