I missed out on the debate last night, but Stelmach had a lengthy interview on CBC yesterday and I can't say I was all that impressed. In fact, I changed the station a few times because I had to take a break from listening to the guy talk. At one point he was saying how he was going to diversify the economy away from oil and when he was asked how he spewed out a bunch of gobbledy**** without actually saying anything. But, apparently, it's really easy to diversify an economy. (After all, that's why, after 20 years of trying to diversify its economy, Saskatchewan is such a manufacturing and technology powerhouse.) Lots of vague statements that work good as sound bites but don't really mean anything...
Take, for example, the following policy statement on health care from his web site:
I envision a health care system that is efficient from the patient’s perspective. An efficient health system doesn’t mean only saving money. We must be focused on the patient and put their needs first. Government must work with health regions and health care professionals to find solutions together and develop incentives that improve the system and improve the health outcomes for Albertans. I believe we have the answers.
Our health care professionals are knowledgeable, dedicated, motivated and most importantly, care deeply about meeting the health care needs of patients. We have seen successes, with the Hip and Knee projects, with the primary care centres and soon, with an expanded scope of practice for more health care professionals. There is still work to be done, however, I believe our publicly funded system is up to the challenge
We must have an efficient health care system and work together to find solutions! Why didn't I think of that?!