Alberta Politics Thread

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Right now, and mainly because of the whole Verbal we don't want a trail of what we're doing accusation, Hoffman should resign.

This story really stinks.

And risk another by-election?

Nah.

Notley will just toss her in front of the media with a few prepared cliche words to apologize for the latest NDP embarrassment.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

And risk another by-election?

Nah.

Notley will just toss her in front of the media with a few prepared cliche words to apologize for the latest NDP embarrassment.

She's not going to apologize, she's going to cry and ask how the media came be so mean to a working mother who has to spend so much time away from her fambly.

Then she'll sniffle and say that the media and opposition are bullying her because she's a woman.

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

She's not going to apologize, she's going to cry and ask how the media came be so mean to a working mother who has to spend so much time away from her fambly.

Then she'll sniffle and say that the media and opposition are bullying her because she's a woman.

Ahhhh. Deflection. Another potent choice.

You're right. They've over played the "apologies we don't know what we are doing" card.

Time to go on the offensive with some faux sexist outrage.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by LanceUppercut

Remember though, any cuts to AHS will go directly to the front line services!

I'd be happy to see a full audit of the AHS operation and truly find out where every last dollar goes. The plus would be seeing the org chart and finding out how many layers of management there are between a Nurse and the CEO.

Ha!

You do not want to see a full org-chart of AHS.

And in all honesty I'll summarize my feelings in regards to AHS because I've done the long-winded diatribe far too often.

1. The Amalgamation was a terrific idea with some huge flaws
2. Bloated management
3. And sorry....but pensions

Amalgamating jurisdictions was a brilliant idea. We want Government in charge of our health care, we really do, but the short-sightedness comes when the people in charge of the Amalgamation didnt realize that a lot of these redundant jobs that they were going to eliminate were collectively bargained for and Union protected was nothing short of 'Full Oiler.'

So you combine all of these redundant positions and are left with 1 of 2 or sometimes no options. You have to pay huge sums in severance to make some of these redundant managers go away which is bad, or you have to try and force them to retire which doesnt always work and even then you have to pay their pensions, or you combine their positions and are still stuck with these employees that you have to pay because you are contractually constrained from getting rid of them.

So the amalgamation technically didnt work. It did not achieve its objectives. And here we are.

And again the people suffering from all of this are the end users (all of us) and the front-line staff, Doctors and Nurses.

When Doctors and Nurses bitch and whine about their jobs I dont dismiss their complaints, I listen, because they're usually right.

If we werent paying the insanely bloated management, administration and pensions they'd have the funds and resources that they want and need.

[Weitz]

I disagree. My father who is a doctor thinks the amalgamation was a terrible idea.

I do agree unions and bloated management are the main drivers of high costs.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I disagree. My father who is a doctor thinks the amalgamation was a terrible idea.

I do agree unions and bloated management are the main drivers of high costs.

I bet he does because the thing was botched from day 1 but I'll wager that in 20+ years when they manage to move people through and not replace them with more redundant management we'll be looking back and be thankful that it was done.

Its just a shame that we basically have to wait for people to either retire or die in order to make it work.

But right now, your dad, a front-line worker, is taking it in the teeth in terms of burdensome bureaucracy.

[northcrunk]

Nenshi defending Notley. Surprise surprise:

http://calgaryherald.com/news/politi...lance-dispatch

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Locke

I bet he does because the thing was botched from day 1 but I'll wager that in 20+ years when they manage to move people through and not replace them with more redundant management we'll be looking back and be thankful that it was done.

Its just a shame that we basically have to wait for people to either retire or die in order to make it work.

But right now, your dad, a front-line worker, is taking it in the teeth in terms of burdensome bureaucracy.

You you are probably right.

It's just such sillyness that he has to deal. His specilty unit has the requirement of having 2 nurses minimum for any procedure. There is always a "float" nurse on and 1 assigned on schedule. Well the "Nursing Manager" (and I use the term manager loosely) doesn't know how to make a schedule to maximize time that my father is there. So he ends up working his 8 hours in the Unit, but only is able to do procedures probably 4-5 of those hours.

Even though a lot of the procedures can be done with 1 nurse easily, they refuse to work unless there are 2 there as that is what has been negotiated. Also, if an appointment goes long and someone whose 20 minute procedure is a the end of the nurses shift and there is only 15 minutes left in the shift instead of 20 they will refuse to do the extra 5 minutes of work and the procedure is cancelled. Guess what? Now this person who has been sitting there waiting all worried with their family has to wait another 3-6 months to be rebooked.

I spent this past weekend with my dad as it was his 60th and he went on quite the vent after I complained about some of the BS going on with my job haha.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

Nenshi defending Notley. Surprise surprise:

http://calgaryherald.com/news/politi...lance-dispatch

Nenshi's pronouncement was used for a pretty hilarious smackdown in the leg yesterday when a WR MLA blatantly lied by claiming Nenshi was blaming the Health Minister for the EMS debacle.

Not surprising, the entire WR MLA group was jeering and booing every 2 minutes like a bunch of high school boys at a hockey game.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Not surprising, the entire WR MLA group was jeering and booing every 2 minutes like a bunch of high school boys at a hockey game.

In contrast with the dignified, statesmanlike way Nenshi has addressed the issue with the media.

[Violator]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

Nenshi defending Notley. Surprise surprise:

http://calgaryherald.com/news/politi...lance-dispatch

commies gotta stick together

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

In contrast with the dignified, statesmanlike way Nenshi has addressed the issue with the media.

I don't know, did he loudly yell "BULL####!!!" in the middle of QP in front of schoolchildren? Because Derek Fildebrant did.

[Kavvy]

Thoughts on Notley's speech so far?

[Derek Sutton]

Does she think we are going to buy this crap? Can someone please post the Simpsons clip of big Elvis shooting his TV.

[Kavvy]

Good to see an NDP saying "We must get to a yes on Pipeline"

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Does she think we are going to buy this crap? Can someone please post the Simpsons clip of big Elvis shooting his TV.

meh I would listen and tear apart specific points she says

[Kavvy]

Just took a shot (albeit small) shot at the union negotiations, again, nice to see NDP saying that.

[Slava]

I'll give her a solid 'C' for the infomercial. I don't buy that the NDP has been reducing spending, but the graph she showed says they are. I would love to see the numbers. I hate the justification of not reducing public servants being some propaganda line about laying off thousands of teachers and nurses...because there couldn't possibly be another way. That said, I'm quite interested to see what programs they've cooked up for job creation and economic diversification.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Not surprising, the entire WR MLA group was jeering and booing every 2 minutes like a bunch of high school boys at a hockey game.

Are you new to the Westminster system?

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by nik-

Are you new to the Westminster system?

Admittedly its been awhile since i tuned into QP online (prior to the NDP rule anyway), but I remember it having at least a mild sense of decorum previously.