Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Faust

Smith says Calgary didn’t request dollars for downtown; Gondek sent letter in November:

https://globalnews.ca/news/9531708/s...gondek-letter/

Smith caught in another lie, imagine that.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Faust

Smith says Calgary didn’t request dollars for downtown; Gondek sent letter in November:

https://globalnews.ca/news/9531708/s...gondek-letter/

Ya, well, Smith has ordered a thorough email search and come up with nothing, so time to move on, ok?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ya, well, Smith has ordered a thorough email search and come up with nothing, so time to move on, ok?

In Smith's defense....I've used the search function in MS Outlook for things I conclusively know are there and not found them so, you know...there is room for error...

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Locke

In Smith's defense....I've used the search function in MS Outlook for things I conclusively know are there and not found them so, you know...there is room for error...

Sounds like your search index is corrupt. You'll need to close Outlook, stop the Windows Search service, nuke the .edb file from %PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\W indows, restart the service, go to indexing options in the classic control panel and make sure Outlook is listed, then open Outlook and wait 13 minutes to 57+ hours for indexing to finish.

These are really simple things even the most low level government employee should know how to do.

/yes, I know!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Sounds like your search index is corrupt. You'll need to close Outlook, stop the Windows Search service, nuke the .edb file from %PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\W indows, restart the service, go to indexing options in the classic control panel and make sure Outlook is listed, then open Outlook and wait 13 minutes to 57+ hours for indexing to finish.

These are really simple things even the most low level government employee should know how to do.

/yes, I know!

Okay, I was only sarcastically 'defending' Smith at the expense of the awful nonsense that is MS Office.

But your...whatever the hell that was...my eyes just rolled back into my skull and now I have to spend time retrieving them.

[Superflyer]

To follow up on my earlier post about the EMS meeting here is another fun part that was reported yesterday.

'Shock and disbelief': Notley and Smith spar over worried, leaked email about EMS changes

A unit manager at a hospital in Calgary wrote that they are "shocked and speechless" about a plan to have paramedics drop off patients and return to the streets in 45 minutes, something Alberta's premier downplayed as a "target" and the way it used to be.

“I know this comes as a big shock to us all and I am not sure how we are going to manage this,” the manager wrote to colleagues in an email.

“Please know if there was anything I could to prevent this I would but this is being mandated from the government.”

The email was released Monday by the Alberta NDP. The author's name was blacked out in a copy provided to journalists.

It says the change is to take place on March 15, and the NDP claims similar orders have been issued at other hospitals.

"What's actually happening is paramedics are being directed to dump critically ill patients off at the ER, even if there's nobody there ready to care for them," Leader Rachel Notley said during question period in the legislature.

"This is dishonest, dangerous and it puts lives at risk."

[TheIronMaiden]

I don't care for any politician who looks at Healthcare and Education like a business. The value of these institutions goes way beyond a dollar.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I don't care for any politician who looks at Healthcare and Education like a business. The value of these institutions goes way beyond a dollar.

I agree, but on the flip side, they can't just be black holes of money.



To be clear, I'm all for (accountable) increased health and education spending.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

To follow up on my earlier post about the EMS meeting here is another fun part that was reported yesterday.

'Shock and disbelief': Notley and Smith spar over worried, leaked email about EMS changes

Jesus, it's like our province is being run by reddit. Solving symptoms, not causes, and just creating more problems in the process

[Fuzz]

It's almost like Smith isn't as smart as people think she is.

[btimbit]

Like, do they really think medics are just hanging around the hospital for the hell of it? That maybe, just maybe, they're caring for these patients because there's nobody else available to do it instead? But nah, #### spending money on healthcare, just add impossible deadlines that will get people killed

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

To follow up on my earlier post about the EMS meeting here is another fun part that was reported yesterday.

'Shock and disbelief': Notley and Smith spar over worried, leaked email about EMS changes

I think that AHS echoed what Smith was saying though. They are hiring nurses to "handover" patients to in the ERs, so they can get EMS back out taking calls. They also said it's not a 45 minute mandate, but a target.

Honestly, this seems like a reasonable idea to me as a layman. I've been in the ER and to have paramedics just sitting there waiting for a doctor alongside the patients doesn't seem all that sensible? I assume this isn't for a situation where someone has been in a car accident (or whatever) and gets rushed in, but cases where people are coming in by ambulance and they're being triaged.

[Superflyer]

Originally Posted by Slava

I think that AHS echoed what Smith was saying though. They are hiring nurses to "handover" patients to in the ERs, so they can get EMS back out taking calls. They also said it's not a 45 minute mandate, but a target.

Honestly, this seems like a reasonable idea to me as a layman. I've been in the ER and to have paramedics just sitting there waiting for a doctor alongside the patients doesn't seem all that sensible? I assume this isn't for a situation where someone has been in a car accident (or whatever) and gets rushed in, but cases where people are coming in by ambulance and they're being triaged.

Yeah in theory it is great, and yeah from the article Smith does say this

In addition to the 114 new hires mentioned by Smith, Williamson said 127 more health workers are being hired to help patients get "back home as safely and quickly as possible."

This is during a time when nurses and doctors are already very stressed from being over worked and are leaving healthcare by either quitting, retiring or just leaving the province for other places faster than anytime before. I'm sure there are lines of them just waiting to work in this environment.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

Yeah in theory it is great, and yeah from the article Smith does say this



This is during a time when nurses and doctors are already very stressed from being over worked and are leaving healthcare by either quitting, retiring or just leaving the province for other places faster than anytime before. I'm sure there are lines of them just waiting to work in this environment.

Yeah, and healthcare hiring is a problem seemingly everywhere. I don't know what the solution is for that, but there are stories every week about other provinces hoping to lure more healthcare workers. Ontario has had huge issues, Newfoundland was hoping to lure doctors from the UK, and the list goes on.

[D as in David]

I'm not a medical practitioner but wouldn't they actually have to, you know, hire these extra people before they implement this policy? They do have 8 more days so maybe I'm just being overly pessimistic.

[TheIronMaiden]

Party that hates Bureaucracy and red tape makes paper based decisions that don't reflect on the ground reality.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

Yeah in theory it is great, and yeah from the article Smith does say this



This is during a time when nurses and doctors are already very stressed from being over worked and are leaving healthcare by either quitting, retiring or just leaving the province for other places faster than anytime before. I'm sure there are lines of them just waiting to work in this environment.

I mean, I think our provincial government could be better run if we elected a large language model that trained only on the sayings of Homer Simpson, but hiring more nurses seems like a good thing to do to me. It seems like the only way to solve overwork of the existing staff would be to hire more?

Obviously easier said than done, but given all the stupid stuff they do that seems like an odd thing to pick at to me.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I mean, I think our provincial government could be better run if we elected a large language model that trained only on the sayings of Homer Simpson, but hiring more nurses seems like a good thing to do to me. It seems like the only way to solve overwork of the existing staff would be to hire more?

Obviously easier said than done, but given all the stupid stuff they do that seems like an odd thing to pick at to me.

While that's one way, another good method is to treat the existing staff well, so they don't abandon their careers in despair, and all the investments the province have made in them. An existing staff member is worth a lot more than a new one. One thing we have heard over and over since the UCP came in is they feel unsuported and attacked by this government. Giving existing staff some confidence in government plans would go a long way to maintaining them.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I mean, I think our provincial government could be better run if we elected a large language model that trained only on the sayings of Homer Simpson, but hiring more nurses seems like a good thing to do to me. It seems like the only way to solve overwork of the existing staff would be to hire more?

Obviously easier said than done, but given all the stupid stuff they do that seems like an odd thing to pick at to me.

It's one of those things where just saying it sounds decent, sure, but that's not nearly enough. Where are they going to get them, and what are they doing to stop all the healthcare workers that we do have from leaving because it's a terrible place to work? Biggest thing for me is why focus on hiring people to solve one small symptom of healthcare rather than just hire more staff in general

Hiring 115 nurses to babysit waiting rooms doesn't really get you far if 150 nurses in other units are quit and move to Ontario anyway, and getting medics back on the road faster only gets you so far if they're just quitting and committing suicide

[Jason14h]

If this proposal was from the NDP the exact same arguments would be occurring but completely reversed sides

Cons - Yes we can’t hire now , what will this accomplish , we need to be more efficient . Waste of money

NDP - Of course we need more workers and higher wages . People are already burning out and short staffed.

It literally does not matter what the policy is anymore , both sides will dig in that it’s a poor policy and the other sides leaders are idiots

There have actually been studies where people are divided into democrats and republicans and given the same policy . When told it’s from their party they support it and give examples why it is positive , and when told the same policy is from the opposite party are fully against it .

It’s why health care problems will never be solved in this country or province . Half the population , both Federally and Provincially will Immediately dismiss any idea from the opposing party