David Swann: Blog

Dr. David Swann is the elected member of the Alberta Legislature for Calgary Mountain View and the Liberal critic for the Health and Wellness, Human Services, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Aboriginal Relations.

David Swann: Blog - Dr. David Swann is the elected member of the Alberta Legislature for Calgary Mountain View and the Liberal critic for the Health and Wellness, Human Services, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Aboriginal Relations.

Monthly Archives: November 2010

The ER Crisis

Recent days in the legislature have focused on health care, and rightly so. We are facing a longstanding crisis in the area of Emergency Rooms. The current system is making the lives of our doctors, nurses, and medical staff extremely stressful. Medical staff has lost confidence in the government and AHS’s ability to run the health system adequately. Obviously this problem does not just affect physicians and medical practitioners. This very real emergency has caused additional injury and even the deaths of Albertans seeking out medical care.

Imagine waiting an average of 18 hours with an injury in emergency to be seen along with a senior experiencing chest pains, a young woman with bleeding, an intoxicated man, and a family grieving the death of a loved one. This is a daily experience for many of our ER’s in the larger centers and cannot be allowed to go on.

We keep hearing that the Health minister has a plan to tackle ER wait times and other crises being faced in the health sector. We never hear any specifics beyond the shell game being played with hospital beds and staff. We hear about 5 year funding commitments but no targets are set to show that this money is delivering results and is being well spent. How can we believe in our health system if the government does not reveal timely, accurate numbers?

We are now in one of the highest usage seasons for our Emergency Rooms. We must provide front-line staff with adequate support to get them through the times of increased stress. This government has failed to properly support frontline medical staff. The Alberta Liberal Caucus has a plan to tackle this issue and solve these problems. Please visit here to view our plan.

Dr. Stephen Duckett

Tonight Alberta Health Services CEO Dr. Stephen Duckett offered a bizarre and bewildering response to reporters asking for his comments on the growing emergency room crisis.

You can view the video here: http://bit.ly/9exJ5I

I was frankly shocked to see this kind of behaviour coming from a high-ranking official. I absolutely condemn his disrespectful treatment of the media and by extension the people of Alberta. This crisis is far too important to deflect with, of all things, a cookie.

This video is already a media sensation, spreading like wildfire across social networks, and it’s going to completely destroy whatever tiny sliver of confidence Albertans had left in the people managing our public health care system. Dr. Duckett’s behaviour tonight is an appalling insult to patients and their families and to health care professionals.

The Stelmach administration has already done incalculable damage to Alberta’s reputation. This incident further tarnishes our good name.

People are dying under the watch of the Stelmach administration and the people they’ve chosen to manage our health care system. It’s time for heads to roll. Dr. Duckett should be the first to go.

On MLA Grey Cup Tickets

After taking free fishing trips, concert tickets, and other large gifts from corporations and seeing the outrage from Albertans at these freebies, government MLAs still have not learned a lesson. Government MLAs are now taking free tickets to the Grey Cup festivities in Edmonton valued at $275 per ticket. All MLAs can well afford to pay their own way to see the Grey Cup should they be inclined to go. It is a sad statement that more free tickets are afforded to MLAs than are given to under-privileged children.

I have chosen to decline the seats I was offered and look forward to watching the Grey Cup game, hopefully involving the Calgary Stampeders, from my home and with my family.
Please read the full story in the Edmonton Journal here.

On the Release of the New Environment Policy

Albertans are lucky to live in a province filled with such natural beauty. Our lakes, rivers, and streams along with the mountains and prairie grasslands make this a stunning place to live and for people to visit. We must ensure that our land, water, and air are healthy for our own benefit and for the benefit of future generations.

We all acknowledge that economic development is tremendously important, there is no question. It cannot occur unfettered and we must work with our industries to develop plans that benefit all Albertans. Our new environment policy respects economic growth while ensuring that Alberta remains a great place to live and raise a family.

This policy released by my Caucus and Laurie Blakeman, our Environment Critic sets real goals to achieve and not just empty platitudes. It promises to involve industry in the decision making process. It ensures that water remains of the highest importance and the property of all Albertans. It implements a hard cap on carbon emissions by 2017. Finally, it commits to growing the renewable energy sector and finding cleaner ways to provide power to all Albertans.

I am very interested to hear your feedback on this policy. You can find the whole document as well as a brief video at: http://tiny.cc/rwv59. Please contact my office with your feedback at 403-216-5445 or Calgary.mountainview@assembly.ab.ca.

“Potatogate” and the Sale of Public Land

The Stelmach government is pushing through the sale of 16,000 acres of provincial land without a shred of concern for the environmental impact or for the people who live nearby. The buyer of this land has donated to a Conservative candidate and constituency association and is now buying the land for pennies on the dollar. This area of land near Bow Island and Taber is one of the most drought-ridden in the province, yet a large-scale potato farming company is looking to purchase it. This will put a lot of strain on several federally protected species that call the grasslands home as well as strain the already low water table.

The area for sale has not been subject to a land use plan which means the government is selling this land without an understanding of what it might be best used for. Alberta Liberals have, for a very long time, called for a moratorium on the sale of public lands. At the very least, this administration should have an open process that engages all stakeholders and addresses their concerns through an honest and transparent approach.