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Alberta

Alberta bill in the works protects healthcare workers, hospices from having to offer euthanasia

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4 minute read

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the leader of the UCP, had earlier promised that the province’s Bill of Rights would be amended this fall to add protections for people’s personal medical decisions that most likely will include the right to refuse a vaccine.

A piece of provincial legislation that would enact a new Alberta “Bill of Rights” includes a section ensuring all provincial healthcare workers along with hospices have the right to refuse to be complicit in offering euthanasia to patients.

LifeSiteNews was recently provided exclusive access to a draft version of the “Alberta Bill of Rights” from a source well connected with the ruling United Conservative Party (UCP).

The provisions protecting healthcare workers from being forced to participate in state-sanctioned medical assistance in dying, or MAiD as it is known, is written under a section called “Freedom of informed consent and to make personal health decisions, including to refuse vaccinations, medical or surgical procedures.”

“Individuals’ healthcare personal choices and safety are further secured by the separation of health care and death care,” the draft text states.

“Whereas: individual healthcare workers and private hospice facilities have the rights to freedom of conscience when deciding whether to recommend or participate in prescribing or providing medical assistance in dying.”

It is expected that the UCP government in Alberta will introduce its new “Bill of Rights” this fall. The draft of the bill contains a slew of pro-freedom proposals, including, as reported by LifeSiteNews, enshrining the “right to life” into law, including from “conception, gestation in the womb.” It also includes, as reported by LifeSiteNews, a section that guarantees each citizen has the “right” to medical “informed consent” as well as the “right” to “refuse vaccinations.”

The UCP source told LifeSiteNews that the draft version of the bill is subject to change. However, the hope from those who worked on it is that the definitive version will not include many changes.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the leader of the UCP, had earlier promised that the province’s Bill of Rights would be amended this fall to add protections for people’s personal medical decisions that most likely will include the right to refuse a vaccine. Her exact position on MAiD is not clear, but she appears to support healthcare workers’ right to freedom of conscience.

The draft version of the Alberta Bill of Rights was created by a “small group writing it in secret and consulting with lawyers” as well as elected MLAs and cabinet members of the UCP government, according to the source within the UCP.

However, in February, after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups as well as most of Canada’s provinces, the federal government delayed the mental illness expansion until 2027.

The number of Canadians killed by lethal injection since 2016 stands at close to 65,000, with an estimated 16,000 deaths in 2023 alone. Many fear that because the official statistics are manipulated the number may be even higher.

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Alberta

Involvement of non-governmental health operators could boost access to health care in Alberta, if done properly, says MEI researcher

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News release from the Montreal Economic Institute

If properly executed, the Smith government’s plans to have management of some hospitals transferred to independent operators could help improve access to health care, according to a researcher at the Montreal Economic Institute.

“The wait times that have become characteristic of Alberta’s and Canada’s health systems are amongst the longest in the developed world,” explains Krystle Wittevrongel, director of research at the MEI. “When we look at European countries that perform better on access to care than we do, the existence of competition between care providers is the norm.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has announced plans to introduce competition to the province’s health care system by transferring authority over hospital management to non-governmental health operators.

The move is intended to drive better performance from Alberta Health Services.

A recent MEI publication found that autonomous not-for-profit hospitals tend to perform better than their government-run peers, as seen in Germany, France and the Netherlands.

However, according to the researcher two key ingredients are necessary for the model to function effectively.

The first is managerial autonomy, which has been shown to help bring decision-making closer to front-line health professionals and lead to faster and more efficient adaptation to changing health needs in a region.

The second ingredient is the reliance on an activity-based funding model in which a hospital receives a set amount of money for each treatment carried out within its walls. Under this system, Wittevrongel says, each additional patient treated represents an immediate source of revenue for the facility.

Under the current funding model, hospitals receive a fixed budgetary envelope every year, which they then spend on patient treatment over the course of the following twelve months. Since every new patient is a source of cost, this often leads to rationing of services, explains the researcher.

“With the right incentives and competition, our province’s hospitals could treat more patients than they do now,” notes Ms. Wittevrongel. “By introducing such competition, the Smith government is taking a step in the right direction.

“It just needs to make sure it enacts the right incentives for this reform to reach its full potential and increase access to care in the way Albertans want and deserve.”

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The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.

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Alberta

Police arrest second suspect in August 6 murder and attempted murder in Rocky View County

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News release from Alberta RCMP

Elijah Blake Strawberry arrested Friday on the O’Chiese First Nation

Following an intense search and multiple pleas for information, on Sept.. 13, 2024, just after 1 p.m., members of the Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit successfully and safely arrested 28-year-old Elijah Blake Strawberry at a residence on O’Chiese First Nation.

Strawberry will be taken before a justice of the peace to determine his release status and future court date.

With this arrest, the Alberta RCMP are confident that both suspects involved in the Aug. 6, 2024, homicide of Colin John Hough and the attempted murder of another individual are in custody.

“We received tips and information from the public over the course of the last few weeks and the arrest of Elijah Strawberry serves as a reminder of the value of public assistance in maintaining public safety, “ says Chief Superintendent Roberta McKale, “The Alberta RCMP had a significant co-ordinated effort with many different units engaged from across the Province offering thousands of work hours to locate and arrest Elijah Strawberry.  I would like to thank our dedicated officers from the Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit as well as all other support Units who worked tirelessly to this point and will continue to work on this investigation now that Elijah Strawberry is in custody. I would also like to thank our partners from Edmonton, Calgary, and Lethbridge Police Services, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams, and the provincial Sheriffs who all assisted in our efforts to locate this offender.”

Despite the arrests of Arthur Penner and Elijah Strawberry, the investigation into this matter continues. The RCMP asks anyone with information about these crimes to come forward.

As always, our thoughts are with our victims and their family and friends who have been so deeply affected by this senseless tragedy.

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