Dear editor,
“Mommy, baby bunny is sick,” my four-year-old son told me as he dug out his play doctor’s kit.
“Oh dear, what should we do, what do you think will help?” I asked him.
“Medicine,” he replied, as he put his multi-colour stethoscope around his neck and administered assistance.
His priority, even at a tender age, instead of turning to another project or toy, was overt and immediate.
It makes me wonder why Premier Jason Kenney and Health Minister Tyler Shandro seemingly don’t understand what my son does.
We are in the middle of an unprecedented time, a dangerous pandemic, and 968 people in Alberta have fallen ill at the time I write this.
Yet, last week, Shandro, despite social distancing requirements, attended a prominent doctor’s home to yell at him over a social media meme. Hundreds of Albertans have asked for his resignation.
This week, changes came into effect on April 1 that will create funding shortfalls and will force many rural physicians to choose between operating their own clinics or providing hospital emergency services.
Then we hear that over 20,000 of Alberta’s school support staff have been left jobless — the largest mass lay-off in provincial history.
Meanwhile, Kenney goes ahead and finds $7.5 billion to push through the Keystone XL pipeline that won’t enter service until 2023.
Make no mistake, I realize that the oil and gas industry is the bread and butter of Alberta; however, this should not be a priority.
COIVD-19 scares me a lot, but the egregious and foolish decisions of Kenney and Shandro during a pandemic, scare me even more. I see where their priorities are, and it is not with those 968 people with COVID-19, or with the doctors, nurses, and first responders who are trying to keep them alive.
Jessica Jones,
Ponoka