'Very real deficit': Rallies highlight need for more health care staff in Alberta
Albertans rallied across the province Saturday to support public healthcare and frontline staff.
Outside the South Health Campus, a group of Calgarians drew attention to the state of Alberta's healthcare system.
The rally follows an announcement made by the province Friday that more ICU beds are being added to Alberta hospitals to help address the surgery backlog, burned-out health care workers, and growing wait times.
Hosted by Public Interest Alberta, the group believes the UCP is taking steps toward privatizing healthcare and argue that it is not going to help Albertans.
Cameron Westhead, second vice president of United Nurses of Alberta (UNA), said staff need a health minister and premier who are more supportive.
"It seems like he's (the premier) more interested in purchasing furniture than purchasing people to work in the hospital," Westhead said. "Beds don't provide care; highly skilled people do.
"We are in a very real deficit of that skilled labour," he added. "(Health care workers) are the only thing keeping the system together."
A large crowd also gathered at the Alberta Legislature building, chanting: "How are we gonna defend our nurses? Defeat the UCP."
"They are actively and have been undermining, starving our public healthcare system and trying to feed us the lie that a private system would be better or private deliver is better," said Heather Smith, UNA president, in Edmonton.
Similar events were hosted in Lethbridge, Red Deer, and Medicine Hat.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Bob Cole, veteran CBC broadcaster and former voice of 'Hockey Night in Canada,' dead at 90
Bob Cole, legendary CBC broadcaster and former voice of Hockey Night in Canada, has died. He was 90.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.