Thursday's letters: Alberta's surplus comes at a cost

Edmonton Journal

4 days ago

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Ms. Smith, while you boast about the so-called $8.38-billion surplus your government claims to have achieved, let's be honest about where that surplus came from — the backs of everyday Albertans.
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You've slashed funding to health care and education. You've clawed back AISH payments, increased prescription and eye care costs for seniors, and are now charging for COVID vaccinations. If average Albertans stopped paying their mortgages, utilities, or taxes, we too could claim a surplus. But that's not how responsible budgeting works — for us, or for a government.
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What did the Alberta Next panel cost taxpayers? How much was wasted on town halls full of empty promises? Or your self-serving trips to Mar-a-Lago to curry favour with Donald Trump and his circle of sycophants? Let's not forget the lucrative contracts handed to political allies, the frivolous lawsuit to suppress facts about a broken health-care system, and the embarrassing fake Tylenol purchase. Add to that the taxpayer-funded propaganda videos and biased surveys designed to produce the answers you want, not what Albertans actually believe.
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Albertans have already said no to a provincial pension plan and no to a provincial police force. Last time we checked, this is a democracy. That means listening to the majority — something your government seems increasingly unwilling to do.
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There is no rational basis for Premier Danielle Smith's policy to charge fees for COVID vaccines. It is patently a political decision that panders to UCP base supporters. It sows doubt and hesitancy in the public's mind as to the efficacy of COVID vaccination. It will be unaffordable for many Albertans.
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It is impossible to reconcile the incongruency of this decision with the free vaccine policy for influenza vaccines. COVID is highly infectious and a much more serious disease than influenza. This is especially true for the susceptible elderly, young and immunocompromised patient cohorts it shares with influenza.
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The result is going to be many unnecessary deaths and long-COVID cases. The additional strain and financial cost it will place on our medical system will be significant. The insanity of the suffering this fee policy will cause rests squarely on Smith's shoulders. Ethically, Alberta's chief medical officer of health needs to make a public statement on this decision.
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Roy Kelly, Edmonton
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It is heartbreaking to think of those young girls that perished in the floods in Texas this past weekend. It is also disturbing that a camp for kids would be located in an area known as Flash Flood Alley.