MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - Reeve Angela Aalbers recently met with Rimby-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre UCP MLA Jason Nixon and Sundre mayor Richard Warnock to discuss rural health-care issues.
Aalbers spoke about the meeting during her reeve’s report at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
“The whole purpose of the meeting was around the Sundre Wellness Committee’s lobbying efforts, trying to figure out what the strategy would be for lobbying for rural health within our area given that we have a new leader (premier) and potentially going onto the election cycle,” said Aalbers.
“It appears that both the UCP and the NDP and all of the other parties are in the process of creating their platforms for the election coming up and so this is a good time for municipalities to kind of put in some issues that we see that may find their way into the platforms.”
Seniors health care was one of the issues discussed, she said.
“One of the things that was brought up was potentially a seniors advocacy group and this would mimic the youth and child advocacy group that is out there now and that reports directly to the legislature,” she said.
The seniors advocacy group could help fill a current gap in the ability to respond to issues such as elderly abuse, she said.
“Right now if there is an issue that is reported with a child there is a place to go; they basically just take that to the youth and child advocacy group who can actually take it and write a report that goes directly to the legislature so that all of the MLAs can see the report,” she said.
“If the same things are happening with elder abuse, for instance, there is no advocacy group that can take that. I think that is something that is very important that was brought up.”
Council accepted Aalbers’ report as information.
