SUNDRE – The mayor wants to ensure that the new premier does not make sweeping changes to Alberta Health Services (AHS) without first at least giving municipalities like Sundre an opportunity to be heard.
Town of Sundre Mayor Richard Warnock informed his council colleagues during the regular Nov. 1 meeting that the Sundre Wellness Advocacy Committee had decided to seek an audience with Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre MLA Jason Nixon to discuss concerns about the future direction of AHS under Premier Danielle Smith.
The new premier has explicitly and unrepentantly expressed a desire to turf the entire governing board and even went so far as to accuse, without presenting evidence, AHS of being responsible for the crisis in health care by manufacturing staffing shortages through bad decisions.
Under the UCP’s new leader, Nixon's political clout took a hit when he lost his former position in cabinet as minister of Finance and was in turn appointed chair of the new Economy and Affordability Cabinet Policy Committee.
During a follow-up interview with the Albertan on Nov. 8, Warnock said a meeting had been arranged toward the end of November.
“I want to start a roundtable discussion,” he said. “We know that all through the (UCP leadership) election process, all the candidates talked about re-writing or re-doing Alberta Health Services. And I don’t want it to happen without (municipalities having) a voice.”
The first-term mayor who previously served one full, four-year term as a councillor said he’s begun to solicit support from the Municipal Area Partnership as well as mayoral counterparts throughout Central Alberta to have conversations on “what are we seeing, what are we expecting.”
Warnock feels uniting under a common banner stands to be more effective than municipalities each acting alone.
“If each municipality goes in with a different voice, I think they’ll all get thrown in the waste basket to be honest,” he said. “So, I want to try and see if I can collate and lead a central voice.”
Asked why the wellness committee sought an audience with Nixon as opposed to Health Minister Jason Copping, Warnock said the committee felt indebted to Nixon.
“We owe it to him for all the work he’s done for Sundre and all the work he’s done fighting for our hospital,” said Warnock, adding Nixon remains not only an MLA but also the riding’s representative.
“I want the first door to be his, and hopefully we can take it elsewhere. I (also) want a meeting with Minister Copping, but I want to make sure that we’re ready.”
Whether the effort ends up bearing any fruit remains to be seen, he said, adding the meeting with Nixon is “a first step.”
And even if the process proves to be an exercise in futility, the mayor said his role is to have those conversations and agreed that voicing concerns and advocating on behalf of his community’s constituents is never a waste of time.
“It could be a pie in the sky thing…because they’re going to do what they’re going to do,” he said about the provincial government. “But I think they still should hear us…it’s an effort that I think is worth doing.”
After all, the health ministry’s cabinet appointment might not have changed, but the government is being led by a new premier, he said.
“They have to stay focused on what we need,” he said. “There’s work to be done. I think it’s important.”
The Sundre Wellness Advocacy Committee is comprised of Sundre’s mayor and a councillor, as well as Mountain View County Reeve Angela Aalbers and a councillor, with representation from the Sundre Hospital Futures Committee.
