Below is my response from Iris Evans.

Response from Iris Evans
Response from Iris Evans (continued)
Form Letter from Iris Evans

As a one time hospital board member I know how it works!

John Clark
14815 – 123 Ave
Edmonton, AB T5L 2Y7
July 25, 2005
cyberclark@shaw.ca

The Honorable Iris Evans, Minister,
Alberta Health and Wellness.
Phone 780-427-3665
Fax 780-415-0961
Iris Evans

iris.evans@assembly.ab.ca

Re: - Confirmation of total privatization of hospitals and health care.

Dear Minister,

According to your letter it is your clear intent to totally privatize health care in Alberta, probably funding a smaller portion of the cost through Alberta Health care leaving citizens to insure themselves otherwise for coverage.

You will bring this about through budget control. This will result in “shortage of operating rooms”; “shortage of recovery wards”; and the old favorite “shortage of beds”.

Because this plan is deliberate to coerce the public into the private care realm I think legal recourse is available and people should use them, starting right now!

Lawyer Referral Service in Alberta:
http://www.lawsocietyalberta.com/publicservices/lawyerReferralService.cfm

Phone 800-661-1095 or Calgary 403-228-1722. Copies of all documents available upon request. MLA’s addresses phones and fax numbers available from me by request. cyberclark@shaw.ca

You touched on one of my greater concerns, that of Regional Health Authorities selling off the hospitals for pennies per dollar of value. And, noting you are proceeding with this plan regardless of any complaints from the populace is in keeping with your Government’s psyche.

You say “Regional Health Authorities (RHA) is responsible for providing health care and support service in their respective areas.” I take this to mean the ministry and government in general has made every effort to distance them-selves from the responsibility that goes with the position. If it is a bad deal, let the RHA wear the roses; not a Government problem. If the RHA says “it’s fair” that will be the end of it and your justification of trashing the whole public system.

You point out RHAs can sell any of the lands or structures they own. It is interesting the title of such lands and buildings go to the RHA and in no way reflects on Albertan’s investments into the system. All the RHA need is ministerial and cabinet approval. The source of the policy is the minister and cabinet. There is little or no chance at all they will not get the green light to sell or otherwise dispose of hospitals, clinics or whatever on a moments notice! The candor of your letter would have us believe the decision is already made!

As you point out, the sale price must be a “fair value” as determined by the minister and, I assume the cabinet. This is exactly what happened to our electricity and campgrounds when this relative “fair value” was applied. Albertan’s lost billions of dollars to insiders, sharks and traders ending up with the highest utility in Canada!

As you state, any money from such sales is retained by the RHA to do with as they see fit such as contract private doctors to staff their “private” hospitals,” to advance other capital initiatives” of their choice There is no responsibility to the tax payer!

All these billions of dollars on their way out the door; “not in taxpayer hands”! This is precisely what happened with our electricity! Now we have a new company “The Power Corp” which opened its doors with 550 millions of dollars on the books.

From “0” to 550 million in a year! As quoted; definitely not taxpayer’s money and, having no responsibility to taxpayers. Your letter suggests you have formed a “Health Corp” under the name of RHA. We can look forward to the same scam. I remind you that Alberta collects the lowest oil resource royalities in the world. Do you find it necessary to shed the government of health costs to protect the low royalties, no income tax, free land and infrastructure and free roads your government gives the oil companies?

Your web www.health.gov.ab.ca is available to answer questions which are posted on line. They do put forward important and far reaching questions which I will fill out and encourage our readers to do so too.

The questions are important and far reaching for personal applications and assessment offering personal introspect but in the final analysis remain “fluff”. The real financial choices having to do with public or private remain entirely with your government and you have already made these decisions. You are careful not to ask questions that will lead to opinions in that area.


Yours truly,

John Clark

Cc; Welcome to Ralph’s world July 29th post.

TAKING ACTION

AIBERTA HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Message from Honourable Iris Evans Minister of Health and Wel!ness
GETTING ON With BETTER HEALTH CARE

Alberta's health system has gone through a lot of changes in the last ten years. Most of those change, have been designed to Improve Albertans' access to quality health care. Regional health authorities, health care prowlers, and a whole host of community partners have worked together to Improve access, streamline services, open up new approaches to care, and respond to the needs of Alberta's fast-growing population.

While many good things have been accomplished, It’s fair to say there still are some important challenges to address. In some cases, people walt too long for the services they need. Costs of health care, especially the cost of drugs, home care, and new treatments, are Increasing at an alarming rate. And while many Albertans take good care of their health, we're still not doing enough to stay healthy and prevent illnesses like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

So there's a lot more work to be done. And we need to move forward.

That message was delivered by Premier Klein In January 2005. In describing a "third way" for Alberta’s Healthj system, he urged everyone Involved In health care -- from the provincial government to regional health authorities, health care providers, communities and Individual Albertans - to get on with what needs to be done.
In May, health care experts from around the world gathered in Alberta for Unleashing Innovation in Hp.'llth Systems ~ Alberta's Symposium on Health. They told us there IS no Single solution to health care. Instead, it's important
to move ahead with literally hundreds of ideas and Improvements - improvements that will work, meet patients' needs, and make a positive difference In the health of Albertans.
We're taking all that adVice, and now we're getting on with better health care.
This package of 12 initiatives IS one more step In the ongoing evolution of Alberta's health care system. It includes a combination of things that are already underway but need to be accelerated - some things we're ready to move on now, and some are longer term proposals that we are considering.

We're interested in what Albertans think of the initiatives in this package. But make no mistake, we're moving ahead. We need to take action on a number of these initiatives because they're the right thing to do and they'll improve Albertans' access to quality health care. In other areas -like how we should pay for drugs or extra health services - we're looking for your feedback on some specific proposals.
We encourage Albertans to learn more about this package of initiatives, provide your feedback, and keep checking our website for updates over the coming months.

Honourable Iris Evans
Minister of Health and Wellness
Alter-ta

ALBERTA HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Office of the Minister
July 12, 2005
Mr. John Clark
14815 -123 Avenue
Edmonton,Alberta T5L 2Y7
Dear Mr. Clark:

Thank you for your June 15, 2005 letter regarding a recent article in the Edmonton Sun. I appreciate your support and am pleased to respond.

As a government, we are committed to providing quality health care. I believe that all Albertans deserve the best possible care, and that people must take some responsibility for their personal health by making healthy lifestyle choices. To that end, I am willing to explore incentives that encourage and reward healthy choices.

The regional heaith authorities (RHAs) In Alberta are responslbie for providing health care and support services in their respective regions. These responsibilities include determining and providing the specific types and levels of service, and promoting service delivery mechanisms that support the timely and efficient delivery of quality services to patients.

With respect to your comments regarding health care infrastructure, the
RHAs are also responsible for determining how they will use the lands, buildings or structures they own. From time to time, RHAs may determine a specific property is no longer required for health care delivery, and can request disposal of this property. This type of transaction is regulated under the Regional Health Authorities Regulation 15/95 and is subject to provinciai policy. Under section 2.6 and 2.7 of the Regional Health Authorities Regulation, health authorities require ministerial approval to dispose of an interest in land and/or facilities. Cabinet approval is also required. RHAs must also receive "fair value" when disposing of land and/or facilities.

Proceeds from these transactions are deposited into a designated account, which can then be used by the RHAs to advance other capital initiatives that are supported by Alberta Heaith and Wellness .
.. ./2
107 Legislature Bllilding, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5K 2B6 Telephone 780/427-3665, Fax 780/415-0961


July 12, 2005
Mr. John Clark Edmonton, Alberta
Page 2

Thank you again for taking the time to share your perspective on important matters facing our government.
Sincerely yours,
Iris Evans Minister

And the Bulk Mailer and public release note TAKING ACTION.

RW Dispatch - Brooks, Alberta

An alert reader of Ralph's World from Brooks sent along this photograph of a new billboard been erected on HW 1 just west of Brooks' city limits. Billboards will now be used to enhance the Alberta countryside which has been characterized by many Tory MLAs as "drab and barren".

Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation Lyle Oberg, who introduced the new billboard beautification program, indicated that he will be using this new initiative as a central plank in his bid to replace aging Tory leader Ralph Klein.

John Clark
14815-123 Ave
Edmonton, AB T5L 2Y7
cyberclark@shaw.ca
July 23, 2005.

The Honorable Ralph Klein,
Room 307, Legislature Building
10800 - 97th Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2B6
Phone: 780 427-2251
Fax: 780 427-1349

Dear Premier:

The ongoing investigation on the wholesale fleecing of seniors through what amounts to terror tactics in the town of St. Paul Alberta is only an icon of what is transpiring throughout this province!

The terrible abuse of seniors by a person or persons in a leading financial institution is bad enough. When the financial institution goes in concert with the leading elderly care facility in that town is absolutely deplorable!

At the heart of this is moving the seniors in question to sign off title to their properties under the false threat of them loosing pension funds or, similar scams. In some cases the seniors are offered an outright cash sale which is 75% below market or coerced into thinking the maintenance of their property is out of the scope of their capability.

When will you come forward with the Seniors Advocate position long lobbied for by seniors? Have you the shred of decency it takes to put in heavily punitive legislation that will stipulate rules of conduct and protect the seniors which you seem to abandon at every opportunity? When it comes to senior abuse in Alberta institutions you live in a constant state of denial. To do otherwise would be bad for your friends business. This makes you complicit in the abuse!

I see you are up to building free highways for the oil companies now. Why not cut a little slack and bring a proper advocate aboard?

John Clark

July22, 2005
On a trip to St. Paul Alberta this past week I tripped across still another breaking story having to do with Senior Abuse which, the Conservatives deny.

An individual or individuals in the local Credit Union were apparently working in conjunction with a person or persons in the local “old age home” in a shake down operation targeting seniors who owned property.

These seniors were apparently swifted by the system into giving up title to their homes on the false threat that such title would decrease their pensions or social security.

Lawyers and RCMP are involved; things are moving.

Let’s see if Ralph’s team will create some legislation along the lines of disclosure to protect seniors from the bully attitude of their offspring and the sharks in the financial institutions. Or in Ralph’s fashion, hide it under the carpet.

Check the archives; we have repeatedly asked for a “Senior’s advocate” working from the legislatures.

Appreciate an “ombudsman” has no power to demand information. This office can only ask and hope to receive a reply which, the Conservatives are very short on.

You see it first on Welcome to Ralph’s world. Here is where the news and researched facts are found. Those archives hold your futures!

John Clark
cyberclark@shaw.ca

John Clark
14815-123 Ave
Edmonton, AB T5L 2Y7
July 19-05
cyberclark@shaw.ca

The Honorable Ralph Klein,
Room 307, Legislature Building
10800 - 97th Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2B6

Phone: 780 427-2251
Fax: 780 427-1349

Dear Premier;

Today you reaffirmed your incestuous relationship with the insurance companies. Telling us we should buy insurance now to get premium service is just one more step in your road to total privatization of health care, a mirror of what is seen in the USA. No matter how Rod Love spins it, it remains the same. Our opposition should get all the details on those closed door meetings you had with the insurance companies regarding auto insurance that hurt us so badly. With all our medical data available to insurance companies on line we have much to be concerned about.

Hospitals; private for profit businesses serving the people who have the insurance to pay. In the case of Alberta, probably owned and operated by Jim Dinning or one of your other close and trusted friends. Sold away new and old at a penny for every hundred dollars in value, just like our electricity.

Then the second set of hospitals to cover those “basic” items. Just like the US; for indigenous and homeless people and people with no such insurance. All budget driven.

You did not receive a mandate to do any of this! Only 20% of the population voted for you! I think before you travel further down this road you should put all your cards on the table and go another election.

As with the campgrounds and electricity I can only hope there will be sufficient reason to turn back any titles or deeds given in this period of insanity. I see you and your party as lost soles, bumbling from one experiment to another driven not by necessity by your phobia regarding the ideal that private is the only way to go.

Awash with money you don’t find it necessary to really plan; you have enough cash you can buy your way out of pretty well any predicament. What an insane mess you are creating! I’m very sure a future court will see it as such and allow Albertan’s to recover some of their losses.

Your policies are ripping this province apart! Oil or nothing is sick! I really don’t think people get the government they deserve.
John Clark

John Clark
14815 – 123 Ave
Edmonton, AB T5L 2Y7
July 13, 2005.
The Honorable Iris Evans,
Minister of Health,
107 Legislative Building
Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6

iris.evans@assembly.ab.ca


The Honorable Ralph Klein,
Room 307, Legislature Building
10800 - 97th Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2B6
Ralph Klein
premier@gov.ab.ca

Re: On line health information.

The Alberta government joined with IBM years ago in a project known as “data mining” This continues in one form or another today. The information was given to your buddies the insurance companies. That is why people around Pincher Creek find it difficult to buy insurance.

Millions of dollars of Alberta taxpayer money went into a worth while program of hail prevention. When to seed the cloud; when not to. Once completed the program was turned over to your buddies in the insurance business to administrate.

Your record of keeping information about Albertan’s takes second place to the wholesale exploitation of that information for profit for favour.

Who exactly will have access to the information? You have demonstrated a truly incestuous relationship with the insurance companies!

Will the Government again turn this new batch of information over to insurance companies and geo-population groups for market research into store locations; possible test areas for medicines?

I have absolutely no faith in your government to follow a plan in good faith. I can count on a hidden agenda behind chummy words at press conferences.

Some direct answers please!

John Clark

John Clark
14815 – 123 Ave
Edmonton, AB T5L 2Y7
July 13, 2005.

The Honorable Iris Evans,
Minister of Health,
107 Legislative Building
Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6
iris.evans@assembly.ab.ca


The Honorable Ralph Klein,
Room 307, Legislature Building
10800 - 97th Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2B6
Ralph Klein
premier@gov.ab.ca

Re: Ralph’s only “The Turd Way on Health Care”

Dear Ministers:

Again, a vague and frightening leap into Ralph’s world!

Because of the ongoing malaise of your government brought about because all projects are driven by Ralph’s simplistic ideal of the perfect conservative society and not the well laid plans of most politicians it is necessary we examine just what you people are up to with this “new” warmed over plan.

Although you have tried to appear distanced from the staffing of hospitals you do excert a hard-wired control as to what they can do and not do though the budget process which you control. Let's not forget you fired a whole hospital board because they wouldn't go along with your thinking.

How it will work: Cut a hospital’s budget by a million dollars and then tell them how they may save some of that money by operating more efficiently like curtailing public service and renting rooms to the private practice. (Same doctors)

When you decided private MRI should be in, your test case, you cut the 2 public machines at the U of A down to one machine only working an 8 hour shift once a day making sure you had line-ups of unhappy patients. Let them squeal!

Meanwhile you were talking up the glories of the US system where there were literally no waiting lines. You failed to point out those US MRI systems (and many others) in the private sector run 24 hours per day. “Special customers” get moved to a more comfortable spot on the clock. At that time a standard MRI scan with full diagnostic service was 425.00 Canadian. A lot more inexpensive than what you allowed Albertan’s to be charged!

Your government is a one trick dog! Limit the service to a point he public is upset sufficiently, and then introduce your “private” cure to help “help”. Many of us have not forgotten how you operate. There remains only one source for the surgeons! I expect to hear of Dinning's rent-a-surgury soon enough.

Are you going to limit or cut the hospital budgets so they have to close operating theatres? Then, suggest to them renting their theatre out to the same physicians is a plan for making up the budget? Then you say that worked so well! Private industry saved the day let’s make the whole hospital private.

Communities should make sure their new hospital will be public in the future. Not turned over to a buddy for a dollar!

You have done nothing to help Albertans. Everything you have done is in your own self interest.

What guarantees can you give me that will alleviate my concerns?

John Clark.

Consider the politics on the no smoking letter written to Dear Iris and good old Ralph. I think Ralph and company are willing to dump the cities in order to garner votes in the rural area!

1 in every 6 Albertan’s who are eligible to vote actually vote.

Thanks to conservative tinkering in the balance of votes split between rural and city dwellers, the 1 vote cast in the rural riding counts for about 6 for every vote cast in the city.

The math is simple. One vote cast in the rural Alberta ridings means 36 vote points at the ballet box. Anything the conservatives can do to charm the rural voter is big returns for them at the ballet box on election day.

The game in the no smoking is clear. Iris goes out with the loose mouth idea of banning smoking Province wide. Then, she ducks just like Ralph while the major centres who actually foot the health bills, put in no smoking by-laws.

Now, the smokers go to the rural restaurants and business there picks up. The conservatives are there to chide, look what we did for you. Left unsaid, remember me on Election Day because your 1 vote is worth 36 city votes. You will find a great many programs directed to the rural votes.

Mark Lysic said “People get the government they deserve.” A good insight!
Remember that when you pass up the ballet box on Election Day saying “I don’t make a difference.”

Thank you all for your continued comments and support!

John Clark cyberclark@shaw.ca

John Clark
14815 – 123 Ave
Edmonton, AB T5L 2Y7
cyberclark@shaw.ca
July 6, 2004.

The Honorable Ralph Klein,
Room 307, Legislature Building
10800 - 97th Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2B6

Phone: 780 427-2251

The Honorable Iris Evans,
Minister of Health,
107 Legislative Building
Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6

iris.evans@assembly.ab.ca

This government’s complete lack of concern for small business not oil oriented is astounding! The Inconsistencies, lack of policy and plain stupidity has to be a record of some kind!

Iris proposed a province wide ban on smoking in cafes. She sited smoking as a major part of her health education and penalty proposals. Then as if in an incoherent dream you decided to pander to the 3 votes you may receive in the next election and abandon the no smoking aspects of your health legislation in favor of chasing mixed marriages, burning millions of tax paper dollars.

As a Health care Minister Iris Evans must know this condition when found in an individual is treatable. I suspect it would take a tribe specialized anthropologist to analyze your cabinet; God only knows what the treatment would be.

Because of your indecision and pandering you have created a system in which restaurants and bars are closing down in Edmonton because their clientele is favoring establishments outside of Edmonton only because they allow smoking.

In some cases 200 thousand dollar investments are closed turning the café into wash racks for trucks! People in droves are being laid off! Most Alberta industry is on the rocks because of your transportation and power policies. Now you administer the final blow through this final act of incompetence.

There is no Alberta Ad vantage. There never can be again under your Government!

My suggestion to you is this: You have no chance of electing a conservative government again! Why not for once in your political lives try to do something right! Show some consistency and take just half an hour to consider the ramifications on industry. At least pretend you care for this Province other than for your own personal glory and gain.


John Clark

Days after this publication, Ralph Klein took the podium to say Alberta will not object to the same sex marriage laws. A breth of fresh air. On the other hand, Harper, ex paramilitary seems to think the charter of rights is over done! Write him!
Harper.S@parl.gc.ca <Harper.S@parl.gc.ca>

Hitler? Stalin? Klein? Augusto Pinochet? Harper?

Some came to power by sorting out minorities. Some sorted by religion; some because they were visible minorities; others because of mental deficiencies or differences in physical appearance. Others, killed after they were sorted because they were “Gay”.

All ended up in the Gas chambers after the public discussion ended. All this was done because it was a popular thing to do at it’s time. It was made popular by the Government of the day’s propaganda machine.

Ralph thinks Augusto Pinochet of Chile is a good example. He had really good points says Ralph. Alberta had experience on board with the program of the sterilization of people considered to be other than normal.

So, it is only natural that Ralph and his conservative friends would have no trouble in going this route of the infamous by singling out sexual orientation as being a reason to further marginalize a minority, just like Hitler and Stalin did.

Albertans should be very aware of the slippery slope the conservatives have put us on. Their position on same sex marriage is offensive and dangerous to us all!

As a matter of record a great number of the Christian right went up the chimney. Please consider thoes things you enjoy before endording a policy which, in it's final stage will take away much of your current rights.
John Clark

John Clark,
14815 – 123 Ave
Edmonton, AB T5L 2Y7
July 3, 2005
cyberclark@shaw.ca

The Honorable Ralph Klein,
Room 307, Legislature Building
10800 - 97th Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2B6
Ralph Klein

premier@gov.ab.ca
Phone: 780 427-2251

Dear Premier:

My apologies! Over the years I thought it was just you! Instead I find it is the Conservative party as a hole. Is it true the new Conservative membership cards have a box “homophobic” to be checked off before one can get a membership?

It is a real bugger when you have to trample personal freedoms as in same sex marriage and then exploit it to the public as being the correct thing to do in the mistaken view it will garner you a moment of political sunshine

The real incestuous part of this debacle is when you think no one will notice you are prepared to spend still more millions of taxpayer dollars on your personal homophobic quest with no returns for the provincial taxpayer!

Now you can add “Meddler” to your resume along with “destroyer of the Alberta Advantage”; “Waster” I’m happy the Queen got to meet some real Albertans.

The 5 billion in oil royalties should have been 20 billion in the provinces pocket had you charged something other than the world’s absolute lowest royalty feeds for the resources in this province. You have nothing to be proud about except being able to sell this province short time and time again. We haven’t lost site of who ran up our debt. The swan hills monument is still sucking back the big bucks!

John Clark.