Healthcare and temporary foreign workers program dominate Alberta PC Leadership debate
Posted Aug 19, 2014 7:50 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The three candidates vying for the top job of the provincial Progressive Conservative party did a little verbal sparring while fielding questions from those who took in a forum Monday night up in Edmonton.
Jim Prentice suggested he might bring back the Alberta Health Services Board, which was eliminated back in June 2013.
Ric McIver thinks the solution is for Alberta to steal ideas from other jurisdictions which are already achieving a better bang for their health care dollars.
Thomas Lukaszuk believes the best way to fix health care is to talk to front line workers.
“There are too many people running around hospitals with clipboards and not enough with stethoscopes,” he said.
All three did agree the need to talk to Ottawa to fix the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, and they also promised not to raise energy royalty rates.
Prentice was attacked for using a loophole in party policy which allows a candidate to give away free party memberships.
Lukaszak got a big laugh when he said “get a free membership from Jim and vote for me.”
Members of the Alberta PC party will elect a new leader on the second weekend of September; a second ballot if needed would be held later in the month.
