BREAKING

After blocking several other key witnesses from appearing at the committee charged with reviewing Jason Kenney’s pandemic response, the UCP has scheduled Dr Deena Hinshaw’s critical testimony to happen right on top of his fiscal update.

THREAD #ableg

This is part of an ongoing effort by the UCP to limit public scrutiny of several serious failures in their pandemic response.

What does this mean?

2/ #ableg

We'll never hear from many of the central figures in Alberta’s largest & deadliest outbreaks, & now the UCP is hoping many will be listening to the Finance Minister when Dr. Hinshaw speaks.

Why? Because they don't want us to know what medical advice they ignored. 3/

They likely don’t want Albertans to know exactly what Dr. Hinshaw recommended to Cabinet when it comes to the safe reopening of schools, shutting down Cargill & limiting spread in continuing care homes. We know in all of those instances the UCP did virtually nothing.
4/ #ableg

So Nicholas Milliken, the UCP chair of the Select Special Public Health Act Review Committee, scheduled Dr. Hinshaw’s testimony to overlap with the widely anticipated Fiscal and Economic Update to be delivered by the Finance Minister on August 27, 2020.

5/ #ableg

There’s no reason whatsoever that Dr. Hinshaw & others couldn’t be scheduled to speak on any other day.

On Aug 4 @DShepYEG wrote to Milliken & urged him to call the meeting sooner in order to speed up the committee’s work. It has been over a week- no response.

6/ #ableg

Starting in June, the UCP-dominated committee was given 4 months to consult with experts & Albertans, and deliberate on recommendations before drafting a report to the Legislative Assembly.

7/ #ableg

The Aug 27, 2020, meeting will be the group’s first substantive and non-procedural meeting.

Its final report is due no later than Oct 24, 2020. More than half of the time allocated to the committee will have elapsed before the first substantive meeting is held.

8/ #ableg

UCP MLAs have voted to prevent Albertans from hearing from key witnesses, including the Minister of Health, the Minister of Labour, the CEOs of Cargill & JBS, and the CEOs of Revera, Retirement Concepts, & Extendicare.

9/ #ableg

The UCP also voted against hosting public hearings in communities hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the midst of a deadly, ongoing pandemic, this committee was supposed to overhaul Alberta’s public health legislation.

10/ #ableg

Instead, the UCP members seem focused on concealing the government’s mistakes and power-grabs.

Somehow, I'm not surprised.

/end #ableg