Shandro, now Alberta health minister, takes portfolio of labor in exchange for Copping
Former health minister has come under heavy criticism throughout the pandemic
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Tyler Shandro is no longer Alberta’s health minister after more than a year of harsh criticism of his portfolio management.
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Shandro was eliminated in a short ceremony Tuesday afternoon, swapping roles with former Labor and Immigration Minister Jason Copping, who is now taking over from the Department of Health.
Media were not invited to the ceremony, which was broadcast online. At a press conference later today, Prime Minister Jason Kenney said Shandro offered to resign from his health post and that he and Shandro agreed it was time for a change.
“It’s time for a fresh start and a new set of eyes on the biggest government department, especially at a time like this,” Kenney said, adding that it was a “grueling dossier. “for Shandro.
Shandro had repeatedly faced calls to resign from his post as health minister amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a protracted dispute between the government and doctors.
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NDP Leader Rachel Notley – whose party made the calls – said news of Shandro’s reshuffle was “welcome” but not a solution to the crisis plaguing hospitals in Alberta, which are overwhelmed by COVID -19.
“A cabinet reshuffle will not relieve the immense pressure exerted on our hospitals by this severe fourth wave. It will not delay life-saving surgeries for thousands of Albertans. It will not recover our economy. And it won’t help ordinary families looking for leadership. Albertans deserve better.
As the new Minister of Health, Copping said he will focus on increasing hospital capacity, educating Albertans hesitant about vaccination and preparing the health system for potential future waves of COVID. -19.
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“I accepted this role, resolutely committed to building immediate capacities. However, we also know that COVID-19 is probably not going anywhere anytime soon, ”he said.
Shandro’s departure comes as the province grapples with the fourth wave of COVID-19, which has put great strain on the healthcare system, especially in intensive care units, leading to the cancellation of all surgeries considered non-essential and calls on other provinces and the federal government to help.
Kenney under fire
It also comes as Kenney faces an internal conflict over the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. A senior UCP official called for his resignation on Tuesday, days after asking the UCP board to hold an emergency meeting to discuss an early leadership review.
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Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said on Tuesday that he did not think the exchange of Shandro for Copping would be enough to allay the discontent Kenney faces.
“I don’t think he could have done anything to keep his job. I mean, why is Shandro deleted? Because he implemented exactly what the Prime Minister wanted him to do, ”he said.
Ahead of a caucus meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Kenney said he believed he still had the support of members of his party, his caucus and the party board of directors.
“There have been voices of opposition to public health policies within my own party from day one of the pandemic. It’s not a secret. But my responsibility as Prime Minister is to listen to public health advice, to look at reality, not to wish for it, not to let politics pressure us into taking the necessary action to save lives and protect the health system, ”he said.
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Bratt also said he believed Shandro’s removal from the health record had been in the works for some time, but that Kenney had waited until after Monday’s federal election to avoid causing further damage to the federal Tories.
When asked repeatedly by reporters about when Shandro’s move would be right, Kenney reiterated that the couple had decided it was time to have a ‘fresh look’ and said the government was focusing on Wave Four. pandemic, not politics.
“Good riddance”: AUPE
Shandro regularly clashed with health care associations and doctors in the province, which led to multiple calls for his resignation.
In March 2020, after Shandro caught fire for confronting a Calgary doctor in his driveway over a social media post, Kenney rejected such calls, saying it was understandable that Shandro had become “passionate about it. To defend his wife.
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After doctors rejected a contract offer from the province in April 2021, Kenney rejected calls to fire him, saying he had his “full and 100% confidence.”
Dr Paul Boucher, president of the Alberta Medical Association, said that while there were difficult times during the negotiations, he appreciates Shandro’s “efforts to improve the relationship with physicians over the past few months. “.
” I wish him good luck. We look forward to continuing with his successor our current efforts to consolidate relations between the government and the medical profession, ”he said in a statement on Tuesday.
In 2020, the government announced it would cut 11,000 jobs in Alberta’s health care services, primarily by outsourcing jobs to labs, housekeeping, food service and laundry. The change is expected to save $ 600 million per year.
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The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which has sounded the alarm about outsourcing, has welcomed the news of Shandro’s departure.
“Good riddance,” said Susan Slade, AUPE vice president, in a statement. “Tyler Shandro set Alberta’s health care system on fire and kept Albertans dry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It is high time for him to suffer the consequences of his actions.
Kenney, meanwhile, thanked Shandro for his service and called him “one of the hardest working people I’ve ever known.”
AUPE and Friends of Medicare have slammed Copping for a bill he introduced last year limiting alleged coverage for psychological injuries to only firefighters, police, peace officers, paramedics, correctional officers and dispatchers emergency.
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Friends of Medicare also condemned the call made by its local constituency association to the government to “support the option of a health care system financed and managed by the private sector” at the 2020 convention of the ‘UCP.
Slade claimed that moving Shandro was Kenney’s attempt to save his reputation by giving the impression of a fresh start to his government’s handling of the health care record.
“It’s still Kenney’s government,” she said. “It doesn’t erase the way he mistreated and attacked healthcare workers. Doctors will not forget. The nurses will not forget. Support services will not forget. Patients will not forget.
– With files from Lisa Johnson
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