With a provincial election looming in May, leaders of the front running political parties offer stark choices on how they would handle another COVID-19 outbreak.
I know, I know. Many of us are sick to death of pandemic and restriction discussions. But people are still getting sick, particularly the oldest among us and those with compromised immune systems. So, it begs the question: Who do you trust to oversee another outbreak or new pandemic in Alberta?
It is safe to say neither Danielle Smith or Rachel Notley would handle things exactly like former premier Jason Kenney.
It is obviously not the only issue we’ll face at the polls, but it’s a compelling one, particularly because Smith’s negative views on how Kenney and Alberta Heath Services handled COVID-19 helped elevate her into the premier’s job and have motivated many of her actions.
'Who do you trust'? is not a left-right issue, although some extremists will insist it is. It’s also not a matter of being 'woke' or 'anti-woke'. Viruses don’t ask for party membership cards before invading. As of this writing, neither leader has laid out a detailed plan for fighting future pandemics. So, what do we know?
Smith squeaked out a narrow victory in the UCP leadership race by staking out a libertarian position firmly opposed to mask and vaccine mandates employed around much of the world during earlier COVID-19 waves.
The vaccines alone are credited with having saved hundreds of millions of lives, but no matter. For Smith and her many so-called 'freedom' faction supporters, it meant a revolt against Kenney (who wasn't sufficiently on board with restrictions and enforcement of violators).
Once Kenney was disposed of, freedom fighters seized control of the UCP board under the 'Take Back Alberta' slogan and proceeded to ensure no mask-and-vaccine tolerant candidates viewed as 'progressives' would sneak through in party nominations.
Smith herself has some fringe views, such as her public declaration that cancer victims are largely responsible for their own sickness in the early stages. She is also a vaccine skeptic who has been known to tout remedies like hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19. Smith withdrew from early pledges to change laws protecting the unvaccinated from discrimination, and she's reversed her decision to seek pardons for those convicted on COVID-related charges. There remains the controversy around speaking with prosecutors about COVID-related cases, with Smith first saying she spoke with them, then saying she didn't.
What we know for certain is Smith clearly stated the unvaccinated, “have been the most discriminated-against group that I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime.” That about sums it up.
For her part, Notley stressed throughout the pandemic that she sided with science-driven policies and supported public health experts over protesters. She raised questions while Kenney was still premier about whether decisions on lifting restrictions were being made for health and safety reasons or political ones, such as during the disastrous “Best Summer Ever” campaign in 2021. Notley also chastised the government for waging battles with health care workers during the early parts of the pandemic, in particular the dispute with doctors over fees.
Immediately upon becoming premier, Smith fired the AHS board and chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw. At first eulogized for compassionate and skillful handling of daily news conferences, Hinshaw ended up on the wrong side of the 'freedom fighters'.
Conversely, Notley called for Hinshaw’s role to be strengthened beyond merely advising cabinet on pandemic issues while politicians made all the final decisions. That’s how it worked in B.C., where former premier John Horgan said he preferred his chief public health officer make the COVID-19 decisions rather than rely on “an arbitrary decision by an elected official.”
B.C., with a bigger population, has performed better than Alberta on total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
Who do you trust? If the election was a referendum on this one public health issue, Notley wins.
Over more than 45 years in journalism, Ashley Geddes spent much time covering municipal, provincial and federal politics, most in Alberta.
