ALF V1

EDMONTON — NDP Leader Brian Mason expressed confidence Saturday his party's focus on issues such as health care, education and environment rather than personal attacks is a winning strategy.

"We're staying away from personalities and that seems to be resonating, that's what people are looking for," Mason said as he campaigned at the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market with Edmonton-Strathcona NDP incumbent MLA Rachel Notley for the April 23 provincial election.

"If you personalize it and make it about personal attacks on people's character, their integrity, their commitment to the province, I think it suppresses the vote."

But while Mason was pleased with the reaction other party leaders had to his call on Friday for a return to civility, visitors to the market were less certain the personal attacks will stop.

"It's been too much nitpicking at each other," said 86-year-old Doris Balash of the campaign so far. Balash was at the market with her daughter, Linda, and granddaughter, Leslie.

"I'm tired of listening to them nag about each other rather than give us what they're going to be working on," said 55-yearold Linda Lukasewich.

While Balash is impressed so far with Redford's campaign, Lukasewich said she's still waiting to decide who gets her vote. "I had decided on somebody, but now every time the leaders say something stupid, I think I should just wait," she said.

Mason's letter highlighted the need for political parties to pay attention to ideas, instead of personal attacks and detailed how the heightened negativity of this spring's election campaign risks creating voters who will stay home on April 23.

Notley, who was elected to the Edmonton-Strathcona riding in 2008, is a familiar face at the farmers' market. She said she was excited to take a break from door knocking and join Mason at the market on Saturday, as "he's been a political fixture of standing up for the little guy in Edmonton for 20 years."

While the NDP are joined on the centre-left with the Liberals, Alberta Party and Ever-Green Party, Notley is not worried about vote-splitting in her riding and instead predicts it may benefit the NDP.

"In this riding in particular, there is no Alberta Party candidate and the Liberal party candidate was appointed about a week ago," Notley said. "I think that throughout the city the emergence of the Wildrose opens up the opportunity for a vote split on the right."

Also out at Saturday's market was PC Edmonton-Strathcona candidate Emerson Mayers. "Our campaign is moving, things are happening and we'll get things moving much quicker for the second week," he said.

Chad Stewart of Chocolicious, where Mason described the milk chocolate-covered licorice he sampled as "addictive," said he'll continue to watch the campaign before deciding who gets his vote. "I think it will be an interesting battle in the next little bit," he said. "We'll have to wait and see how things go."

Edmonton Journal, Mon Apr 2 2012
Byline: Cailynn Klingbeil

NDP opposes environmental rule changes

While Ottawa and the province have clashed in the past, the Conservative federal budget released Thursday received a warm reception from Alberta's two main contenders for the premier's office.

The budget's highlights include raising the age for Old Age Security from 65 to 67 for those currently under the age of 54, the elimination of nearly 20,000 civil service jobs over three years and cuts to program spending, though overall expenditures will continue to climb as the government projects being out of deficit in 2015-2016.

The federal Tories are also promising a new shortened environmental review process for major natural resource industrial projects, including the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to British Columbia, and to put some environmental reviews strictly under the provinces.

With a provincial election underway, both Progressive Conservative Leader Alison Redford and Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith linked themselves to the budget's measures.

Redford said her PC government has been working with the federal government to streamline environmental regulations and is similar to measures undertaken already in Alberta.

"We know that industry thinks this is a better way to be competitive. I think we'll see not just on the Gateway project but on other projects, this will be a tremendous improvement," she told reporters in Edmonton.

Redford praised the federal government's plans to balance the budget in three years without tax increases and noted her government's projection of a balanced budget in 2013, with no tax hikes.

In a news release, Smith - who has slammed the PCs for out-of-control spending - compared the federal financial document to Wildrose's budgetary plans.

She applauded the Tory budget for reducing "wasteful government spending and . . . unnecessary levels of bureaucracy."

Ben Brunnen, chief economist of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, said "this is a good budget for Alberta business."

The changes to OAS include allowing for recipients to defer receiving their payments for up to five years with no penalty.

That's an incentive for those wanting to stay in the workforce to do so, helping to ease the labour shortage that is beginning to bite the province and is expected to get worse.

Raising the eligibility age in 2023 should also have a positive effect in the longer term on the labour pinch, said Brunnen.

While details are lacking, Ottawa has also pledged to make the temporary foreign worker program more aligned with labour market needs and to work with the provinces on improving the recognition of foreign credentials.

"This is just a full-marks budget," said Brunnen.

A spokesman for the Public Service Alliance of Canada said there has been no indication yet where the planned federal job cuts will take place, meaning the impact on Alberta civil servants is uncertain.

Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said the Conservatives are destroying jobs, cutting services and making life harder for seniors for no good reason given the relatively healthy state of the government's books and the Canadian economy.

"These cuts are particularly galling because they're so unnecessary," he said. "This is a road map to a more conservative future where corporations matter more than citizens."

Redford said the government would review the impact on Alberta seniors of raising the age for OAS.

Ted Menzies, the MP for MacLeod and minister of state for finance, said the budget was designed to ensure there was no downloading to provinces.

The federal government will work with the provinces to ensure that changes to OAS don't affect provincial programs that kick in at age 65.

New Democrat Linda Duncan, Alberta's lone Opposition MP, said the federal promise of "one window" for environmental regulation is full of smoke given issues of federal, provincial and aboriginal jurisdiction.

The claim that major projects are hamstrung by red tape is a fallacy, she said.

"Show me one single project that's been denied. Show me an oilsands project that's been denied," said Duncan.

Calgary Herald, Fri Mar 30 2012
Byline: James Wood

EDMONTON - Are Albertans ready to embrace the idea of tax increases?

New polling suggests they might be, as long as the money is used for essential services and infrastructure.

"It's definitely surprising in this province that there appears to be a willingness to pay higher taxes from more than half of Albertans," said Ian Large of Leger Marketing, which conducted the poll for the Edmonton Journal and the Calgary Herald.

"This isn't an invitation to raise taxes; it's more of a tolerance for a tax increase."

The poll, conducted March 22-25, asked participants if they would be amenable to paying higher taxes if they were guaranteed the money would go to government programs and improvements to schools, highways and hospitals.

A full 56 per cent of respondents answered yes, while 42 per cent said no. Support was highest in Edmonton with 59-per-cent support for the idea, followed by Calgarians (56) and people living outside the two cities (53).

While not an overwhelming endorsement, the result is nonetheless unexpected in a province where any mention of tax hikes has been considered a non-starter, Large said.

"The critical component here is that it's for services and improvements that affect people's lives," he said. "That's where people want to see their tax dollars spent, and I think there is a recognition there is a bit of infrastructure deficit in the province and people believe there might be a need to raise taxes for that."

Among decided voters, 40 per cent of Wildrose supporters said yes to the tax question. Support was higher among respondents supporting the Progressive Conservatives (59), the Liberals (82), the NDP (83) and undecided voters (53).

Alberta has the lowest tax regime in the country, including low corporate rates, a flat, 10-per-cent income tax rate and no provincial sales tax.

Some opposition parties, including the Liberals and NDP, have pushed for a more progressive structure that would charge a higher rate to large corporations and high-earning Albertans.

The Wildrose has promised no tax hikes. The PCs have also vowed no increases for three years, though Alison Redford's government has said it wants to have a "conversation" with Albertans about the province's financial structure.

Large noted the poll question did not mention a specific type of tax increase, whether it be income tax, a sales tax or corporate taxes.

The poll also found Albertans are generally not in favour of cuts to services and programs to balance the budget.

About 39-per-cent of respondents said they would cut to get the province out of deficit, while 54 per cent said no.

Support for cuts was strongest from respondents outside the cities (44), followed by Calgarians (41) and Edmontonians (31).

In a somewhat unexpected result, just 49 per cent of decided Wildrose voters said they would trim program costs. That was ahead of backers for the PCs (42), Liberals (30), NDP (19) and undecided voters (35).

The telephone survey of 1,215 Albertans has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin increases when results are broken down by region or demographic.

Edmonton Journal, Fri Mar 30 2012
Byline: Keith Gerein

Albertans overwhelmingly want a public inquiry into doctor intimidation - a probe the governing Tories have refused to call - but a slim majority think PC Leader Alison Redford has kept her word on the issue, according to a new poll.

A Leger Marketing telephone survey of 1,215 Albertans, conducted March 22-25 for the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal, also found more than half are satisfied with the public health-care system.

Yet, nearly six in 10 Albertans want the option to buy their own coverage from private medical providers.

The survey probed Albertans' attitudes toward health care, a $16-billion provincial system that continues to be the top issue for voters as they head to the polls on April 23.

On the private care question, having the option to pay was more popular among those living in Calgary, or outside the province's two major cities, compared to Edmonton - where just half of voters said people should be able to pay for their own health-care services from private medical providers.

Wildrose party supporters are the most likely to favour private health-care options, followed by PCs. Among those who say they will vote for the Liberals and the NDP, there is significantly less support.

Ian Large, Alberta vice-president for Leger Marketing, said he was surprised by the large number of Albertans who answered in the affirmative. But he noted "we didn't ask 'do you want to pay for private health care,' but 'do you think we should have the freedom to pay for it.'"

John Church, a University of Alberta political scientist who studies health policy, said as the years pass and governments can't satisfy the public over wait lists and access to service, demand will increase for private alternatives.

The private provision of services can be more effective in some instances, Church added. But overall, his research has found a strong public system works best where no one has to produce a credit card to see a doctor.

"That alone is worth any of the other hassles we have to deal with."

Overall, Leger found 57 per cent of Albertans are satisfied with the health-care system - and satisfaction is consistent across the province.

The poll also asked two questions about the public health-care inquiry called by the Redford government last month.

On the heels of a scathing Health Quality Council of Alberta report in February, the Tory government announced a judge-led inquiry will look into "improper preferential access" to publicly funded medical services.

The council's probe found widespread instances of physicians experiencing "intimidation and muzzling" after advocating for patients, but it did not assign blame or identify specifically who did the intimidating.

Concerns about physician intimidation will not be specifically looked at by the panel, unless it is related to queue-jumping. The government is instead setting up two new health task forces, exploring governance issues and the role of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.

That's not good enough for most Albertans.

According to the Leger poll, 71 per cent of Albertans said the government should hold an inquiry into the intimidation of doctors that was found in the council's report.

At the same time, exactly half of respondents said they believe Redford lived up to her promise to hold an inquiry - given during last year's PC party leadership race - by calling a probe into health care queue-jumping last month. Eighteen per cent say they don't know, while almost onethird say Redford did not live up to her word.

"She probably needs to be concerned about that," Large said. "Enough Albertans don't think we've heard the end of the discussion."

Earlier this month, the Alberta Medical Association took out full-page ads in Alberta newspapers, urging the government to call a full inquiry.

The ads have received hundreds of responses and the issue has gained traction, said AMA president Dr. Linda Slocombe.

"I think we have the public awareness around the issue," Slocombe said.

The Leger poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, although regional margins are higher.

Calgary Herald, Thurs Mar 29 2012
Byline: Kelly Cryderman, with files from Jamie Komarnicki

Spending cuts, OAS changes and giveaways to corporations are unnecessary and irresponsible, say Alberta unions

Based on the magnitude of the cuts and changes contained in today's federal budget, you'd think that Canada was about to "hit the debt wall."

But the truth is that Canada has weathered the global recession better than almost any other industrialized country – thanks largely to its natural resource wealth, decisions made by previous governments and pressure from opposition parties that stopped the previous minority Harper government from enacting harsh cuts at the height of the recession.

"Given the reality of Canada's current economic situation, there's no good reason why we should even be contemplating cuts on this scale," says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"What we see with today's budget is a plan that will turn a rough patch into really tough times. It's the opposite of what this country needs. It's both unnecessary and irresponsible."

If there's a problem, McGowan says it's that the Harper government's various tax cuts have cost the federal treasury more than $200 billion since 2006. For example, the effective federal tax on corporate profits has dropped to its lowest rate since before the Second World War.

"The only reason that the Harper government isn't looking at a balanced budget right now, or at least in the very near future, is because it has given away literally hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue in a very short period of time," says McGowan.

"If there's a crisis, it's a crisis caused by the Harper government's irresponsible tax giveaways, especially to profitable corporations that are no longer being asked to pay their fair share of the cost of keeping this country running. The crime in this budget is that ordinary Canadians – especially seniors – are being forced to pay the price for Stephen Harper's ideologically driven irresponsibility."

Despite Finance Minister Flaherty's argument that the cuts really only amount to "backroom efficiencies," McGowan says ordinary Canadians will feel the bite of this budget in three important ways.

First, there will be a real and noticeable erosion in the quality of service provided by the federal government. With fewer workers, the government simply won't be able to provide the same level of service that Canadians need and expect in everything from handling passport applications to inspecting food.

(over)

Second, the Harper government's plans to restrict payments to the provinces and remove the "strings" attached to the remaining dollars will mean it will become even more difficult for provinces to pay for things like health care and more likely that governments like ours in Alberta will resort to increased privatization.

Third, by increasing the age of eligibility for OAS from 65 to 67, the Harper government will be taking thousands and thousands of dollars out of the pockets of seniors. This will force many seniors into poverty or to the brink of poverty.

"As it stands right now, Canadians between age 65 and 67 get an average of 25 per cent of their income from OAS," says McGowan. "By taking that income away, we run the risk of reversing one of the biggest public policy successes of the 20th century: which was the use of GIS and OAS to pull almost all Canadian seniors out of poverty."

McGowan points out that the attack on OAS is particularly galling because the federal government's own Parliamentary Budget Officer has concluded that the current OAS system is affordable and that increasing the eligibility age to 67 is unnecessary and unwarranted.

"The real thread that runs through this budget has to do with gifts and giveaways to Stephen Harper's corporate friends," concludes McGowan.

"The cuts to public-sector jobs and benefits are being made so Harper can finance his tax giveaway to big business. His changes to OAS eligibility rules are being made to address business concerns about a looming labour shortage – just make seniors work longer! And the so-called streamlining of approvals for resource projects is really a gift to oil companies so they no longer have to worry about pesky things like environmental impacts and the public good.

"In many ways, this is more than a budget: it's a road map towards a conservative future in which corporations matter more than citizens. The Harper government should be ashamed of itself ... and ordinary Canadians should be deeply concerned."

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CONTACT: Gil McGowan, AFL president, 780-218-9888

EDMONTON - NDP Leader Brian Mason said Wednesday his party would regulate power rates if they win the provincial election.

Seated at the dining room table at a retired couple's house on the south side of Edmonton, Mason said the NDP's plan to reform the province's electricity system would provide more reliable and affordable electricity.

"I promise you that relief is in sight," Mason said as the election campaign rolled into its third day. "With regulation, power companies could not unilaterally raise their rates because they want to make more money. They would need to justify increases. Unless you have a regulated power market, rates are open to manipulation."

As part of its energy plan, Mason also said the NDP would give Alberta's Utilities Commission a mandate to protect consumers; remove cabinet power to approve utility projects and open them up for consideration at public meetings; require power corporations to pay for transmission lines and make infrastructure projects subject to regulatory approval; and would encourage wind and solar generation to cut the need for expensive power lines.

Conservative Leader Alison Redford has promised the Tories would review the electricity system after the election. Alberta is the only province with a fully deregulated energy system, which Mason said hurts consumers.

Seated at a table with Edmonton-Goldbar candidate Marlin Schmidt and Angus and Carolee Perry, Mason said unpredictable electricity rates make it hard for people to budget.

"We want to make sure that life is affordable," Mason said. "In a province with so much prosperity, a lot of people are left behind."

A retired rural school principal, Angus Perry complained that in recent months the amount that he has paid per hour of usage has fluctuated wildly, and that the percentage of savings he apportions for electricity has more than doubled in the 10 years since the province endorsed deregulation.

"Ten years ago we were putting money away for our grandchildren's post-secondary education," 74-year-old Perry said, photos of his beaming brood of seven grandkids a few feet away. "Now we can't put funds aside because the cost of electricity takes such a big bite out of our budget.

"We are paying more, even though we have done everything we can do to reduce consumption. To me, it is an essential service and its cost is totally out of control and nobody is answerable."

Mason, who met with voters later Wednesday at a bake shop on the northwest side, acknowledged that the New Democrats have a smaller war chest than the Conservatives and Wildrose, who are running neck and neck in a new poll.

"It is quite clear they have a lot of money in the bank and a lot more to spend than we do,'' Mason said. "Our approach is a more patient, door-knocking approach that we think will pay dividends in the long run."

The cost of electricity is one of the issues voters are raising when the NDP comes knocking.

"I think we are putting on enough pressure that the Progressive Conservatives are nervous about the issue," Mason told the Perrys. "I am confident that if we do well enough in the election, we will get things done."

Edmonton Journal, Thurs Mar 29 2012
Byline: Marty Klinkenberg

Unions fear attack on jobs will undermine economy, throw seniors into poverty

Labour leaders from across Alberta will be keeping a close eye on the federal budget today to assess the impact it will have on working families in the province.

"The federal government has an opportunity today to make the Canadian economy stronger and to make it work for average Canadians," says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), which represents 145,000 workers.

"This budget could be used to help create good jobs – the kind of jobs that support families. We fear, however, that the Harper government will do the opposite and destroy jobs, which will weaken an economy they have described as fragile," he says.

"We also fear that the budget will undermine the retirement security of Canadians by cutting back on Old Age Security benefits to seniors, which risks throwing more elderly citizens into poverty."

Budget Watch 2012 events will be held in Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer this afternoon. McGowan will be among labour leaders at the Edmonton event and will be available for comment. Other labour leaders will be available at the Calgary and Red Deer events.

• BUDGET WATCH 2012, EDMONTON

TIME: 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
LOCATION: CUPE 474 Meeting Hall, 10989 – 124 Street, Edmonton.

• BUDGET WATCH 2012, CALGARY

TIME: 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
LOCATION: Greenwood Inn, 3515 – 26 Street N.E., Calgary.

• BUDGET WATCH 2012, RED DEER

TIME: 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
LOCATION: Unit 4, 7464 – 50 Avenue, Red Deer.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Gil McGowan, AFL president, 780-218-9888

Amanda Freistadt, CLC Prairie Representative, 780-904-0517

EDMONTON - Health care and education are among Albertans' top concerns heading into the provincial election, while government trust and accountability is another hot topic, particularly for Wildrose party supporters, a new poll indicates.

However, pollster Ian Large of Leger Marketing noted there seems to be no single dominant issue that is commanding voters' attention so far in the race, meaning political parties must score points with multi-pronged platforms.

"Things are looking up, the economy is doing well, people are working, people are satisfied with their personal life, and so the concerns they have are much more general than they would be if say, unemployment was the issue," he said. "It indicates that any party trying to run on a single issue, that's not going to speak to most Albertans. There are a bunch of different things at play here."

The poll, conducted by Leger for the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald, asked respondents to name the most important issue facing the province from a list of 12 subjects.

Not surprisingly, health care was the most popular answer, chosen by more than one-quarter of the survey's participants.

However, trust and accountability came in second with 15 per cent, well ahead of taxes, deficit spending, crime, the environment, electricity rates, and other issues that are a central part of some parties' campaign platforms.

The third most popular issue was education at 10 per cent, followed by the economy (nine), cost of living (seven), and energy development (seven). Everything else was five per cent or less.

University of Lethbridge political scientist Peter McCormick said the focus on accountability was likely driven by a number of recent controversies that have dogged Alison Redford's PC government, including an ethics investigation into a fundraiser held by Asia envoy Gary Mar, a "bullying" letter sent by a Tory MLA to a school board and revelations about a committee that continued to be paid even though it hadn't met for 40 months.

He noted that when survey respondents were asked a slightly different question — what issues would most affect their own vote — trust and accountability slipped to third and education moved up to second.

That's because while health and education play big for voters across the political spectrum, trust and accountability seem to be vital only toWildrose supporters. According to the poll data, 32 per cent of decided Wildrose voters felt it was an issue that affects their choice, compared with much lower concern among those backing the PCs (13), Liberals (16), NDP (21), and undecided voters (13).

"And it's mostly because you are Wildrose that you are concerned about this, rather than because you are concerned about this you are drawn to Wildrose," McCormick said.

"It's on the agenda because the Wildrose has put it on the agenda," said Large. "It's not surprising voters are aware of it, but whether it's important to them remains to be seen."

As for other issues, the environment ranked as the third most important subject for Liberal voters and fourth most important for NDP backers, but was near the bottom for Wildrose voters.

Deficit budgeting was also a concern for the Wildrose, Liberals felt more strongly about the cost of living and PC voters showed high interest in energy development.

Taxes and electricity rates were not vital factors for anyone, even though opposition parties have made those issues key planks in their platforms.

"There's not a bubbling revolution waiting to happen on those things," McCormick said. "Health care, education, and government trust and accountability — that's the closest you can get to finding a combination of issues that will get people going."

The March 22-25 telephone survey of 1,215 Albertans has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin increases when results are broken down by region or demographic.

Edmonton Journal, Thurs Mar 29 2012
Byline: Keith Gerein

NDP Leader Brian Mason rolled out his party's health plan to open 1,500 new long-term-care beds, spend $100 million more on home care and cover basic dental costs for children under 18.

The New Democrats would also cap seniors' drug costs at $25 in total, instead of $25 for each prescribed drug needed. They would maintain the cap on seniors' living costs and hire "hundreds" of doctors over the next four years.

Mason said these aren't "extraordinary promises," but ways to bring down waits for emergency care and strengthen medicare.

"Come election time, every party says they are the champions of Alberta health care, but Alberta's New Democrats are always there, election time or not," Mason said, calling the NDP health platform the party's top priority.

"Medicare is suffering in Alberta because of years of mismanagement and attempts at privatization."

Mason said the PCs rolled out their plans for the Third Way after the 2004 provincial election. After the 2008 election, the government appointed Ron Liepert the bad-cop health minister who set up Alberta Health Services after firing CEOs of the former provincial health regions.

"I think this is likely to happen again," Mason said. "I think people are learning a lesson: You can't trust the Progressive Conservative Party on health care because they won't tell you the truth during the election."

Premier Alison Redford continues to flirt with privatization by saying she'll get rid of the cap on the maximum amount seniors can pay for living expenses, said Mason.

"Alison Redford's answer is American-style health care," he said. "We want to improve and expand public health care."

How much the NDP health plan would cost won't be released until later this week.

"In our view, medicare is sustainable through commitment and innovation," Mason said. "The government doesn't spend its money wisely in the health-care system."

Edmonton Journal, Wed Mar 28 2012
Byline: Jodie Sinnema

CALGARY — Liberal Leader Raj Sherman kicked off his party's campaign in Calgary on Tuesday with charges that the intimidation of health-care workers extends far beyond doctors.

Sherman sat side-by-side in a news conference with nurse Terri Reuser, who said she paid a price for raising concerns about the deterioration of care and the mistreatment of elderly patients with dementia in a long-term care facility in Black Diamond.

The problems began in 2006, when the facility was under the Calgary Health Region and became worse after the formation of Alberta Health Services in 2008, Reuser said.

Problems such as bedsores and infections became more prevalent, she said.

Reuser alleges that a staff member had twisted the arm of an elderly patient behind her back to make her go to bed. The woman fell and required stitches to her head.

Another patient was slapped by a staff member, she said.

Reuser said she raised concerns about the problems to the facility administration and was "interrogated, bullied, just made to feel incompetent."

"I was shunned."

She wrote a letter to AHS and was told an investigation would be launched, but Reuser said she has never been told what resulted.

Sherman said the situation is part of a much greater problem with the system under the PC government, pointing to a Herald story last week that showed there have been 1,000 confirmed cases of elderly and disabled Albertans being abused in provincially funded facilities over the past seven years

He said Reuser's story is a piece with last month's Health Quality Council of Alberta report that found half the doctors who responded to a survey felt they had been stopped from advocating for their patients. About 20 per cent said they'd experienced "active harmful obstruction."

"It's beyond the bullying of doctors," said Sherman, an emergency room physician. "We have more than 30,000 nurses in this province and we as doctors can't do our job without all the nurses and the health staff. These are the angels of the health system who are right beside us. . . . Nurses are bullied as well as are all front line staff. And this is unacceptable in this province."

The Liberals are calling for the doubling of funding for home care and an additional $180 million for the construction of new, long-term care facilities.

Progressive Conservative Leader Alison Redford said the government hasn't denied the allegations of intimidation in the health system and is taking steps to deal with the issue.

A situation affecting seniors such as the one described by Reuser is a "tragedy," Redford said.

"We have to make sure that there are as few of those as possible," she said. "Unfortunately sometimes in the health are system there are circumstances that arise that really do lead to really unfortunate situations. What we have to do is make the system better. . . . We have to make sure that they're reported and we have to make sure we don't let them happen again. That's actually solving the problems."

In 2010, the governing Tories proclaimed the Protection of Persons in Care legislation to make it against the law not to report abuses.

Door-knocking later with former party leader David Swann in the trendy Hillhurst neighbourhood of his Calgary-Mountain View riding, Sherman is hoping the Liberals can add to the party's four seats in the city with a split between the front-running conservative parties.

Early polls have shown the long-governing Tories and the Wildrose party in a dead heat.

"Our chances are very good. There is a perfect 50-50 split on the right wing and there are a lot of progressive Calgarians. . . . I believe we can make big inroads," he said.

Calgary Herald, Wed Mar 28 2012
Byline: James Wood