Health Professionals ‘Gaslighted’ By Provinces Like Jason Kenney’s Alberta Amid COVID-19 Crisis, Medical Association Head Says

From Global News: Dr. Katherine Smart, head of the Canadian Medical Association, told an emergency summit Tuesday that some provincial governments like Jason Kenney’s Conservative administration in Alberta are “gaslighting” health workers over the devastating impact of the COVID-19 fourth wave on the health-care system.

• Dr. Smart said health workers feel hopeless because their provincial governments are not listening to their concerns, and fear there is no end in sight for the ongoing crisis.

After the Kenney government lifted nearly all health restrictions in July and delayed implementing a vaccine passport system, the province saw more COVID-19 cases in September than any month prior, as well as records set for hospital and ICU admissions. Some new health measures were reintroduced to curb the spread of the virus this week.

• As reported by Alberta Native News this week, University of Alberta infectious diseases professor Dr. Ilan Schwartz said: “It’s not just that (Alberta’s health system is) on the verge of collapse, I think that’s misleading at this point — we’ve completely collapsed.”