Friends of Medicare

Today is Tommy Douglas Day! Celebrating the contributions of Thomas Clement Douglas: the "Greatest Canadian" & the man who brought universal Medicare to Canada. It's also our executive director's 43rd birthday!🎂 Will you make Chris' bday wish come true? friendsofmedicare.org/tommy_douglas_day_2026

This year's Parkland Institute conference focuses on "an emerging collective response to corporate oligarchy and right-wing autocracy" — exactly what Alberta needs right now! Join them at the U of A or online November 20 - 22! Details & tickets: www.parklandconference.ca

“Serious, ongoing safety concerns have been raised over Grifols’ paid plasma sites across the country, including at the Calgary collection site which was found to be non-compliant with federal safety regulations”: FOM's Chris Gallaway. www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/art...

👏👏👏"Canadians should have access to the care they need, not just the care they can afford." Canada's doctors are sending a message to our governments: protect our public health care! 📢Amplify their call: friendsofmedicare.org/EnforceTheCHA

edmontonsun.com/news... “I show up for a shift and I try not to look at all the pain and suffering around me,” he said. “Because it is unmanageable.” 100s of my Emerg docs across the province feel the same way... Our govt refuses to declare the ED crisis or to act!

Medicine Hat friends: Join your local chapter for the AGM Nov. 3 👇 Join the growing fight to defend Alberta's public healthcare!

“We cannot allow another preventable tragedy like the tainted blood scandal to occur. It is past time for Health Canada to step in to protect patients and the integrity of our blood and blood plasma supply in Canada,” said Gallaway. www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/arti...

Happy convention @aupe.org delegates! Come by our table to say hi, grab a button or sticker, and take action to protect and strengthen Alberta's public health care ✊ 💙

For-profit company Grifols has announced they are lifting their paid plasma collection pause—including reopening an Edmonton site. “Enough with the backroom deals & corporate takeover. Our governments need to step in to ensure safety": Chris Gallaway. www.friendsofmedicare.org/paid_plasma_...

💯 “Forcing one group of people to pay out-of-pocket for health care is the 1st step to making us all pay out-of-pocket for health care. On top of that, suggesting some people should be excluded from public services is incredibly cruel & un-Canadian."

thetyee.ca/Culture/2... Please read! 17hr wait is NOT an abnormality... "We can’t lose sight of our humanity. A health-care system shouldn’t be judged only by whether care eventually arrives, but by what children and families are asked to endure to reach it." 1/2

edmontonjournal.com/... Take a moment to read. The math is simple. We have double the population with less hospital beds then in the 1980s. It isn't immigrants. It's govt's ignoring our hospital and workforce planning and building. It's lack of HCWs and BEDs! 1/2

FOM's Chris Gallaway joined @cjsrfm.bsky.social's Pivot Points & Parkland Institute's @poliscirish.bsky.social on Wednesday for a (great) conversation about Alberta's (not great) moves towards two-tier, American-style health care! Listen here: www.cjsr.com/shows/pivotp...

Health care leaders raise concerns re: AB's Bill 11 ahead of BC's provincial election. With massive changes being imposed on our healthcare without a mandate, they're right to be worried! We deserve representatives who are committed to protecting public healthcare, and who aren't afraid to say so.

“We cannot allow another preventable tragedy like the tainted blood scandal to occur. It is past time for Health Canada to step in to protect patients and the integrity of our blood and blood plasma supply in Canada,” said FOM's Chris Gallaway. medicinehatnews.com/news/local-n...

Healthcare delivery is a provincial responsibility. Creating 2-tiered systems violates national standards & raises serious Charter of Rights & Freedoms concerns Federal leaders need to hold the province accountable. medicinehatnews.com/life/local-l... #AbHealth #MedHat @friendsofmedicare.bsky.social

The Alberta government is cherry-picking evidence and comparing apples to oranges. There are many, very real differences between Alberta's health care system and those in nordic countries. There remains NO evidence that dual practice will improve care—and much evidence to the contrary.

Canada's Health Ministers are meeting in Winnipeg this week. Federal health funding renewals are good news! ... But we're still waiting for Minister Michel address the AB government's moves towards two-tier, U.S.-style health care & to enforce the CHA. www.friendsofmedicare.org/funding_rene...

🎯 "Scapegoating Ottawa and immigrants for the government’s failures to appropriately fund education and health care cannot absolve Premier Danielle Smith and her government from accountability. Albertans deserve better," write these U of A Emergency Medicine professors.

Canada's Health Ministers are meeting in Winnipeg this week. With mounting serious safety concerns in multiple for-profit Grifols-run paid plasma sites (incl. Calgary), FOM is joining health coalitions across Canada to demand urgent federal action. www.friendsofmedicare.org/feds_must_sh...

It’s wild how much we’re all being manipulated to think the problem for everything is immigrants. It’s absolutely not! We hit the streets for an experiment. Watch the reactions and share the truth before we vote. Vote NO to the 9! And Option 1 (Remain) on Question 10. #abpoli #canpoli #ableg

This referendum is a political distraction from the real issues currently facing our public services: government erosion & privatization. But worse, it's stoking chaos in our already disrupted healthcare system, risking a devastating physician shortage for Albertans. www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/art...

“Physicians should be able to focus on clinical decisions, not on determining a patient's immigration or coverage status.” The Alberta Medical Association has a list of unanswered questions stemming from Danielle Smith’s referendum… #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

Healthcare workers, experts, advocates & patients have called for action for YEARS. Instead of listening, AB Health Ministers are globetrotting to collect cherrypicked "evidence" to support their aggressive privatization agenda. 📢We deserve better! Tell them so: rebuildourhealthcare.ca/#take-action

Our volunteers are so magical the camera even picked up some rainbows! Thanks to these folks (and some more camera shy helpers) we hit over 1000 doors in Edmonton last night. Thank you! RSVP to join friends in Calgary this Saturday to keep the magic going: friendsofmedicare.org/yyc_oct10_bl...

My kind of Nation Building! For the people, disabled, elderly, you! "Our public health-care system is also our economic advantage. It’s our best competitive asset compared to our neighbours to the south — creating jobs, saving businesses money, and ensuring a healthier workforce that lives longer."

We deserve action to protect our sovereignty, our public health care systems, and patient care from the impacts of Bill 11 and the imposition of two-tier health care — before it's too late! 📢Tell the Feds to enforce the Canada Health Act: friendsofmedicare.org/EnforceTheCHA

Canada's medicare creates jobs, boosts our economy, keeps workers healthy—it's a clear nation-building project! So why is the Federal Government letting Alberta dismantle our public healthcare & turn it into a market for private profits?? Read FOM's latest op-ed: calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...

There is a growing chorus of experts all saying the same thing: Alberta's Bill 11 is a threat to patient access & a threat to our public health care systems. We urgently need Federal action to save Canada's medicare—before it's too late! 🍁📢 Help us demand it: friendsofmedicare.org/EnforceTheCHA

This Calgary anesthesiologist hits the nail on the head re: Bill 11!🎯 "All physicians take an oath to 'do no harm.' Yet under dual practice, those with money will be treated before those who are very sick and need it most." edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...

edmontonjournal.com/... Excellent Op-Ed - All Albertans and Canadians should read it 👇 "When my time matters most, will my place in line be determined by how urgently I need care — or by how much I can afford to pay for it? That is a question worth our time."

Brace yourselves for less equitable & more costly health care, Alberta! “Bill 11 ... is a gift to the for-profit insurance industry, which has admitted it has been working hand in hand with the government to push forward these changes": Chris Gallaway. www.friendsofmedicare.org/bill11_insur...

💯Take it from Canada's drs: Bill 11 is BAD NEWS! "Access to care will depend less on need & increasingly on a person’s ability to pay, moving Alberta closer to an American-style health-care system." 📢Tell the federal government to enforce the Canada Health Act! friendsofmedicare.org/EnforceTheCHA

Parliament resumes this week, which makes it the PERFECT time to send your Federal representatives a message re: Alberta's two-tier, U.S.-style health care legislation⏰ Already sent? Send another. Tell your friends & family to send it—It only takes a minute! 💌 friendsofmedicare.org/EnforceTheCHA

“Shifting the blame for a lack of investment in public services, in health care, in education, on to a minority community, and the consequences of that are quite dire,” said Bronwyn Bragg. No more scapegoating. EVERYONE deserves the health care they need! edmonton.citynews.ca/2026/09/16/i...

Bill 11 brings two-tier, U.S.-style health care to Alberta—including higher health insurance costs & premiums. And who stands to be hit the hardest? SENIORS. The last thing Alberta seniors need right now is higher expenses just to maintain their prescriptions!

Friends of Medicare --> ANOTHER harm of AB's two-tier, U.S.-style health care legislation: health insurance costs! That's more costs for families, more costs for businesses. Alberta employers take note!" medicinehatnews.com/news/local-n... #AbLeg #AHS @friendsofmedicare.bsky.social

Yet ANOTHER harm of AB's two-tier, U.S.-style health care legislation: major increases to health insurance costs! That's more costs for families, more costs for businesses. Alberta employers take note! 📢 Help STOP two-tier health care in Alberta: friendsofmedicare.org/EnforceTheCHA

Instead of subjecting Albertans to failed 'dual-practice' experiments, we need to listen to global evidence that shows preferential paid access = two-tier health care! ALL Albertans deserve equitable access to the care they need—regardless of their ability to pay for it. www.cbc.ca/news/health/...

“Airdrie residents have been clear for years that they want a hospital in their community. They want somewhere they can go in an emergency ... without worrying about highway conditions and travel time into Calgary,” said FOM's executive director, Chris Gallaway. calgaryherald.com/news/politic...

FOM's Chris Gallaway: The new centre in Airdrie is "good news and long overdue ... But we are disappointed that today’s announcement lacks costing and a timeline for its completion, and doesn’t include a plan to build the full hospital with an ER and acute care beds that this community requires."

📽️See you TONIGHT, St. Albert!