On February 8, 2010, David Swann delivered his official response to the Speech from the Throne. Here are his remarks:

Dr. Swann: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As Leader of the Opposition it’s my duty and honour, indeed my privilege to rise today to respond to the Speech from the Throne. When he delivered the Speech from the Throne on Thursday, His Honour the Lieutenant Governor was quite eloquent in remarking on how much he appreciated the opportunity to travel this province and meet with so many amazing Albertans. Just as His Honour is grateful for his experience as Lieutenant Governor, so too am I grateful to serve as Leader of the Official Opposition. As I’m sure His Honour would agree, it’s not the title or the privileges that make the job mean so much; it’s the opportunity to serve our province and its people and, in the course of our duties, to meet so many fine Albertans, to experience every corner of this beautiful province, and to work for a better tomorrow for all of us.

I’d like to thank His Honour for five years of outstanding service to Alberta and wish him and his lovely wife all the best. They did a remarkable job, and Albertans are justly proud of the Kwongs.

You could say that the China Clipper’s term was one last touchdown for a great Albertan. Your Honours, thank you.

Like His Honour I’ve been impressed and uplifted by the spirit and compassion of Albertans. Though times are hard, people are still looking out for each other and working hard for a better future for their families and for the magnificent province we call home.

This past weekend I went snowshoeing with my brother in the foothills west of Calgary. The beauty, the serenity of the landscape reminded me again of why I am in politics today. I love this place. The snow blanketing those beautiful foothills, the trees, the wildlife all reminded me that Alberta and Albertans will be here long after all of us are gone, and that’s why good governance and visionary leadership is critical. We need to serve not only our own generation but all future generations to come.

Serving the public interest for the short term and the long term means a greater commitment to getting people involved in government initiatives. If the administration plans to massively overhaul health care or energy or education, then consultation with the most directly affected citizens and organizations is key, and I mean real consultation, not after-the-fact, focused consultation intended as a rubber stamp for decisions the government has already made. We must be beyond that now. We need to go beyond that. If we want to preserve the beauty, the biological diversity of these foothills and the whole province that I enjoyed so much in these last few weeks, then we must also commit to using good science as our primary guide to public endeavours. Science – and I’m including all the sciences here – provides the essential data we need to make the right decisions on the environment, the economy, education, and social programs. We need the courage to use our best science and put our plans before the public for honest debate and improvements without pride or prejudice.

That’s why I’m in politics, because this administration has not taken these fundamental principles to heart. This has created an undercurrent of grave concern among Albertans, if not distrust. People are hurting: thousands out of work, thousands more afraid that the public health care system and other crucial social services won’t be there when they need them. Already vulnerable Albertans are facing diminished levels of service because of cutbacks.

Albertans don’t ask for much from government, but they do demand a basic level of competence, a level of competence that the Premier’s administration has failed to deliver. Politics in Alberta isn’t about right versus left anymore. It’s about right versus wrong, and this Conservative administration has become infamous for making the wrong decisions. Wrong decisions made by this Premier and his ministers have sown chaos in the health care system, have created instability and uncertainty in our oil and gas sector, the engine of Alberta’s economy. They’ve damaged our international reputation and our environment, failed to enforce standards to address pollution and climate change, have allowed family farms to stagnate and wither, have failed to protect our forests and the forestry industry. Wrong spending decisions have frittered away the opportunity to save for the future and wasted millions of taxpayers’ dollars on lavish perks for the elite, reducing support by 30 per cent over the last 20 years for Albertans most vulnerable to this economic recession.

I’ve always been from the good news first school of thought, so I’m happy to give the administration credit for a few good notions contained in this throne speech. Unfortunately, even the good news is tainted by the administration’s long record of half measures and broken promises. As a believer in planning for the long term I applaud the Premier and the minister of health for providing Alberta Health Services with a five-year budget cycle, provided the allocation is actually sufficient to meet the system’s needs. Considering all the damage done to our public health care system by this administration’s catastrophic bungling, this is, at least, a small step towards restoring a smidgen of confidence to the health care professionals who have done their best while dealing with the consequences of this administration’s mismanagement.

Bill 1, the Alberta Competitiveness Act, is a step forward for efficiency. I’ve long advocated for less red tape for Alberta’s business community, and I’m glad that this administration finally sees this as a priority. But speaking of competitiveness, what happened to the competitiveness review? Why has it been delayed? For that matter, whatever happened to the red tape review led by the new finance minister himself? The fact that the minister seems to have dropped the ball here doesn’t instill me or Albertans with great confidence. Did he lose it along with his briefcase a few weeks ago?

At a time when the oil and gas sector is desperate for stability, when they need confidence, this administration cannot provide it. Cleaning up some red tape is fine, but it’s not nearly enough to erase years of mishandling in the energy portfolio. What we have here is, basically, a new panel with a vague mandate to speed up the process of establishing government initiatives and evaluating regulations. This Conservative administration has already set up a regulatory review commission with a similar mandate to the one being established in Bill 1. If they couldn’t make it work with that commission, how can Albertans expect anything from this new initiative? This is the Premier’s number one bill. Frankly, I’m underwhelmed. If this is the best you can come up with for your administration’s top bill, Alberta is in even more trouble than we thought.

We’re glad to see that the Premier’s administration has heeded opposition and community calls for more police officers, but even the addition of a hundred officers will leave Alberta’s two largest cities underpoliced. Per capita Calgary and Edmonton are two of the least protected cities in the country when it comes to crime. We simply need more boots on the ground to meet population growth. And what about Fort Macleod and the police college: whatever happened to that project? It’s wrong to leave the people of Fort Macleod hanging, Mr. Speaker. They haven’t forgotten this administration’s promise.

Finally, I’m glad that the administration is at last starting to think about unfairness in the federal EI program. Alberta workers haven’t been getting their fair share of rightfully earned benefits, and the opposition and labour groups have been raising this issue for months. I hope that the Premier can make some real progress and bring those benefits home to Alberta workers, working moms and dads who desperately need and deserve that assistance. I would suggest that the Premier should also do something about skyrocketing wait times for processing EI applications. Many Albertans live paycheque to paycheque. They can’t afford to wait for months for EI benefits, nor can the Premier shift all responsibility to the federal government. Provincial income supports need to be examined to make sure that unemployed Albertans will have somewhere to turn when EI benefits are exhausted.

Well, Mr. Speaker, aside from these few bright spots, even by the rightfully diminished expectations of Albertans in this throne speech we see a new low standard for a government that is clearly out of ideas. The cupboard is bare: virtually no new ideas, no leadership, no vision, no inspiration, no imagination, and no plan. Given the Conservative track record many of these commitments will drag on for years and years without any real progress. The sheer emptiness of this administration’s Speech from the Throne leads me to expect the worst from tomorrow’s budget.

For years opposition parties, think tanks, journalists, and Albertans from all walks of life have implored successive Conservative administrations to change their approach when it comes to public spending. Instead, we have seen them stuck in a common pattern: spend lavishly during good times, indiscriminately slash vital public services when oil and gas prices fall. That’s a hell of a way to run a car wash, Mr. Speaker, let alone a province. It’s the complete opposite of how to sensibly manage public finances in a province with a cyclic economy.

After nearly four decades in power you’d think this administration would clue in at some point. Yes, the administration built up a sustainability fund, a Liberal idea I’ll remind you, but it’s a fraction of the size it could have been, and it’s not nearly large enough to maintain public services during a long recession. This administration’s financial planning is based on a wing and a prayer that oil and gas prices will bounce back in the near future. Well, we all hope that will be the case, but that’s not a plan. It seems pretty foolhardy to me and to a lot of other Albertans.

I expect that Tuesday’s budget will bear more bitter fruit of Tory short-sightedness. Along with jobs and the economy, health care is the number one concern for Albertans. But aside from the five-year funding cycle promoted for Alberta Health Services in the throne speech, there’s nothing that’s remotely reassuring for Albertans. You say that input from Albertans is important. What will this be, then, the 17th or 18th consultation process in the last decade?

Another report will be promptly filed away to collect dust. This administration has yet to show with detailed plans how they will protect public health care. This administration has yet to show that they have a plan to create more family doctors, to create more long-term care spaces, to improve emergency room access and wait times, and to address mismanagement and waste throughout the system.

Our vision for health care very simply calls for a return to regional delivery programs focusing on primary health care, a family doctor for every Albertan, home-care services to keep people well and in their homes as long as possible, and reinvestment in prevention programs and wellness programs to keep Albertans healthy and reduce costs. Let’s get back to basics. We are spending more and getting less because of a lack of clear planning, practical patient-centred decision-making, and follow-through on those plans with ongoing monitoring and evaluation. These are real problems that should be tackled now. Albertans have had their fill of studies and ad hoc decision-making. Pick the best ideas from the endless reports, and act on them. Even the five-year funding pledge means nothing if the funding isn’t adequate to cover the system’s needs. If this administration stays true to form, at best it might give health care professionals a head start on cutting back programs and services as budgets are being slashed.

The Official Opposition receives more mail, e-mail, and phone calls about health care than any other single issue. From professionals to patients to family members, the people of Alberta are demanding better management of this public health care system, not for reasons of ideology, not because they have a grudge against the government, but because bad decisions and misallocated resources are having real impacts: delays, complications, and increased costs.

I’m going to read into the record just a few of the hundreds of horror stories that have been sent to us in the last few months. These letters, e-mails, and phone transcripts are edited only for length, to protect the jobs of health care professionals, or to omit the mention of names of members of this House.

Here’s one example.

I am a medical Resident who works in Calgary. I have seen firsthand the devastation the health reforms and mismanagement of the H1N1 vaccination program has caused. Last month, I was working in the [Peter Lougheed Centre] ICU. 14 out of 16 patients in ICU were [there] with severe H1N1. Most were under the age of 40. Most were previously healthy. None had the opportunity to be vaccinated prior to the outbreak. We were fortunate, on ICU, to be encouraged to leave for our vaccinations the [very] first day they were available – most other staff, patients, and other front line workers were not so fortunate. Only a fraction of people were able to get vaccinated before the vaccine was pulled. After the vaccination schedule was “reintroduced,” I witnessed seven nurses, waiting to vaccinate anyone who came to the clinic. No one came . . . for hours. [These staff] were paid to sit there, and wait, while patients upstairs were told to wait until the following week and then come downstairs to the clinic to get their vaccine. The nurses said that the vaccine that wasn’t used by the end of the day would be discarded.

Another crazy scenario: Again while on ICU, we had a patient who had been waiting for transfer to the ward for so long that he was actually ready for discharge from ICU. Only he needed 3 additional days of oral antibiotics. We tried to give him a [prescription] for the drugs, but being homeless, he could not afford . . . the prescription. The in-patient pharmacy is now restricted in terms of giving meds to patients at discharge (ie. they can [only] dispense one day’s worth, but not more – because of budget cuts). So this gentleman, with no medical bed (only an ICU bed) was required to stay in ICU for 3 additional days, because the hospital would not give him $25 [worth] of antibiotics. (The Math: 3 x $2,000/day . . . = $6,000 cost, because we can’t give him $25 of free antibiotics).

Here’s another story from a health care professional.

I am a Registered Nurse. I have 15 years of work experience, and this is after attending a 4.5 year degree program here in Canada. The government and their arms (including Dr. Duckett) are seeing that I will no longer be a trusted front line worker. I am now a business expense. I am the reason the budget doesn’t balance. I only exist to fight over the remaining managerial positions, and only after I orientate an LPN to [take over] my job. I used to love being a nurse. I used to think that I was a required resource. I used to think that I was part of the budget – not the expendable piece of waste that is being cut . . .

I immunized thousands of Albertans every week during the H1N1 campaign. I have been verbally abused, and threatened in the early stages of this debacle called the “Pandemic Plan” while the government stands by and says we are all doing our best. Bah! If you want my best, then let’s all go read the Pandemic Influenza Plan that is on our internal website and see just how the plan was supposed to go. Then let’s admit that it was you (the government) and not me (the Registered Nurse) who decided to ignore most of the parts that dealt with triage. Let’s just say that the Alberta Government has embarrassed me, infuriated me, and led me to believe that another province may be a better place for me and my family . . .

Now of course, I can’t sign my name, or even my place of work because I have a code of ethics that does not protect me when I have something to say to the public. So, you have to take my word that I am an RN here in Alberta . . . Big Brother is watching and has a copy of that code of ethics in hand to swat me with if I step out of line.

Here are a few shorter but no less shocking comments.

“I have been with the Calgary Health Region for 25 years, and never have seen things as bad as they are now.”

“I have never been so concerned with the future of health care as I have this year and [I] have been working in the system [now] for 35 years. I hope that something can be done before it is too late.”

“My mother (68 years old) was on the waiting list for a routine colonoscopy for two years before she was called for an appointment. The terrible thing about the situation was that she was diagnosed with colon cancer before she was able to get the colonoscopy.”

“Was it not just 3 years ago that the colleges and universities in Alberta expanded their programs to accept more nursing students? And the 2010 graduating class now has a 40% chance of finding a job in Alberta. This is not planning for our future.”

Mr. Speaker, this is just a small sampling of the typical concerns we receive in our offices every day. I’m sure that even government members are hearing the same kind of stories. Yet it’s absolutely clear to me that this administration will never get health care right. You had your chance, and I have a feeling that Albertans are ready to move on.

The Speech from the Throne also talks about a new vision for education, but the only thing Albertans know about this administration’s vision for education is that you keep saying you have a vision for education. Why not provide Albertans with something concrete? Why haven’t you reported back on the Inspiring Education dialogue? Why did you pull the new School Act from the agenda for this spring sitting? Is it because you’re starting to realize that your vision for education isn’t the same as the vision shared by Albertans? I don’t see a vision for education from this administration, just another collection of wrong decisions.

It was wrong to violate the contract with teachers and then fight and lose the case in court. The Minister of Education’s response to the ongoing teachers’ wage issue has been less than inspiring. He was obviously completely unprepared for a verdict that favoured the teachers. It was wrong to claw back $80 million from Alberta’s public school boards. Can Alberta’s students and parents expect even greater cuts to come? It’s wrong to cut education funding, our primary investment in our future. By all means, look for efficiencies, but ensure stable, dependable funding for this vital public program, especially during recessionary times.

It’s wrong to fire a school board without exhausting all avenues of understanding and board support. It’s wrong that we have an administration whose only response to the social challenges faced by aboriginal communities is to fire their local school board. A short simple message repeated by many Calgarians has made its way to our offices. It reads: Alberta’s continued prosperity will depend on the knowledge and skills of its future citizens; in these times more than ever it’s important to continue to invest in our children’s education, and as a concerned Albertan I urge you not to cut funding for our schools. End of quote. As ever, there is great wisdom in the direct, no-nonsense advice of Albertans. This administration should listen.

The throne speech contains a claim that the Premier’s administration will build world-class universities. How can this be accomplished when the minister of advanced education has already admitted that the best-case scenario for postsecondary funding this year is a zero per cent increase. The University of Calgary is already laying off staff; the University of Alberta is considering the same. We should be investing in postsecondary education and research to move Alberta from a 20th century economy to a 21st century economy.

It’s wrong, Mr. Speaker, to balance a budget on the backs of students. Students and their families are rightfully alarmed by the prospect of massive tuition increases. Now more than ever Alberta needs talented graduates to fill the jobs in the energy sector, the health sector, information technology, agriculture, et cetera. How can we ever address emergency room wait times and the need for greater capacity and long-term care without more professionals? How can we continue to keep the energy sector alive without new engineers and scientists? These short-sighted policies are driving away our best and our brightest.

The minister should say no to each and every request for tuition fee increases. It wasn’t so very long ago that this Conservative administration promised the lowest tuition fees in Canada, an admirable goal that really would have increased Alberta’s competitiveness and quality of life. Alberta’s students and their parents know what those promises are worth.

Consider this letter from last month to the advanced education minister from Rithesh Ram and Natarie Liu, presidents, respectively, of the classes of 2012 and 2011 of the Calgary Medical Students’ Association. In their letter they write:

We request that you consider the following when considering a change to post-secondary funding:

• Government deregulation of medical tuition in the 1990’s led medical tuition to increase to triple that of other undergraduate programs.
• Tuition often exceeds maximum government student assistance intended for all education-related costs (housing, tuition, food).
• Deregulation has decreased the number of students from low income families from 35% to 13.5% [in medical schools].
• Medical school tuition is seen as a barrier to students from rural communities who are interested in pursuing a career in medicine.
• A survey of Canadian interns and residents from 2006 found that a first-year resident will have a $158,000 debt that will continue to climb during residency; this value is [actually] higher in Alberta.

Please, do not create a system in which my educational and career choices are prescribed by my ability to pay.

In difficult times a responsible government would focus on protecting public services that Albertans depend upon while finding efficiencies to bring down the deficit. This administration claims to protect public services, but ask anyone who depends on PDD funding how they feel about this government’s spending priorities. These people are desperate, and they weren’t getting the help they needed even during the boom. Betraying their security and wellbeing is wrong.

Ask any of Alberta’s seniors how they feel about this administration’s priorities. Seniors deserve all the gratitude we can offer. People want the dignity of compassionate care in their golden years.

It’s wrong to leave our seniors without enough public long-term care, crowding in our hospitals, and placing incredible financial burdens on the few families lucky enough to be able to afford long-term care at private facilities. Why does this administration rely on selling bonds to build long-term care spaces for seniors? That should be part of the government’s annual spending. It’s not enough that Albertans buy bonds, another debt, by the way. Are you going to blame them for the lack of affordable housing as well?

The environment is another top issue for Albertans. We all want to protect our air, water, and land. We all want to participate in the fight against climate change to protect the health of our children and grandchildren and to ensure that Alberta’s economy will remain prosperous in an increasingly competitive, environmentally aware world. It’s wrong to play politics with our primary economic driver. We need a long-term plan that includes other provinces, forging a common approach to carbon reduction. Even the federal Tories are admitting that Alberta needs to do better, but all this administration offers us is carbon capture and more money for slick ad campaigns. That won’t cut it.

My Energy critic and I spent months talking to oil and gas companies. We know that their leaders want to do their part. It’s time to work constructively with industry and start working together to make our oil and gas sector not only the most competitive in the world but also the cleanest. It’s time to protect and renew Alberta’s reputation by ensuring the highest standards of leadership and a clean energy agenda.

A responsible government would realize that the term of the current capital plan should be extended. It took years of neglect by this administration to create Alberta’s massive infrastructure deficit, but the plan to address the deficit was created during the waning days of the boom. Yes, Alberta’s communities need new infrastructure, but surely we could roll out new projects more slowly now, distributing the impact on Alberta’s books over a longer time period with the evident reduced construction costs that we’re now facing. After all, new infrastructure does no one any good if the government can’t afford to cover operating costs, and massive deficits pose exactly that risk. We’re already spending at stimulus levels double the national average.

The most precious and potentially vulnerable citizens of all, Alberta’s at-risk children, have been completely overlooked in this throne speech. There is no commitment here to improve services to at-risk children and youth. Bosco Homes, Boys and Girls clubs have already suffered devastating cuts, and the Children and Youth Services portfolio has been rightfully criticized as the worst-run department in government right now. Children deserve all the love and support society can offer, and it’s simply wrong not to make children and youth our very highest priority. The sustainability fund should be used to protect people and essential services, not the Conservative administration’s reputation for balanced budgets.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, we see no vision, no imagination, no leadership in this throne speech, just a knee-jerk swing to the right to appease disgruntled Tories within the Conservative caucus and a few token patch-up jobs to cover oversights that a responsible administration would have taken care of years ago. When I was a young man growing up in Calgary, my parents set an example for me. Their words and their actions made it clear that a moral life meant following two essential rules: first, tell the truth; secondly, take care of each other. Elected officials are entrusted by the people with the power to make far-reaching decisions affecting every citizen in this province and beyond. When governments fail to tell the truth, when they fail to protect our common interests, everyone loses.

I have seen incompetent, negligent leadership ruin our health care system, the same mismanagement lead to the abuse and neglect of seniors, people we should be venerating not with words but with deeds that actually give them the dignity and care they deserve. I’ve seen this administration squander the legacy of our children by spending over 90 per cent of nonrenewable resource revenues, saving only a pittance for the future, a pittance that will soon be used up to weather this recession.

During my travels and work around the world I have seen what happens when governments become old and corrupt: dissenting voices become afraid to speak; waste gets worse each year; decisions are made without proper consultation or scientific analysis. Perhaps worst of all, the people in power come to feel a dangerous sense of entitlement. They come to feel that they are above public scrutiny.

A responsible government would behave far differently than this current administration.

Indeed, Mr. Speaker, everyone should have a family doctor thanks to long-term planning, incentives for health care professionals, and affordable tuition to create a new generation of professionals. We would have hospitals that work, with nurses and doctors that aren’t stretched to and beyond their limit. We would have seniors enjoy quality, affordable long-term care and prevention and wellness initiatives, including mental health, to help everyone lead healthier lives and lower the costs on the health care system.

A responsible administration would actually act on the advice of the Auditor General. They would work with the energy industry to hammer out a final royalty deal that serves our most important sector and the people of Alberta while protecting the environment. It would create the conditions to foster a flourishing upgrading and value-added sector in Alberta. It would reform the electricity system with the best interests of the consumers in mind, and it would repeal or amend all legislation that limits access to information, freedom of speech, and public consultation. Albertans have solutions, and this administration is foolish not to listen.

A responsible administration would stop spending millions on PR campaigns and actually protect our environment. It would create incentives to move to more clean energy sources and jobs related to energy efficiency, housing, and public transit. In my travels I’ve discovered that as proud as Albertans are of their province, many of us share a sense that we could do better. With the resources at our command – our natural wealth, our well-educated, well-skilled population, our can-do culture – we should be able to build a truly world-class society, including hospitals, postsecondary institutions, and research centres. If we put our minds to it, we could build the world’s first truly sustainable economy. We could be leaders in that race.

We must eliminate homelessness and dramatically reduce poverty in this province.

All this is possible with a government that committed itself to four simple principles: health, enterprise, foresight, integrity. This is a time for solutions. We need energetic, forward-looking leadership, a government that can adapt with changing times and new challenges. We need a government that makes decisions based on principles, not political expediency. We can do better.

As I snowshoed recently with my brother across Alberta’s snow-covered foothills, I saw with perfect clarity what I and my caucus have been fighting for over many years of professional work and now five years, for me, in politics: a better way for our province, its economy, its environment, and most importantly for our people. My vision for tomorrow includes everyone who calls Alberta home, everyone who wants to return to the sensible centre, a return to common-sense government, government that listens honestly, works for the public interest, the common good, and a better future for everyone.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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