More than 2,500 people rallying against Alberta’s Bill 11 turned out at the Calgary Saddledome April 15. Sponsored by Friends of Medicare, the two-hour event and a similar one held the next day in Edmonton, allowed opponents of the legislation to speak out against the bill that provides for overnight stays after medical procedures are done in privately owned facilities.
The majority of the province’s private clinics are in Calgary. The rally featured Christine Burdett, head of the Alberta Chapter of Friends of Medicare, Shirley Douglas and her son, actor Kiefer Sutherland. Douglas is the daughter of NDP leader Tommy Douglas, considered the father of medicare in Canada.
“There’s nothing wrong with the Canadian health-care system that couldn’t have been fixed,” said Douglas, who has been fighting against privatization of Canadian health for five years.
She is confident with federal and Alberta provincial elections on the horizon, govern-
ments will leave public health care intact.
