Nenshi blasts Smith over health care, Shapiro and more

Alexandra Noad,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

During a visit to Lethbridge Tuesday, Naheed Nenshi said he has talked to many people in the agriculture sector and most people believe when it comes to coal mining on the eastern slopes, the negative far outweighs the positive.

“No one can understand what the political benefit to this government is,” he said. “It’s clearly something Albertan’s don’t want, it’s clearly something that has very little economic benefit for a lot of environmental risk.”

Meanwhile, a memo sent out by AHS last week saying that it would be cutting back on giving patients’ snacks, is another example of the “incompetence” of Danielle Smith’s government, especially when it comes to AHS.

“It’s just another example of two things,” said Nenshi. “Number one, their overall incompetence – how they have so much trouble running a system – but number two, how they make outrageous claims then walk them back marginally, while the root policy is still there.”

In a media statement Tuesday, acting AHS CEO Andre Tremblay said that the proposed policy was misinterpreted and “not meant to deprive  patients of food.” He said AHS is “looking into reports that food and drink may not have been available to patients.” The statement goes on to say proposed changes were aimed at limiting food waste and ensuring available food went to the patients who require it.

The province announced recently that $17 million would be going toward urgent care facilities, with one in Airdrie to be run by One Health, a private company. Lethbridge is also in line for a new urgent care facility, and while the province says Airdrie is the only clinic that will be privately run, Nenshi said the province doesn’t actually have a plan in place.

“The province did suggest that all of these urgent care centres, except for the one in Airdrie, would be publicly run, they originally said by AHS, and then they said by somebody through a competitive process – they’re making it up as they go along.”

However, a statement made available to media by Alberta Health counters Nenshi’s assertion, saying the operating model, approved last fall, will see One Health Airdrie as the primary care operator, while urgent care services will be publicly funded and operated by a provider selected through a competitive process.

Nenshi also shared his frustration about the amount of infrastructure the province has announced while not providing funding for said projects.

“For example, the province has announced a cardiac science facility to help people who have heart attacks at the Chinook Regional Hospital so many times and hasn’t actually funded it,” he pointed out. “Similarly, they’ve announced a bunch of schools and they funded the construction of none of them.”

With the threat of tariffs looming over the province, Nenshi said Premier Danielle Smith’s strategy of “using her charm” isn’t working, and adds that she doesn’t have a backup plan.

“(Smith is) sucking up to extremists in the US, assuming that they’re going to be charmed by her, and it will cause President Trump to drop his entire economic policy,” he says. “She has no backup plan. In fact, today we learned that her backup plan is to team up with the province of Quebec and be separatists together.”

In a 20-minute fireside chat with Ben Shapiro at a fundraiser for PragerU last week, Smith said she convinced the right-wing influencer to talk about tariffs. However, Shapiro has been talking about tariffs for months, and while he says tariffs are a bad idea, he also believes Canada should be annexed and should become the 51st state.

Nenshi believes Smith should not take Canada’s sovereignty lightly and believe that talk about the “51st state” is just a joke.

“She needs to stop making light of Canada’s sovereignty…and she needs to stand up and fight for Canada, something we haven’t seen from her yet.”

With the cost of living rising at an alarming rate, Nenshi voiced his concerns about the lack of measures put in place for the cost of housing, utility rates and auto insurance in Alberta, which are among the highest in the country.

“We can do a lot about auto insurance rates, we can do a lot about utility rates and we can do a lot about housing, and this government really has shown no instinct in doing any of them.”

Unlike Smith, who recently asked the U.S. to pause tariffs so they can “get through an election,” Nenshi said he plans to stay out of federal politics, as he trusts Albertans to make their own choices for representation.

“I will continue to push all the parties on what is right for Alberta,” he said, “but I’m not endorsing anybody, I’m not getting involved in anything.”

Alexandra Noad,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Lethbridge Herald