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ALBERTANS DEMAND: "KILL BILL 11!"
(This article is from the May 1-15/2000 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.)
As this issue of People's Voice goes to press, the battle against the Alberta government's attack on universal, non-profit Medicare continues to heat up. The latest indications are that Premier Klein's Tories will try to push Bill 11 through early in May. We urge all readers to defend Medicare today!
By Doug Meggison
EDMONTON, Tuesday, April 18 - Under a full moon and clear skies, a thousand voices joined in chants led by the Friends of Medicare. We were outside the Alberta Legislature, banging pans, blowing whistles, and moving in rhythm to conga drums.
"Kill the Bill, Kill the Bill, Kill the Bill," we cried. "This is what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like."
Inside, MLAs were debating Conservative government amendments to Bill 11, which if made law, will consolidate "two-tier" medicare in Canada. The proposed Tory legislation is cloaked in the sheep's clothing of the principles of the Canada Health Act. But beneath these principles, most Albertans now recognize the wolf.
While Bill 11 purports to make for-profit hospitals illegal, the weasel-word language of the Bill allows the profiteers to enter under the guise of "approved surgical facilities." That means that complex surgeries in private, for-profit hospitals could be paid by the public purse.
Premier Ralph Klein asserts that the integrity of the public system will be maintained, and that Alberta will not develop an American-type health care system. But he offers no proof for this claim.
The premier has repeatedly refused to engage in public debate over this issue, instead castigating opponents of his government as "left-wing nuts." The predictable response has been a plethora of buttons proclaiming the bearer as a "Left Wing Nut." Others are wearing a wing nut held by a piece of red yarn pinned to the left breast.
Two massive rallies helped spark this upsurge in the struggle against Bill 11. About 2,500 protested in Calgary on April 15, and 6,000 or more in Edmonton the next day.
Speaker Mel Hurtig got a good laugh at the Edmonton rally when he read off a placard: "Better a left wing nut than a right wing screw."
Actor Kiefer Sutherland, grandson of Medicare icon Tommy Douglas, told the crowds that the health care situation was deplorable in Los Angeles, where infant mortality rates are the worst in North America. Do Canadians want that?, he asked.
Dr. Wally temple, a prominent cancer doctor, combined reason and passion in his speech, asking how a marketized medicare can work if private, for-profit clinics are allowed to offer "enhanced services" under the terms of Bill 11. Surely those most desperate would be grossly harmed if Bill 11 becomes law, he pointed out, saying "it makes no sense."
As a volunteer fund collector, I saw many participants at the rally in Edmonton empty their last coins into my collection box. Regardless of Klein's propaganda and the efforts of his "truth squads," many, many Albertans are deeply worried about the consequences of Bill 11.
At the April 16 rally, some organizers waved placards at the exits, after Princess Warrior Marg Delahanty (comedian Mary Walsh) swung her sword yelling that she was "out of estrogen and after Ralph Klein." The placards advised the crowd to attend the debate on Bill 11 the following evenings at the Legislature.
The next night, about 400 of us showed up, but only 200 can be seated in the Galleries, where observers must remain silent.
As the non-admitted milled in the Legislature rotunda, one of the crowd spied a Tory minister at the top of the marble staircase which leads to the Assembly. "Get back inside and kill that Bill," she erupted.
Then someone else cried out, "Yeah, kill that Bill." Soon all of us were chanting. Young activists from the People's action Network (PAN) began to dance and mount the stairs. The crowd surged forward.
For over three hours we chanted and cried out for democracy in Alberta. Anything at hand became an instrument to beat out the notes of our protest. Liberal Opposition members who appeared were cheered. The lone New Democrat in the Legislature, Raj Pannu, was given a tumultuous cheer when he appeared. "Kill the Bill, Kill the Bill," we cried.
In my political memory, there has never been a protest like the April 17 demonstration inside the Alberta Legislature.
Predictably, we were locked out on the next night, but by this time the crowd had swelled to a thousand. The chant, "the people united will never be defeated," was revived. Anti-corporate activism has been reborn in Alberta!
For immediate updates on the struggle against Bill 11, visit www.savemedicare.org.
Update from Edmonton
APRIL 20 - Undeterred by Ralph Klein and the Edmonton Sun trumpetting exaggerated descriptions of vandalism and violence at Tuesday's demonstration, an even larger crowd turned out on Wednesday evening in front of the legislature, to beat on drums, pound on pots and pans, blow whistles and bellow slogans.
Several hundred people began chanting "Kill the Bill" at around 8 pm. More people were still arriving at 9:30, steadily swelling the numbers and the noise level. One enterprising middle-aged man brought an air-raid siren.
People of all ages made as much noise as they could for hours at a time, with an enthusiasm not usually seen in Canadians who haven't won the Stanley Cup. The announcement that a demonstration was also going on in Calgary was greeted with loud cheers.
Although Bill 11 has not been withdrawn, the morale of Medicare defenders has been lifted by the unexpectedly large numbers of new activists responding to Friends of Medicare's call. Several hundred people also showed up at the Legislature at noon today for the presentation of a petition. Organizers intend to continue actions both at noon on Mondays and Thursdays, and in the evenings when the Legislature is sitting.
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