Premier Ralph Klein and other government spokespeople were forced into damage-control mode last month after delegates to the government’s highly publicized Health Summit refused to do as they were told.

For three days in February, 200 delegates met in a hotel in Calgary to discuss the future of health care in Alberta.

Half of the delegates were drawn for organizations such as regional health authority boards, health care unions and chambers of commerce. The remaining delegates were so-called "ordinary Albertans" chosen randomly by an independent polling firm.

The delegates were asked by government organizers to discuss several questions related to the delivery and cost of health services.

For example, the delegates were called upon to define which health services are "essential." They were also asked to decide how much the government should spend on health care.

In both cases, delegates decided not to follow the summit organizers’ directions. They refused to make a priority list of health services and they refused to put a specific dollar amount on how much should be spent on health care.

Instead, the majority of delegates concluded that all Albertans should get the care they need, when they need it. Delegates also agreed that health services in Alberta should be delivered within a system that is publicly funded and publicly administered.

"This was clearly a victory for supporters of Medicare," said Alberta Federation of Labour president Audrey Cormack, who attended the Summit as a delegate. "The government tried to stack the deck. They wanted delegates to give approval for continued budget cuts and privatization in the health system. But very few delegates rose for the bait. Based on what we saw at the Summit, it’s clear that Albertans still want an properly-funded, public health care system."

After the Summit, the conference’s chairperson, Harley Johnson, met with reporters to sum up what he had heard from delegates. He agreed there was a consensus in support of a well-funded, public health care system.

Many delegates said the tone for the Summit was set by Dr. Tom Noesworthy who delivered the keynote address on the first night.

Canada’s system of public health care is one of the most effecient and cost-effective in the world, said Noseworthy, who acted as chair of the National Forum on Health and is currently a professor at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine.

Noseworthy warned against the introduction of more private, for-profit health care in Canada, saying it would drive costs up and reduce accessibility for all but the most wealthy.

The final report from the Health Summit will be released at the end of March.