Good afternoon.

We at the Alberta Federation of Labour have joined the fight against Bill 37 because we believe it threatens the future of Medicare here in Alberta.

If passed by the Legislature this week, Bill 37 will give the government the power to approve, private for profit hospitals -- anywhere in the province.

This is the "foot-in-the door" that private health care companies like the Health Resources Group in Calgary have been waiting for.

Up until now, there have been numerous legal roadblocks to stop private companies from offering medical services covered by Medicare.

But if Bill 37 is approved, many of those roadblocks will be removed.

Under this bill, private companies will be allowed to sign contracts with regional health authorities. They will be allowed to provide Medicare-insured services. And they will be allowed to use taxpayer dollars to help pad their profits.

This is exactly what HRG has been hoping for and lobbying for.

And once HRG gets the go-ahead, we're convinced that some of the biggest health care corporations in the U.S won't be far behind.

The Premier and the Minister of Health both say we're over-reacting. They say that we're being alarmist.

Ever since Bill 37 was introduced in the Legislature in March the government has been trying to down-play it's importance.

The Premier has called it an innocuous bill. And Health Minister Halvar Jonson says we should trust him.

But how can we trust him? How can we trust the Tories when it comes to Medicare?

After all, this is the same government that has gutted Alberta's health care system.

This is the same government that has closed half the hospital beds in Edmonton and Calgary and laid off thousands of health care workers.

This is the same government that -- in five years -- took us from having the highest per capita spending on health care in the country to the lowest.

This is also the same government that has has privatized everything from liquor stores to birth certificates. This is the government that thinks privatization is the answer to every problem.

And now they want us to believe that they're going to defend Medicare from privatization. Pardon my skeptism -- but that's quite a stretch.

If you listen to Halvar Jonson, Bill 37 is actually good for health care in Alberta.

He says it will make it possible for him to stop private hospitals. That's true.

But, Bill 37 will also make it possible for the government to approve private hospitals. And, given this government's track record on health care, we think that's exactly what they're going to do.

The bottom line is that trusting the current Alberta government to defend public health care from privatization is like asking the fox to guard the henhouse. It's like giving a thief the key to your house and asking him to keep an eye on the place while you're away on vacation.

Whether they admit it publicly or not, the Tories have always wanted to expand private health care in Alberta -- Bill 37 will give them the tools to do the job.

That's why we want to stop Bill 37. From our point of view, it will be the beginning of the end for Medicare as we know it.

That may be what HRG wants. It may be what the big American health corporations want. And it may be what many members of the Tory caucus want. But it's not what Albertans want.

That's why we're urging people to call their MLA's, to call the Health Minister, to call the Premier.

We have to stop this bill before it becomes law. We have to convince the government to abandon its plans for privatization in health care. We have to stand up and say no to private hospitals ... The future of Medicare in Alberta depends on it.

Thank you.