NDP’s Phillips says UCP has abandoned Albertans in COVID’s fourth wave

She said the rosy economic numbers Toews will present are not the numbers Albertans are interested in.

“Ten thousand. That’s what we’re expecting to cross today in active cases of COVID-19,” Phillips said. “There are currently 336 Albertans in hospital, 74 of whom are fighting for their lives in the ICU.”

“Where is the modelling they promised Albertans, where is the government and why are they not marshalling appropriate public health resources to ensure that we are fighting the fourth wave and keeping our economy moving forward.” _{— Shannon Phillips}

She said the fourth wave is largely infecting unvaccinated Albertans and tells us 70 per cent one-dose vaccination was not the right benchmark with the Delta variant.

She said the finance minister has some explaining to do.

“Where is the modelling they promised Albertans, where is the government and why are they not marshalling appropriate public health resources to ensure that we are fighting the fourth wave and keeping our economy moving forward.”

Phillips also took aim at UCP Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf.

She said 660,000 unvaccinated kids are going back to school this week with no co-ordinated province-wide plan to protect them.

On Friday, Neudorf suggested on a Lethbridge news program that the he hopes to see a quick rise in the COVID case rate and then a very quick decline.

She characterized the plan as “we’ll see what happens” and said she was appalled by those comments.

“At no point should a parent accept ‘we’ll see what happens’ as a response to the spread of a pandemic,” she said.

The NDP is demanding Neudorf apologize and resign his position as UCP caucus chair.

Today, NDP Caucus Chair @joececiyyc and Deputy Caucus Chair @SPhillipsAB have written to UCP Caucus Chair Nathan Neudorf demanding he apologize and resign his position as chair for his horrific comments, advocating for accelerated spread of COVID-19 in Alberta. #ableg #abhealth pic.twitter.com/mjf3tt6Z9d

— Rachel Notley (@RachelNotley) August 30, 2021

Neudorf sought to clarify his comments on Monday.

Phillips said other numbers Albertans are concerned about are Calgary’s July unemployment rate of nearly 10 per cent, the $4.7 billion in corporate tax cuts and the $1.5 billion spent on the Keystone XL pipeline.

She chastised the government for leaving $3 billion in federal funding left on the table by not signing a national childcare agreement and $1.25 billion unallocated and sitting in a contingency fund.

“Mental health counsellors in schools, small classrooms, an appropriate number of teachers and (educational assistants), investments in EMS, attracting rural doctors, ensuring paid sick days for workers. You name it, they could be doing all kinds of things to keep our economy moving with that $1.25 billion but it’s just sitting there in Mr. Toews’ metaphorical bureaucratic drawer.”

Phillips said the NDP would be protecting the economy from the fourth wave by following the advice of health experts and financial institutions, adding the economy won’t recover without an appropriate public health response.

“We would increase vaccine uptake, we would support appropriate mental health in schools, we would release the modelling and the data and we would never hide from Albertans,” she said.

by Chris Brown

NDP’s Phillips says UCP has abandoned Albertans in COVID’s fourth wave

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