Shannon Phillips highlighted a video of Neudorf answering a healthcare question at a recent candidates forum at the Lethbridge Public Library on May 8, 2023. (Photo: Rachel Notley on Youtube)

By Christian Oldale/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Lethbridge NDP candidate says UCP rival supports paid health care, he denies the accusation

May 11, 2023 | 4:30 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Alberta NDP is accusing Lethbridge-East UCP candidate Nathan Neudorf of supporting paid emergency health care.

Lethbridge-West NDP candidate Shannon Phillips highlighted a video of Neudorf answering a question at a recent candidates’ forum at the Lethbridge Public Library on May 8. Neudorf was recorded as saying, “Maybe if people had to pay for emergency room visits, they might think twice about going to the emergency room for something that is not an emergency.”

Phillips brought attention to Neudorf’s comment at a news conference on the morning of May 11.

Phillips said, “The deputy premier, second-in-command to Danielle Smith, thinks that visiting an emergency room is an unfortunate abuse of public health care. This is the same UCP MLA that sat on his hands while physicians left Lethbridge. He cheered the UCP’s war on doctors, he justified it and did nothing.”

Phillips added, “While the UCP wants you to pull out your debit card at the emergency room, I promise you this: with an Alberta NDP government, led by Rachel Notley, the only card you will ever use to access care is your health care card.”

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Neudorf responded to the accusation, saying his priorities are to keep health care public.

He explained in a news release from the UCP on May 11, “I have always been a strong supporter of public health care. I voted for a budget that added an additional $1 billion to Alberta’s public health care system and my wife is a proud registered nurse. I also supported the Public Health Guarantee and the $24 billion, 10-year health care funding agreement with the federal government. Because of these efforts, no Albertan will have to pay out-of-pocket to see a doctor or access needed health care services.”

The UCP release also criticized the NDP as “desperate to distract from Rob Miyashiro’s missteps”. The Lethbridge-East NDP candidate was called out for allegedly sharing a social media post on Twitter, which reportedly likened the Alberta wildfires to the UCP’s time in office.

Neudorf said in the release, “Mr. Miyashiro isn’t acting like a serious candidate and voters are starting to notice. The NDP central campaign is falling back on fear-and-smear tactics to distract from their candidate’s missteps, but it won’t work.”

The alleged retweet has since been removed from Miyashiro’s profile. When asked about the social media post at an NDP announcement on May 9, Miyashiro did not provide comment.