THREAD: During a press conference in Lethbridge today, Premier Jason Kenney answered a range of questions, I'll detail here what was said.
First off, Kenney will be joining Dr. Hinshaw tomorrow during the COVID-19 to discuss restrictions and the Easter long weekend. #ableg
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Kenney was also asked about the failed agreement with the AMA, and if he is confident in Health Minister Tyler Shandro. Kenney says he is disappointed about the "narrow" rejection, and he wants to sit down with the AMA to find common ground.
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He again wants to point out how the province is grappling with a large deficit and sputtering economy, so the government cannot justify compensation costs for physicians. He thinks the AMA leadership understands this.
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"Minister Shandro has my full and 100% confidence," Kenney adds. He thinks Shandro has made tremendous efforts to show flexibility. He thinks the tentative agreement was solid, but they will take time to reflect here -- with Shandro included.
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Further on the AMA deal, Kenney reiterates that Shandro has his full confidence after being asked if the negotiations would be better with someone else at the helm. Adds how 40% of members didn't vote -- even though it was still a higher turnout than other similar votes.
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On the COVID-19 situation in Lethbridge, and concerns coming from doctors that they may not have capacity to care for people, Kenney says he has meetings today to discuss what's happening and their options. But he says the South Zone has adequate capacity overall.
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He says if we all follow the guidelines carefully, we can bend the curve back downward and get to the end in just a few weeks as vaccinations are given out.
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Reacting to calls for stricter restrictions to manage the rise in cases, Kenney says he "never" wants to chase COVID-zero. He thinks the risks would outweigh benefits. Adds he won't pursue any sort of strict lockdown.
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Maintains a focus on "balanced" approach to the virus. This includes preventing a large amount of deaths and not imposing strict restrictions that could cause some other negative effects. That said, we should be concerned about the rise in variant cases especially.
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Kenney says we are in a different place than last year, as we have delivered about half a million vaccines. In six to eight weeks, we should have even more massive coverage. And there's lots of ICU capacity to handle further rise in cases.
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On COVID-19 modelling, Kenney says they haven't posted any models since last year because of the "extremely poor track record" of these models. He thinks they undermine public confidence in the health response. But, the reality is it will be bad if the UK variant becomes dominant
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Kenney says he will have more to say on this specifically tomorrow.
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End of conversation
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