By The Canadian Press

Work needed to rebuild trust with doctors: Shandro

Mar 26, 2021 | 6:00 AM

EDMONTON – Alberta’s health minister says he regrets recently downplaying and dismissing the bitterness of a year-long fight with physicians over pay and working conditions.

And Tyler Shandro admits there’s work to be done rebuilding trust with doctors, who are currently voting on whether to ratify a proposed new master agreement between the province and the Alberta Medical Association.

Shandro made the comments to Alberta Medical Association doctors this week in a letter obtained by The Canadian Press.

He says his comments made on March 9th to a legislature budget committee were poorly chosen and that he did not mean to diminish the concerns and the frustrations felt by physicians

The fight with doctors began after Shandro unilaterally cancelled the master agreement with the association in early 2020 and implemented new fees that doctors called heavy-handed, unfair, and liable to force some family practices to close.

In response, doctors began withdrawing services, the A-M-A sued the province, and the two sides swapped angry attacks on social media before hammering out the tentative deal that is being voted on.