NDP CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT COVID ADVISORY GROUP AFTER KENNEY’S DISMISSAL OF HINSHAW’S ADVICE REVEALED

EDMONTON - Alberta’s NDP Opposition is calling for the establishment of an independent COVID-19 advisory group to report data and provide advice to Albertans, following the revelation that Dr Deena Hinshaw’s relationship with Premier Jason Kenney has become a “bloody and excruciating campaign.” 

Recordings of meetings among senior public health officials, released today, show that Dr. Hinshaw’s advice has been discarded by the Kenney government.

“Despite constant claims that he is following Dr. Hinshaw’s advice to the letter, I’ve lost count of the number of times he has deflected criticism by hiding behind Dr. Hinshaw’s skirt,” said Rachel Notley, Leader of the NDP Official Opposition. “The revelations today further amplify the degree to which Jason Kenney has been lying to Albertans. He has been ignoring public health advice and by doing so, jeopardizing the health, safety, and economic security of Albertans.”

On Tuesday, despite Alberta having the highest number of active COVID-19 cases in the country, Kenney announced only a grab-bag of half measures. He refused to implement a mask policy, leaving Alberta as still the only province in Canada without one.

“We are in grave danger,” Notley said. “More than a thousand of our friends, family members and neighbours are being infected with COVID-19 each day. Our hospitals and ICUs are filling up, diverting resources away from Albertans with other medical issues and pushing our healthcare professionals to the brink of exhaustion. And it’s clear now that the leadership structure is broken.

“So today I am calling on Jason Kenney to establish an independent advisory group of public health and scientific experts. In order to avoid politicization of their selection, these experts must have peer-reviewed credentials and they would report directly to the people of Alberta with the data that the government has refused to release and provide unfiltered recommendations based on their professional expertise.”