Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

“Access Block” What is it and what are the challenges facing the Alberta Health Care System? With Dr. Paul Parks

The speaker will define and provide examples of “Access Block” within our Health Care system, and discuss what it means for patients and patient outcomes.   An overview of the current challenges and issues growing within our system, that impair timely access to acute health care in our province will be considered. 

 

Speaker:     Dr. Paul Parks MD, FRCPC           

 

From 2006 to the present, Dr. Parks has been actively involved in provincial & national Emergency Department Overcrowding (EDOC) advocating for important access initiatives and changes.  Since 2009, he has been advocating provincially for the open & unfettered ability for physicians to advocate on behalf of their patients, & was actively involved in the government-initiated Health Quality Council of Alberta Review which concluded in 2012. This review stated unequivocally that both “Access Block” & Physician Intimidation were & still are significant issues in health care delivery within Alberta.  Dr. Parks’ advocacy has been honoured with the Alan Drummond Advocacy Award in 2011; and the Public Interest Alberta Award in 2014.

 

Dr. Paul Parks is currently an Emergency Physician at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, & is the President of the Section of Emergency Medicine for the Alberta Medical Association & is presently clinical lecturer at the University of Calgary - Dept of Emergency Medicine & Family Medicine. He was Trauma Team Leader & clinical lecturer at the University of Alberta - Emergency Medicine. Paul is an Emergency Medicine Examiner with the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada & is an Emergency Clinical Network Member with Alberta Health Services (AHS). In recognition of his teaching and Resident Mentorship, Dr. Parks received the University of Calgary’s Clinical Teaching Award, the Canadian Emergency Medicine Teacher of Year in 2007 as well as Outstanding Clinical Teacher of Medical Students from the University of Alberta.

 

Paul Parks is happily married to his wife Samantha and proud father to two daughters.  A movie buff, avid reader and participant and Board of Director of the Medicine Hat Musical Theatre.  He is a Craft Beer lover, and co-founder and co-owner of Hell’s Basement Brewery.

Pandemics: Community-based responses to HIV, AIDs and COVID-19 with Leah Odle-Benson Stephen Lewis Foundation

The Stephen Lewis Foundation will share how their community-based partners in South Africa are safeguarding the years of progress made in the fight against HIV and AIDs while battling the challenges of COVID-19. 

 

 

Speaker: Leah Odle-Benson  (she/her) | Deputy Director, Impact and Learning

Stephen Lewis Foundation

 

             

 

The Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) is a progressive, feminist organization rooted in the principles of social justice, international solidarity, and substantive equality. The SLF was created with the express purpose of supporting community-based organizations working on the frontlines of the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Many of these grassroots organizations were originally formed by small groups of individuals responding to the crisis AIDS had wrought in their own lives and in the lives of their neighbours.  Over the years, they have developed into thriving local institutions with deep connections to their communities. The SLF’s community-based partners are turning the tide of HIV and AIDS by providing care and support to women, orphaned children, LGBTIQ individuals, Grandmothers and people living with HIV and AIDS.”

Human Trafficking – Hidden in Plain Sight. With Jessica Brandon from ACT Alberta

ACT Alberta provides training and education on human trafficking to service providers and stakeholders throughout the province. Incidents of human trafficking often happen in plain sight, yet may go unnoticed due to lack of citizen understanding and information. The speaker will discuss the tools needed to accurately identify red flags and indicators of human trafficking and what citizens can do to safely respond to such instances. Human trafficking, charges and convictions in Alberta, as well as ACT Alberta’s victim response will be discussed. 

 

 

Speaker:   Jessica Brandon - Director of Programs for the Action Coalition on Human Trafficking

                                                    (ACT) Alberta            

 

Jessica has 15 years of advocacy experience with a strong focus on Human Rights. She began as a volunteer with the Action Coalition on Human Trafficking (ACT) Alberta in 2015 and took the leap from a leadership role in the tech sector to manage the Education Program at ACT Alberta in 2018. Since then, she has presented to thousands of community members and partners on behalf of ACT Alberta. Jessica specializes in the research, development, and delivery of trauma-informed curriculum for front-line service providers responding to human trafficking across various sectors, including healthcare professionals, law enforcement, government and non-governmental agencies, aviation, massage licensing, agriculture, hospitality, and post-secondary institutions.

Bees and Society: What issues are affecting bees, how can we help them, and what role do they play in Alberta? with Shelley Hoover

Bees and beekeepers face many challenges. The Speaker will discuss what a bee is, which bees are introduced, and which groups are indigenous to Alberta, ongoing threats to bee populations, the benefits of bees to society, bee regulations and policy, and how bees are going global.

Speaker:  Shelley Hoover                

Shelley Hoover studies apiculture and pollination in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Lethbridge. Her research focuses on bee health and management, breeding, and nutrition, as well as canola pollination, and the effects of environmental change on plant-pollinator interactions. Previously, Shelley was the head of the Apiculture Program for the Province of Alberta and has held Research Associate positions at the Universities of Canterbury (Christchurch, NZ) and British Columbia (Vancouver and Beaverlodge, Canada). She completed her PhD on honey bee worker ovary development, nutrition, and behaviour at Simon Fraser University.  Shelley is also the past President of the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists and the Entomological Society of Alberta.

Can AIMCo be Fixed/Saved? Are 500,000 Albertans and their Families in Jeopardy with AIMCo? With Robert L. (Bob) Ascah, Ph.D. Research Fellow, The Parkland Institute

The Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) is one of the most important Crown corporations operating in the province. It was, until recent controversies, perhaps the least known and understood of Alberta's provincial agencies. In "Can AIMCo be Fixed?" a research paper published by The Parkland Institute, Bob Ascah examines the investment track record of AIMCo, the critical role played by the provincially-appointed board of directors and AIMCo's independence from the government. Dr. Ascah's talk will present a number of sensible recommendations to improve AIMCo's governance, independence and operations. 

 

Speaker: Robert L. (Bob) Ascah, Ph.D.  Research Fellow, The Parkland Institute              

 

Bob Ascah was born in Lachine, Quebec. He holds degrees in Commerce and Public Administration from Carleton University and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Alberta. He joined the Alberta public service in 1984 (Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs) and moved to Alberta Treasury in 1986. At Treasury he was responsible for financial sector policy, foreign borrowing and liaison with credit rating agencies. In 1999, Ascah's Ph.D. dissertation Politics and Public Debt- The Dominion, the Banks and Alberta's Social Credit was published. In 1996, he joined Alberta Treasury Branches becoming responsible for government relations, strategic planning, and economic research. In August 2009 he was appointed Director of the Institute for Public Economics at The University of Alberta. He is the editor and contributor to the forthcoming A Sales Tax for Alberta: Why and How. His articles have published in Alberta Views, The Conversation and the Calgary Herald.

As Demographics change, will Canada’s Pension Plan (CPP) be Sustainable? with Jeffrey Hodgson

The CPP came into effect on January 1, 1966 and applied to all provinces and territories except Quebec, where the separate but similar QPP was established in the same year. The contribution rates for QPP are higher than those for CPP. Although the year’s maximum pensionable earnings ($61,600 for 2021) and annual basic exemption ($3,500) for both plans are the same, an employee paying into the QPP will pay contributions at a higher rate (5.90% for 2021) compared to the rate for an employee who pays into the CPP (5.45% for 2021).

 

In terms of value, CPP Investments holds a very diverse $550.4 billion global investment portfolio. Its most recent results showed it produced a 10-year annualized net return of 11.6%. The speaker will elaborate on its sustainability and discuss elements including its use of green bonds and approach to investing in opportunities related to the energy industry’s evolution.

 

Speaker: Jeffrey Hodgson

 

Jeffrey Hodgson joined CPP Investments in July 2017. He oversees the Global Stakeholder Affairs function. Jeffrey has more than 20 years of experience as a financial journalist on three continents. He began his career at Bloomberg News in Toronto and subsequently took on a variety of reporting and editing roles at Reuters. These included postings in London and Hong Kong, where he led coverage of Asia’s asset management industry. More recently he was Business Editor for The Canadian Press, overseeing the work of journalists in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. Originally from Saskatchewan, Jeffrey holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Carleton University in Ottawa.

The Alberta Irrigation Modernization Program with Richard Phillips

The development of large irrigation projects in Southern Alberta over 100 years ago brought secure

water supplies to a previously arid landscape, establishing irrigation as an integral part of our society

and environment.  On October 9, 2020 the Government of Alberta and the Canada Infrastructure Bank announced an $815 million investment in partnership with eight irrigation districts to “modernize irrigation district infrastructure and increase water storage capacity”, which is now known as the Alberta Irrigation

Modernization Program. The announcement projected that over 200,000 acres of new irrigated farmland would be created from this “single largest irrigation expansion in Alberta’s history”. On November 12, 2021 it was announced that two more irrigation districts and numerous additional projects were included, with the program value increased to $933 million. The presentation will cover details of the Alberta Irrigation Modernization Program and compare its projected impact to past irrigation modernization and expansion.

 

Speaker: Richard Phillips                 

 

Richard is the chairman of Irrigating Alberta Inc., the consortium of irrigation districts participating in the Alberta Irrigation Modernization Program. He has been with the Bow River Irrigation District since 1996, initially as the district engineer, and as the general manager since 2004. He serves as vice chair of the Alberta Irrigation Districts Association and the Bow River Basin Council and chair of the Vauxhall and District Regional Water Services Commission. He has a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Alberta and is a professional engineer. He enjoys fishing and a variety of other outdoor recreational activities.

Is Storytelling a Means to Reveal Racism in the Daily Experiences of People of Colour? With Ibraham Turay

Race is a central concept in the subordination of Black people in Canada and the United States (U.S.). Yet, race has not always been considered to be a vital research variable in studies in North America. The speaker will explore how and why storytelling and counter-narrative has emerged as a methodology to unpack race, racism, belonging, and power in a settler-colonial nation-state like Canada. In other words, Storytelling develops as a fundamental methodology in Critical Race Theory tradition exposing the daily encounters of racism experienced by people of colour in societies that are colour-blind and race neutral like Canada and the U.S.

 

Speaker: Ibrahim Turay

            

Ibrahim Turay is a full-time faculty in the School of Justice Studies at Lethbridge College and a Ph.D. Candidate in Cultural, Social, and Political Thought at the University of Lethbridge. He has a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from the University of Alberta, with 11 years of experience working for Alberta Justice & Solicitor General, Correctional Services Division, as a Correctional, Probation, and Senior Probation Officer. Ibrahim's specialty is in Counter-Storytelling as a Critical Race Theory Methodology. His professional interests include Black youth-police interactions, racialization, racial profiling, marginalization, youth gangs, and corrections.

The Fight to End Australian Coal Mining with Dr. Moira Williams

Australia is obsessed with coal. The current Prime Minister held up a lump of coal in Parliament and told Australians not to be afraid. Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal, digging up millions of tonnes per year and shipping it across the world, fueling the climate crisis. The speaker will cover the state of play with coal in Australia - from the projects still on the cards and their impacts, and the tactics and strategies campaigners and communities are using to push for an end to coal mining and export.

Speaker: Dr Moira Williams              

For over a decade Moira has been a leader in the Australian grassroots climate movement - from building and supporting a national network of Climate Action Groups to working with landholders, traditional owners and coal affected communities in central Queensland. For the last 8 years she has worked on the campaign to keep coal in the Galilee basin (one of the largest untapped fossil fuel reserves on the planet) safely in the ground. She currently works with Tipping Point - a collective that works behind the scenes to support the national #StopAdani movement - one of the largest and most successful environmental movements in Australia's history.

The Family Medicine Crisis in Lethbridge What are the Causes & Implications for the Citizens of Lethbridge? With Dr. Samuel deWalle

Citizens of Southern Alberta have been suffering through crises of different sorts over the past several years. Congruent with the Covid-19 pandemic has been a gradual but persisting loss of Family Physicians in the city of Lethbridge, and with them the loss of access to Primary Care. By the end of 2021, approximately 45% of Lethbridge citizens found themselves without a Family Physician. Dr. deWalle, a Lethbridge Family Physician, will take you through the history of this serious corrosion of healthcare, explore its causes and implications, and discuss what may happen next.

Speaker: Dr. Samuel deWalle              

Dr. Samuel deWalle is a Family Physician living and working since 2013 in Lethbridge, Alberta. He graduated from Calvin University in Grand Rapids Michigan, and then the University of Calgary Medical School, before completing his residency in Rural Family Medicine in Southern Alberta. He is the outgoing President of a Family Medicine clinic in Lethbridge, a board member of the Chinook Primary Care Network, a Civil Aviation Medical Examiner, and a Medical School Clinical Lecturer. All opinions stated are his alone and do not represent any other business or institution.