Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney Denies Being the Medical Director’s Scapegoat for COVID-19 Failures | The Canadian News

Prime Minister Jason Kenney rejects allegations that he blames the province’s chief medical officer for Alberta’s failures in handling the fourth wave of COVID-19.

“The buck stops with me,” Kenney told the house in response to the Opposition’s questions to the NDP on Wednesday.

“I have taken responsibility. Of course, we take into account the expert advice of our health officials, in particular the medical director of health.

“The idea that I would put the blame on him is absurd.”

The NDP has been seeking details on why the government did not take any action in August, as the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations were on track to reach dangerous levels and doctors urged action.

Earlier this week, during a debate at the house, Kenney said they would have called a cabinet meeting and acted on such recommendations in August from Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer for health, if she had provided any.

NDP leader Rachel Notley said she was skeptical that Kenney would have called such a meeting, mocking the prime minister as the “Tom Brady of passing ball,” a reference to the NFL’s star quarterback.

Kenney responded that the government acts when Hinshaw makes recommendations.

He noted in mid-August that his government canceled a plan to reduce COVID-19 testing, tracking and isolation measures under Hinshaw’s leadership.

When reporters later asked why he was breaking cabinet confidentiality to report on Hinshaw’s actions, Kenney said: “It’s not about blaming. He was just being transparent about when we received information or advice. “

Hinshaw, who was asked why he did not make any recommendations on health restrictions in late August, said that while they could see that cases were increasing, intensive care cases were relatively low and stable.

He said they moved to come up with additional recommendations when that changed in late August and ICU cases started to rise.

“The things that I have personally always taken very seriously are the responsibility to minimize the direct impacts of COVID on the population and the responsibility to minimize the indirect impacts of the COVID restrictions on the population,” Hinshaw said.

The Kenney administration did not introduce new measures until early September. By then, the crisis forced the government to fight to double the number of intensive care beds, cancel thousands of surgeries and call in the Armed Forces for medical help.

The increase in cases came after the Kenney government lifted nearly all public health restrictions effective July 1.

He and Hinshaw have said it was a mistake because it was based on what turned out to be flawed projections from the UK that suggested that any increase in COVID-19 cases could be managed within the capacity of the existing healthcare system.

Notley said the results were tragic and predictable: “Alberta’s focus on the fourth wave caused five times the death rate (per capita) than Ontario’s.”

Vaccination numbers have risen significantly since Kenney announced a modified vaccine passport system in mid-September. More than 87 percent of eligible Albertans, ages 12 and older, have received at least one injection and more than 80 percent are fully vaccinated.

There are fewer than 7,000 active cases and 697 people in the hospital with COVID-19; both figures represent steep declines from the peak of the fourth wave.

Health Minister Jason Copping said the system is starting to work through the backlog of surgeries and no more cancer operations will be delayed.

The NDP has called for a deep dive into what went wrong in August to prevent a repeat of such a crisis. They have asked for an all-party committee with subpoena powers and are asking the auditor general to investigate.

Kenney has said there will be a review, but now is not the time because Alberta is still battling the pandemic.