Several hundred protesters gathered at Olympic Plaza Fri., Mar. 31 to rally against Alberta Premier Ralph Klein’s Third Way health-care reforms. Afterwards, the group mobilized and moved to protest in front of the Telus Convention Centre, site of this year’s Progressive Conservative Party general meeting.
“Ralph’s future is in the balance, and we’re going to help him, to help the delegates, make the right choice,” said Calgary-Mountain View MLA Dr. David Swann, who was the opening speaker at the event and one of the main organizers.
The event was partially organized by the citizen-interest group Friends of Medicare and was used to drive awareness of what are seen as attempts to privatize health-care in Alberta by the Klein government. The group is critical of the plan and sees it as an attempt to further divide the rich and poor.
Several groups made speeches while the Raging Grannies sang songs throughout the event. Members from the provincial Liberal, New Democratic and Green parties spoke against the plan.
“We asked Ralph Klein during the [provincial election] debate if he had a secret plan for privatizing health-care–he lied,” said Edmonton Highlands MLA Brian Mason. “I’ve got a message for Ralph Klein: We’ve stopped you before and we’ll stop you again.”
Once the rally was finished, the protesters marched on the Telus Convention Centre. The delegates for the convention caught outside watched as nearly 700 people appeared out of nowhere to claim ownership of the street outside the building. The group chanted slogans such as “Third Way, no way” and “This is what democracy looks like” while Conservative Party members awaiting the results of Ralph Klein’s leadership review watched from the second floor.
After a while, a group of protesters splintered off from the main group gathered in the street to try and enter the main building via a +15 walkway attached to the Telus Convention Centre South building, directly across the street. They were quickly halted by police and some time later, moved back to the street where the group attempted to enter the main building en masse, only to be barred by a metal gate.
Tory supporters caught on the outside had the difficult task of trying to get around the mob, which continued to protest for several hours. Police were called in to supervise the protest, which lasted until around 8 p.m. that night.