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They called it a “Day of Action for Public Healthcare.”
Health-care workers and supporters of Canada’s public health care system rallied in more than a dozen cities across the country on Monday, including Calgary and Edmonton, pleading for the federal government to protect Canadians from what they claim is an emerging two-tiered health-care system.
In Calgary, they gathered outside Liberal MP Corey Hogan’s office, and in Edmonton, outside the office of Eleanor Olszewski, one of that city’s two government MPs, to protest the changes included in Alberta’s Bill 11.
Officially known as the Health Statutes Amendment Act, Bill 11 was passed by the Alberta legislature in December and allows doctors to work in both the public and private health-care systems, or “dual practice,” as referred to by the province.
Supporters of public health care gathered outside Calgary Liberal MP Corey Hogan’s office on Monday, one of more than a dozen similar rallies held across Canada.
Global News
“It’s not just an Alberta issue,” said Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta. “Creating a two-tier health-care system, that is bad for not just Albertans but bad for Canadians.
“Bill 11 is wrong and the federal government needs to step in and enforce the Canada Health Act and tell Alberta that piece of legislation is bad for Alberta, is bad for Canada, and violates the Canada Health Act.”
An advertisement from the Canadian Health Care Coalition, encouraging supporters to attend more than a dozen rallies across Canada, in support of Canada’s public health care system.
Courtesy: Canadian Health Care Coalition
While the Alberta government claims the change could reduce wait times by allowing patients to purchase care or pay for medical procedures or surgeries that the government is unwilling or unable to provide, critics fear it will result in those who can afford it getting faster access to care while others will need to wait longer for treatment.
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“You know, it’s a violation of the Canada Health Act very clearly for allowing two-tier American-style health care, but it’s also a bill that changes the rules for insurance,” said Chris Galloway, executive director of Friends of Medicare.
“So allowing for insurance of medically-covered services, which has never been allowed before, and our fear is if we allow American health insurance companies to come in and start insuring those products, under our trade agreements, we’re stuck with them, and that impacts the whole country. Not just Alberta.
“So Alberta is opening the door to American-style health care, two-tier health care and we need the federal government to act now to stop it.”
Reacting to the rally that was held outside his office, Liberal MP Corey Hogan said the protesters raise some “legitimate questions.”
“We need to be asking ourselves, what is the Canada Health Act’s role in health in Alberta, and certainly some of the moves by the UCP government put into question whether the Canada Health Act is going to be fully adhered to,” said Hogan.
“I think we need to identify exactly what they mean by certain things when they talk about creating additional opportunities. What does that mean in real terms? Does that shut off access to health to Albertans? Because that’s a no-go for me,” said Hogan.
“But let’s keep the conversation going. We want to be pragmatic, but there’s got to be lines in the sand, too. And one of those lines in sand is we have a universally-accessible health-care system in Canada.”
Supporters of Canada’s public health care system, seen here outside the office of Edmonton Liberal MP Eleanor Olszewski, claim Alberta’s Bill 11, which allows some doctors to work in both the public and private health care systems, is a violation of the Canada Health Act.
Global News
Asked for a response to the protestors concerns about Bill 11 and the future of private health care in Alberta, Maddison McKee, press secretary for Alberta Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services Adriana LaGrange, sent Global News an email that lashed out at Friends of Medicare, calling the organization “a political advocacy group governed by the province’s public-sector unions. They routinely spread misinformation and hyperbolic predictions, so it’s misleading to cite them as if they were impartial experts.”
“Their talking points are always the same: they compare Alberta’s common-sense changes to cherry-picked facts from other countries and a theoretical version of Canadian Medicare, rather than the real system patients experience every day,” added McKee.
McKee claims the province’s plans to allow dual practice only applies to a limited range of surgeries, does not violate the Canada Health Act, and brings the province more in line with the health-care systems in countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Australia.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
