LETTERTOTHEEDITOR:Nurse Practitioners make sense

Dear Editor:

I listened with great interest to your comments on 630 CHED during your call in show Saturday January 7th regarding the issues around a shortage of family doctors in our province. You indicated one of your next big goals is making sure everyone has a family doctor, it’s something you keep hearing over and over and over again and it’s a one of your big priorities to address that. Well, Premier Smith, the solution is right before our very eyes – Nurse Practitioners.

During my run for the UCP Camrose nomination last summer, I heard over and over and over again concerns from Camrose con-

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Health Canada recommends proper ventilation as the most effective measure to mitigate cooking emissions. The use of a hood vent can help reduce airborne emissions by 80 per cent.”

But then we should all know gas stoves cause fumes. So do electric stoves.

If you burn your toast in a toaster it causes fumes, which probably aren’t good for your health.

But if the green gurus are going after the fossil fuel industry why stop at gas powered vehicles.

Let’s get those gas stoves.

Don’t worry about the fact most commercial restaurants use gas stoves, don’t worry food preparers use natural gas stoves. That just doesn’t matter when the greenies set their stituents about our healthcare system. I led the way in pushing to enhance the role of Nurse Practitioners in Alberta, releasing it as a key part of my platform on July 17th: “While many residents aren’t able to find a family doctor around Alberta, Nurse Practitioners may be one avenue to supplement the care Albertans receive”.

I believe the Alberta Government needs to fund independent practices for NPs to allow the profession greater autonomy. I was glad to see that shortly after my announcement, MLA Jackie Lovely followed my lead by sending a letter to the Minister of Health seeking to increase the role of Nurse eyes on something they should ban. They’re like a wild dog after a bone!

Burning wood causes fumes which aren’t good for you. Remember those air quality warnings in the summer when there were forest fires out west. Anything that burns causes fumes and they aren’t good for you. But let’s be realistic. The minute quantity from burning food, won’t do major damage if the area is ventilated.

So all this nonsense, a simple statement of fact that most people with any common sense would have known for years, had the Biden White House musing about a gas stove ban.

They later walked it back.

AOC was roasted by her colleagues for pushing such a stupid agenda.

But New York governor Kathy Hucal, didn’t read

Practitioners.

In my role as Reeve of Beaver County, I was also proud to support a resolution at our RMA Conference in November, to establish a salary-based funding model that will fairly and equitably compensate Nurse Practitioners for work in local care facilities and independent clinics. That resolution received overwhelming support.

Premier Smith, as you look to resolve the issue around a shortage of family doctors in our province, enhancing the role of Nurse Practitioners is worth serious consideration. Thank you, Kevin Smook Beaver County Reeve that memo, and may be seeking to pass a state ban on gas stoves, according to the New York Post.

And in California, the California Air Resources Board unanimously voted in September to ban the sale of natural gas-fired furnaces and water heaters by 2030.

As one of my old college professors used to say, “California… the land where all the fruits and nuts come from.”

So watch out… if California leads the pack to eliminate gas stoves, you can bet the Trudeau greenies led by Steve Gilbault and Gerald Butts and of course supported by Rachel Notley’s boss Jagmeet Singh will be all over this.

Banning gas appliances will be coming to the leftist agenda in Canada very soon.

That you can take to the bank!

BY HAZEL ANAKA

During our New Year’s trip to visit our son and his family in Colorado, we concentrated on group activities for much of the time. But every single one of us, from eight-year-old Kade on up to us the grandparents also slipped away for alone time each day. That’s human nature, I think. To gravitate to the solitude of our minds; to disengage from all the action; to recharge.

By far, the most exciting group activity we did was attend a professional basketball game in Denver. I have never nor would I ever watch a game on TV but to go in person, I was all in. The Colorado Avalanche were also playing at home while we were there but somehow going to a hockey game without the Oilers playing in it seemed strange. So, basketball it was.

This is what I know about basketball. I really didn’t like playing it in Phys Ed a hundred years ago. Celebrities are often seen court-side on TV; some are probably part owners. This is a big money thing in the States and college ball is the gateway to the jackpot. I can namedrop some of the greats: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal,

LeBron James. But I don’t know which team they played for; if they’re retired; what their stats, salary, or greatest skill was. Canada has only one pro team, the Toronto Raptors, founded in 1995. Across the nation hearts broke when they were eliminated from the playoffs.

But, back to Denver. The game was played in the Ball Arena, named for a wealthy entrepreneur. Through Hilary’s online skill, we were able to get eight seats all in a row, a day or two before the game. The consensus was that since this would probably be the only pro basketball game some of us ever attend, maybe we should pay a bit more and get better seats. To check this item off a bucket list cost $265 per ticket, all in with handling fees and exchange rates. Ouch. We needed two vehicles to get all of us there. No idea what parking cost. I never ventured to the concession stand or gift shop but others did.

The venue very much has a party vibe despite the babies, toddlers, and young kids in the stands. Maybe there were more babies present than normal because there was a baby race at centre court at halftime. Though that would only account for about eight of them crawling their little hearts away. Because the music is so loud, many babies were wearing hearing protection. I could have used a pair myself. The crowd seemed younger than the average hockey game fans but I may be all wrong about that.

The Denver Nuggets were playing against the Boston Celtics…not too shabby. The Celtics, second in the Eastern Conference last year lost the 2022 NBA Championship to the Golden State Warriors, whoever they are. The Nuggets were sixth overall in the Western Conference. When the game finally began, the crowd was on its feet. This was not a great start. Eventually we figured out the “no one sits until we score” policy. Thank goodness that didn’t take long.

By far, the Nuggets’ star player is Nikola Jokic, a 27-year-old Serbian player, standing 6’11” and weighing in at 284 pounds. He’s a fourtime NBA All Star and won the NBA’s MVP award the past two seasons. He went from a kid swilling three litres of Coke a day to the big leagues. He had his last Coke on the flight to Denver. In 2018, he signed a 5-year contract with Denver for $148 million. He continues to amaze and amuse all of the NBA. Apparently, his nickname the Joker is well deserved. About his brothers, former basketball players who follow him around the league, he said, “They look like serial killers but they’re actually nice people when you get to know them.”

Even us bumpkins could spot talent when we saw it so it didn’t take long for us to jump on Jokic’s bandwagon. He’s a force out there and rarely misses a shot. His passing game is unbelievable often passing without looking. It’s funny, even at a once only game in a city and country we don’t live in, it didn’t take long to pick a side and put our eggs in that basket. Is there no Swiss impartiality in sports? I guess not. It soon became clear that on the Boston team, Jayson Tatum was their number one guy.

The Nuggets went on to win the game but only after a very long delay while a couple guys on stepladders putzed around with one of the hoops. Eventually, it was replaced. What was a bit comical at first…a man, a ladder, a spirit level on the basket’s lopsided rim got old quickly when the delay lasted forty minutes and involved several people. I suppose, the damage is not surprising. When grown men of this size and weight repeatedly dangle from the basket, steel can only take so much! But the process for fixing the problem definitely needs work.

This delay added to what I thought was already a chaotic situation on the floor. Players milling about, getting back into track suits, some stretching, some sitting on the floor. In hockey, the bodies are confined to the bench when not in action. Contained, orderly not untamed motion like this. Our seats, behind the basket were awesome; that is where the action is, after all.

In this game, like much of my life, I remember overall impressions not minute details. While it was a fun, bonding activity, I’m calling this one and done, from where I sit.