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Alberta became the second province after Saskatchewan to decline participation in any type of national healthcare “digital ID” program as a condition to receive funding for health care from the federal government.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith made clear to Albertans this past Friday that their personal medical information would not be shared with the federal government.
“I agree and stand firmly with @PremierScottMoe in protecting Albertans’ private health information,” Smith tweeted.
“I will ensure that any agreements with the Federal Government do NOT include the sharing of any such personal information with the Feds or third party. #cdnpoli#abpoli.”
Smith included in her tweet an open letter written by Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe that was released publicly over a week ago.
In Moe’s letter, he wrote that the
“Government of Saskatchewan is not creating a digital ID, nor will we accept any requirements for the creation of a digital ID tied to healthcare funding.”
In Canada, as per the constitution, health care falls 100 percent under the authority of the provincial governments. However, some federal money is transferred to provinces, but this amount has declined in recent years.
There has been some talk that future federal funding could be tied to a sort of national healthcare “digital ID.”
An online campaign urging people to call Smith’s office to get her to oppose a federal digital ID had been growing over the past week.
Last week, all of Canada’s premiers met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to try and hash out a funding deal for health care with the federal government.
Canada’s premiers collectively asked the federal government to live up to its end of the bargain in healthcare funding, after the total amount dropped from 35 percent to 22 percent in recent years.
The meeting resulted in Trudeau offering a lower amount than the premiers had asked for in healthcare funding.
When it comes to digital IDs, the federal government under Trudeau has been actively open to the idea.
Last year, through an Inquiry of Ministry, Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP Leslyn Lewis demanded information from the Trudeau government and Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra over its participation in the World Economic Forum’s “Known Traveler Digital Identity (KTDI)” pilot program.
Through this action, it was reported that the Trudeau government has a $105.3 million contract with the WEF to create a digital ID system for travel.
The provinces of Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and New Brunswick have already forged ahead with pushing a digital ID on the public and are all listed on the Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) as members.
It should be noted that Alberta has had a form of its own optional provincial digital ID for a few years now.
Saskatchewan did at least temporarily pause implementing its own local digital ID system last year after a public outcry.
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Featured image: Alberta premier Danielle Smith (Source: Global News / YouTube)
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