Alberta Ponders $1B (CAN) Investment in Cancer Facilities

Ralph Klein, the premier of the Canadian province of Alberta ,which is fiscally flush with royalites from oil and natural gas activities, is proposing to invest (CAN) $1 billion or about $850 million (US) into the Tom Baker Cancer Center in Calgary and the Cross Cancer Center in Edmonton, according to a newspaper report.

"We're already a leader in cancer research, but really I'd like to expand the role of the Baker and (Edmonton's) Cross Cancer clinics to make us a world leader in cancer research and treatment," the Edmonton Journal quoted the premier as saying.

About $650 million of the funds would go to replace the Tom Baker Center, while about $350 million would be used for improvements to the Cross Cancer Center, according to a report in the CBC online.

The Calgary facility would be a collaboration between the University of Calgary, the Calgary Health Region and the Alberta Cancer Board, which coordinates research, prevention, and treatment programs in the province and operates 17 facilities, including the Tom Baker Cancer Center and the Cross Cancer Center.

The proposal has a sniff of politcs about it. Klein, a former TV reporter, who has said this is his last term as premier and is facing a leadership review by his Conservative party in its annual general meeting this spring, has called the Canadian healthcare system “unsustainable” and the American system “unacceptable” and is tinkering with building a private healthcare system alternative to Canada's public system.

And, in a cheeky move, Klein, bowing to public pressure, has made a commitment that the provincial legislature is to be smoke free, forcing politicos -- including himself -- outdoors to puff their butts. In snowy Canada, that is no small price to pay for the habit.