Is Alberta's Health Minister vulnerable in the hotly contested March 3 election?

Dave Hancock, Alberta's current Minister of Health and Wellness, may be in trouble.

Edmonton Journal political columnist Graham Thompson recently tagged along with Mr Hancock on the campaign trail. "I had to literally run to keep up with a fast-moving Conservative Dave Hancock who won by 900 votes in 2004 and who is seeking a fourth term as MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud."

The population of Mr Hancock's riding has risen sharply since the last election, from 15,000 households to 22,500, reports the Journal. Mr Thompson also points out that Mr Hancock may suffer from Premier Ed Stelmach's struggle to inspire voters of late.

But one of the most interesting suggestions about Mr Hancock's potential election loss pertains to a piece of legislation passed in December: the controversial Bill 41, which grants the Health Minister the power to take over aspects of independent health regulatory agencies.

Also adding to Hancock's woes is a potential local backlash by health-care professionals in his riding against Bill 41, the legislation which gave the government increased powers over the province's College of Physicians and Surgeons.

You can read more about doctors' significant opposition to the law in our previous coverage of the issue.

Besides Mr Hancock's situation, healthcare issues in general have moved nearer to centre-stage in the Alberta election campaign.

HEALTHCARE & THE ALBERTA ELECTION
Here are some of the recent healthcare issues at play in Alberta politics:

• As soon as the campaign kicked off, Premier Ed Stelmach quickly promised he'd increase the number of places in med schools to train an extra 225 physicians per year. Nice idea, says Dr Trevor Theman, the registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. But it's simply not possible -- there are only two med schools in the province (U of Alberta and U of Calgary) and, combined, they account for just 250 spots as it is. Not long after the initial promise, the Tories revised the figure to "around 50 to 60." "Somewhere down the QE2 highway this week 175 doctors went missing," crowed the Edmonton Sun.
  

• Were Edmonton regional health authority officials pressured to permit Conservative politicians to use their facilities for partisan events, despite a history of barring other parties permission for similar uses?

• Emergency physician Raj Sherman, a former federal Liberal, is now running as a Tory in Edmonton-Meadowlark.

• Dr David Swann, a Liberal MLA and the party's environment critic, is hounding the government on its latest climate change and emissions-reduction strategy, calling it "ridiculous."
  

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