Too close for comfort?
February 5, 2008 | 12:31 PM
Kim Trynacity
When the Progressive Conservatives told me last night that party leader Ed Stelmach was going to make a major announcement today about health care, I didn't expect to find all the PC candidates inside a Capital Health boardroom.
Stranger still, the news releases and file folders were laid out across the counter as soon as you walked into the administrative office area. All of sudden, the venue name changed from the University of Alberta hospital to the university. It seemed to be a strangely partisan event hosted by Capital Health.
They were given a day's notice, I'm told, that Stelmach and the candidates were going to use some space in the hospital or university for a health-care announcement.
Neil Wilkinson, the chair of the Capital Health Board, now says if other political parties want to use the space, they're welcome to it.
As for the boardroom, the health district's CEO, Sheila Weatherill, said they would have to assess the requests on a "case by case" basis — and then she abruptly stormed off.
I tried to capture the moment on videotape but I'm not sure we got it all. Am I venting? No, I just feel the public deserves an answer. Did the PCs pay to rent the boardroom? No answer. Stay tuned.
