Provincial Reactions

Quebec’s rising nationalism and Alberta’s increasing animosity to federal intervention in provincial matters complicated the situation. Alberta Premier Ernest Manning and his Minister of Health, Dr. J. Donovan Ross, both firmly believed that health was a provincial responsibility and that their means-tested subsidies would enable less affluent Albertans to pay for coverage under profession-sponsored plans. This scheme, dubbed “Manningcare,” was criticized by Albertans who saw the benefits of Saskatchewan’s approach. (See http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/9021.43.1/9.html.)

Ernest Manning, shown here in the 1960s, believed that means-tested government subsidies were the solution to enabling all Albertans to buy profession-sponsored medical insurance.
Provincial Archives of Alberta, J.87/2. © Edmonton Journal.