On June 9 and 10, I successfully completed MS Bike – the Multiple Sclerosis bike ride of 180 kms from Leduc to Camrose. On the second day, I was soaked with rain, peeling myself off the seat and so exhausted. I humbly reminded myself that there was an end in sight for me, that this struggle would be over within hours and that it was only temporary, a brief insight into the lifelong struggle for those…

Our Corporate Challenge 2018 AHS Cancer Care team really want to thank HSAA’s Social Justice committee for its $500 sponsorship! We had a really fun year in the Red Division against 30 other very large Edmonton and area employers. We participated in 22 of the 26 events ranging from road race to lawn bowling to “Unknown Challenge.” We achieved gold in cribbage, silver in badminton, a fourth-place finish in bunnock and were in the top eight in…

Revolution Love Live, an annual action-packed, family friendly, all-ages, free community event took place at Calgary’s Olympic Plaza on June 9 in perfect weather. There was hula hooping with Anna Kittilsen, hip hop with the Magoo Crew and live music and juggling with me, Mitch Cedar, an HSAA member, event creator, producer and frontman for the group the Revolution Sonics. It was a fun-filled afternoon with lots of people, big and small trying out these different activities and wading in the…

This article was originally published in the Calgary Herald; you can find the original article here. Premier Rachel Notley had a message as she stood in front of hundreds of unionized paramedics, lab technicians and medical specialists three weeks ago. Speaking at the Health Sciences Association of Alberta’s convention, Notley said her NDP government has the back of organized labour, as it beefed up labour laws and maintained public services in the midst of the province’s…

On May 26, 2018, our family joined about 150 other walkers at Nicholas Sheran park in Lethbridge for the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) Walk to Cure Diabetes. Our daughter Brooklyn, pictured with the family pet Zip, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in November 2015 when she was eight years old. Since then, we have been actively involved with JDRF, an organization that raises money and funds diabetes research. This year the participants in the…

I am an active volunteer with Generously Giving Back (GGB), a Canadian registered charity founded by everyday people with big hearts who have come together with one common purpose: To make a difference in the world, as there are no boundaries in kindness and giving. Generously Giving Back has two annual fundraisers, a golf tournament in June and a gala dinner and silent auction in November. These, along with private donations, raise about $50,000 each year.…

It’s government’s #1 job: making sure you can count on health care when you and your family need it. After years of cuts, neglect and privatization, Alberta’s health care system is stretched pretty thin. But the good news is, we’re finally seeing long-overdue investments and improvements in our hospitals and health care. The bad news is, politicians and the UCP are talking about more cuts and privatization. Cuts are too risky. We know the kind of…

Media Advisory May 4, 2018 Alberta’s union of health-care professionals will launch a campaign on Monday, May 7, to raise health care as a provincial election issue in light of recent threats from the United Conservative Party (UCP). “For some time now, we’ve been seeing frightening comments from the UCP about the future of health care, including talk of wanting to cut spending by 20 per cent,” says Mike Parker, president of HSAA, which represents more…

Above: Members of the CAMTA team pose with patient Maria Rosa while she takes her first steps. In February 2018, HSAA members Mark Rintoul, Barb Furler, Dedra Scott, Anna Hebert, Erik Soriano, and Krystle Chilibecki ventured to Quito, Ecuador with the organization CAMTA. The Canadian Association of Medical Teams Abroad (CAMTA) is a non-profit organization that annually sends a team of medical and non-medical volunteers to Quito to perform life-changing orthopedic surgeries for people in need.…