This comes on the heels of a 34% wage hike for the Alberta premier and cabinet while the Stelmach government says it can’t afford to pay senior public health physicians the salaries they’re looking for. Opposition parties claim this is merely an excuse to “sack” public health officials and pursue more private health care.

Quite frankly, the latter excuse just doesn’t make sense. Public health is not an area that would lend itself well to private care and while the federal government has been very active in attempting to recruit and retain other government workers because of concerns of demographic workforce related shortages, it hardly makes sense that provincial governments would not be aware of this same concern.

Perhaps this is negotiations posturing but I hope that it doesn’t backfire. When we are overdue for a pandemic, are struggling with outbreaks of serious infections in hospitals and elsewhere, it just doesn’t seem like a good time to discount the experience, expertise and responsibility required in these top jobs.

"There is a limit as to what the government of Alberta can pay for certain positions," Health Minister Ron Liepert is reported to have told reporters in Edmonton following a cabinet meeting.

Although the sky shouldn’t be the limit for retaining these experts, it might be helpful to understand with whom they can be replaced if at all and compare their requests with remuneration of other experts such as in the oil industry or with the cabinet ministers themselves with their 34% pay raise.

More of this wrangling will be occurring as competition for skilled, experienced experts increases along with changing demographics.