NDP’s pullout from veterinarian partnership hurting Albertans

Province overlooking serious implications for agriculture, Douglas Freeman says.

Last October, the government of Alberta pulled its $8 million in annual funding for the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) in Saskatoon, abandoning a partnership that has delivered consistent value for money to Albertans for more than 50 years.

In deciding to go it alone, the government of Alberta is not only hurting Albertans, but the veterinary profession and animal health across Western Canada. WCVM’s strength depends on stable funding from all four western provinces; losing Alberta is like cutting a leg off a sturdy chair.

Working together, Canada’s western provinces created the WCVM — an internationally recognized veterinary college that supports animal health, food safety and public health.

Hundreds of Albertans have graduated from WCVM programs, and in the West, only WCVM provides comprehensive training for veterinary specialists. Many WCVM-trained veterinarians from other provinces also work in Alberta. Between 2013 and 2017, 97 WCVM graduates — 18 more vets than Alberta paid for — found jobs in this province. More than half of those new graduates joined large or mixed-animal clinics in rural communities where veterinarians are urgently needed.

WCVM-based diagnostic services have helped save thousands of animals’ lives and helped protect your families from disease outbreaks and food safety threats. Investing in WCVM has been a consistent net gain for this province and its people.

Albertans have had access to WCVM infrastructure, programs, research, expertise and equipment for five decades. Walking away from this successful partnership cuts off Alberta from these resources and weakens the province’s leadership role in veterinary medicine.

The government of Alberta would argue that its new, $4.7-million investment in the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) demonstrates its commitment to animal health. But 4.7 does not equal eight; their decision represents an annual cut of $3.3 million to veterinary programs.

In addition, the UCVM and WCVM are not equivalent schools. They are complementary, building upon the strengths of each other. Both schools have fostered collaborative relationships that better serve students and western Canadians. Both offer programs that appeal to different students and produce veterinarians with different strengths. What we hear from Alberta students is that they want to be able to choose not only to study in Saskatoon but to train in our veterinary teaching hospital.

Veterinary education and research is increasingly integrated in Western Canada because of these two strong schools — but to boost one at the expense of the other destabilizes the whole enterprise. It impairs our ability to serve the livestock industry and to respond to disease outbreaks and other urgent public health concerns.

We call upon the government of Alberta to restore funding to the WCVM and give back to Albertans their rightful access to all the benefits they have paid for.

We also encourage the government to continue robust funding to the UCVM and bolster Western Canada’s leadership position in veterinary medicine.

The Alberta government’s decision was made without consulting the veterinary community and so missed its serious implications for agriculture, public health, food safety and the economy.

Since October, we’ve been meeting with our Alberta alumni and stakeholders.

We are hearing consistent disappointment and frustration at what is seen to be total disregard by the government of Alberta for the veterinary profession and the industries we serve.

Alberta veterinarians have also made it very clear that we need graduates from both schools to meet Alberta’s needs.

They ask how they can help and we answer: Contact your elected representatives and make your voice heard.

Visit keepvetmedstrong.ca to learn the issues. Alberta is part of a proud 54-year history of partnership, co-operation and investment in veterinary medicine, animal health and public health. Don’t let it end.