By Gil McGowan, AFL Staff EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Ralph Klein is sadly mistaken if he thinks the battle against private health in Alberta is over now that the Legislature has concluded debate on Bill 11, says Audrey Cormack, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"The Conservatives may think that they’ve won. They may think that they have been successful in their campaign to open the door for private health care," said Cormack after the government used its majority to ram Bill 11 through the Legislature last month.

"But we have news for the Premier: this battle is not over. Albertans still don’t want Bill 11 – and the government will pay a heavy price for pushing it through against the wishes of the public."

Cormack’s comments were echoed by Chrsitine Burdett, chairperson of the group Friends of Medicare. Burdett says her group will do everything it can to make private health care an issue in the next provincial election campaign – expected within the next year-and-a-half.

"We’ll be encouraging Albertans to remember Bill 11," says Burdett.

"As long as the Klein Conservatives are in power they will continue chipping away at the foundations of Medicare. They will continue moving us closer – step-by-step – to a two-tier health system. Given this reality, we’ve come to the conclusion that the only way that we can truly protect public health care is by taking action at the ballot box."