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Alberta health-care workers accuse the province of using a new code of conduct to muzzle any kind of opposition from within the health-care industry, with one outspoken doctor ridiculing the “bullying” government.

“It’s unfortunate the government feels they have to muzzle people to function, but that’s what they’re doing,” Dr. Bill Ruzycki says. “It’s unfortunate that people don’t take them to task, speak out more often regardless. But people are worried about jobs. It’s bullying, is what it is.”

The Medicine Hat physician is adamant that the code won’t affect his future letter-writing and frank comments to the media. “They’d have a fun time chasing after every vocal physician,” he adds.

Introduced June 30, the code states: “Public statements on behalf of Alberta Health Service are only to be made by a designated spokesperson… immediately refer all such requests to the communications director. It is important to exercise caution at all times and to choose your words carefully when engaging in any form of public speaking.”

Ethics advocates say that section of the code is disturbing and question the timing, since the province is currently revamping its health-care system with a new provincial superboard and grappling with a massive deficit.

“It basically says, ‘We’re going through a whole bunch of change but we’re not going to let employees comment on that change,’” says Kelly Ernst, senior program director of the Sheldon Chumir Foundation. “‘And if you do and it raises criticism we’re going to give you disciplinary action or even terminate you.’”

Alberta Health Services officials say they have simply amalgamated past codes and standards throughout the province.

“We have a designated spokesperson and that is not unusual with any large organization,” says Don Stewart, a health services spokesperson, who couldn’t answer more detailed questions about the code, other than saying that the province is working with nurses “to resolve these issues.”

Ernst points out that it’s one thing for companies to restrict its employees from talking to the media, but in this case the employer is a policy maker, meaning a gag order effectively forbids the free speech of public citizens.

“As a public citizen, I would want my experts to speak out very loudly when they know that some sort of policy implementation is going to have profound negative impacts on health of Albertans,” he says. “The way this is written that can’t occur.”

Incensed nurses are filing a grievance, asking for the code to be rescinded. According to David Harrigan, director of labour relations for the United Nurses of Alberta, the nurses’ collective agreement states the employer must “exercise its management rights in a way that is fair and reasonable” — something the new code blatantly ignores.

“It seems to us that there is going to be a lot of debate over health care in the province in the near future and to suggest that health-care professionals are not going to be involved in that debate seems ludicrous,” says Harrigan.

Dr. Trevor Theman, registrar of the Alberta College of Physicians says Alberta Health Services promised him that “the intention is not to muzzle physicians.” Alberta doctors have their own code of ethics, therefore Theman doesn’t yet know which code will supercede the other.

Firing people for speaking out is not new in Alberta. This code hits close to home for Alberta Liberal Leader Dr. David Swann. In 2002, he was fired from his position as medical officer of health with the Palliser health region, after an interview with the Medicine Hat News, in which he voiced support for the Kyoto accord on behalf of Alberta’s public health officers.

“This code of conduct reminds me this government doesn’t have much respect for democracy,” says Swann. “It doesn’t welcome dissent or different opinions or challenges to its agenda and is not above intimidating people in this province who think there are other ways of doing things.”

Swann says the government is trying to legitimize the firing of employees through a code of conduct that on the surface appears to be guidelines for professional behaviour. Ernst says the “chill effect” is already happening, as many health professionals are afraid to lose their jobs if they speak out. Swann says he regularly hears from numerous government workers in several professions who talk confidentially because they are concerned about their future jobs.

“This goes well beyond the work realm in an attempt to squelch all sorts of public statements that could occur,” Ernst says, adding that the code of conduct is very broad, possibly applying to e-mails, the Internet and any statements about health care made during employees’ personal time.

Harrigan concurs, pointing to the following clause: “If you have any reasonable suspicions that a fellow employee’s conduct violates the code of conduct, you also have an obligation to report this to your supervisor. If you are unwilling …you may report your suspicions to the external confidential reporting and disclosure service.”

“That might have worked in the ’50s under Joe McCarthy where everybody had to name names, but we think that is not a good atmosphere to have,” Harrigan says.