Avalon Roberts

Infobox_Politician
name = Dr. Avalon Roberts
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caption = Dr. Avalon Roberts is a well-known proponent for public health care in Calgary
birth_date = August 18, 1945
birth_place = Newfoundland
residence = Calgary, AB
office =
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party = Alberta Liberal Party
religion =
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Avalon Roberts, MD (born August 18, 1945), is a prominent Alberta healthcare advocate and political activist. She was born in Newfoundland, has lived in six of Canada's provinces, and has resided in Calgary since 1980.

Educated at McGill University in Montreal (B.Sc.N.) and at the University of Ottawa (M.D.), Roberts is a community-practice psychiatrist and former president of the Alberta Psychiatric Association; she has also served as chairwoman of the Calgary and Alberta chapters of Friends of Medicare, a group dedicated to the preservation of public healthcare. Other health-related service includes a period as Director of the Psychiatric Assessment Service (outpatients) at the Calgary General Hospital and Director of the Outpatient Assessment Service (psychiatry) at the Eric Martin Pavilion in Victoria, B.C.

Healthcare Activist

A vocal advocate for improved access to medical facilities and decreased waiting time, Roberts has argued that contracting out services to private clinics will likely result in increased costs for Alberta's public health system. She has made multiple public statements on health care:

· She has described as "very dangerous" a proposal for private surgery clinics in Alberta (Calgary Herald, 15 Sept 02)

· She has argued that private/public healthcare partnerships would likely result in greater expense and less financial transparency (Calgary Herald, 2 Nov. 03)

· During the 2004 Alberta election, she condemned then-premier Ralph Klein for refusing to clarify his health-care plans (Calgary Herald, 11 Nov 2004)

· She has criticized Klein’s "Third Way" plan to introduce some private services to the public system (Edmonton Journal, 12 Aug 2005)

· In 2005, Roberts arranged and presided over a Friends of Medicare symposium in Calgary (Edmonton Journal, 31 March 2005).

· As spokesperson for Friends of Medicare, she denounced the Fraser Institute's report ("How Good is Canadian Health Care?") as an effort to push private, for-profit health care." (CBC News, 19 Dec 2006).

Political Activism

A long-standing Liberal Party activist, Roberts campaigned for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2004 federal election against Conservative leader Stephen Harper, finishing second with 9,501 votes. She also ran provincially for the Alberta Liberal Party in the riding of Calgary Glenmore in the 2004 and 2008 elections, finishing second both times.

Community Activism

Avalon Roberts has served as a board member for the Calgary French School, and is active in a variety of sports, including skiing, tennis and hiking. An avid outdoorswoman, she is a member of the Weaselhead Society, a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to preserving Calgary’s Weaselhead Special Protection Area and Glenmore Reservoir.

Trivia

Avalon Roberts is the first cousin of Newfoundland and Labrador Lieutenant Governor Edward Roberts

Avalon is married to Tom Bowen, M.D. They have two adult daughters.

External links

* [http://avalonroberts.ca Avalon Roberts' Official Website]