Interviews with Friends of Medicare Activists

Don Aitken: Don Aitken was the first coordinator for Friends of Medicare (1979-1985) and served as president of the Alberta Federation of Labour from 1989 to 1992.

Elisabeth Ballermann: Elisabeth Ballermann served as president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta from 1995 to 2016, and as a prominent activist in Friends of Medicare.

Christine Burdett: Christine Burdett chaired Friends of Medicare from 1999 to 2004, and led organization of a militant campaign against Ralph Klein’s Bill 11 in 2000 which proposed an expanded role for private surgical clinics.

Gordon (Gord) Christie was executive secretary and organizer of the Calgary District Labour Council (CDLC) from 1991 to 2008, and played a key role in building union solidarity and community support for Calgary laundry workers during their strike against privatization of their jobs in 1995.

Joy Correia has been involved in struggles of the Non-Academic Staff Association at the University of Alberta as first a member and then a staffer since 1982.

David Eggen

Jason Foster: Dr. Jason Foster, Professor of Labour Relations at Athabasca University, served as part-time staff coordinator to Friends of Medicare in the mid-1990s.

Hubert Kammerer: Dr. Hubert Kammerer joined with UNA president Heather Smith and a few others to revitalize Friends of Medicare (FOM) in early 1995.

John Kolkman: John Kolkman, before his retirement, was a long-time public policy researcher in both the public and non-profit sectors, and an activist in Friends of Medicare.

Nick Lepora

Eugene Mitchell (1931-2018) played leading roles in both the Alberta labour movement and the fledgling NDP over several decades, including serving as an executive officer of the Alberta Federation of Labour from 1968 to 1981.

Richard Plain
Frank Reaume

Trudy Richardson was a feminist and global social justice activist who became a UNA labour relations officer in 1984 and then education director in 1990, while playing important roles in Friends of Medicare.

Heather Smith, RN, who took part in all 4 province-wide United Nurses of Alberta strikes between 1977 and 1998, has served as president of UNA since 1988. 

Keith Wiley
Donna Wilson
Ted Woynillowicz

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