It appears the Alberta government and Health Minister Ron Liepert are taking a page from the well-know Canadian comedy troupe, Kids in the Hall, when it comes to health reform.

In one of their more memorable skits, the Kids' Scott Thompson, frustrated by a stalled car tries various methods to get it to start. After each attempt he instructs his wife to "try it now!" He kicks the tires, "try it now!" He washes the windshield, "try it now!" And he even paints the car a different colour, "try it now!" Of course, none of his comedic attempts to get the car engine to start are successful.

The laughter stops, however, when it comes to health reform in Alberta.

Albertans are now facing a health care system that is broken for many. Waitlists have doubled in the past 15 years, the Alberta Medical Association claims there is a shortage of 1,000 to 1,500 doctors, and health care consumes 36 percent of the provincial budget, up from 25 percent in the debt-riddled 80s.

No matter how much the government spends, things don't seem to be getting better.

So when Minister Liepert promised real health care reform, many expected the Alberta government to do more than slap a new coat of paint on the system before telling Albertans to "try it now!"

In fact, the defenders of the failing status quo, the Friends of Medicare, were so concerned real reforms were forthcoming that before even seeing the details they organized a "vigil" outside of the Legislature to oppose any changes.

Who can blame them Albertans were hearing nothing but tough talk from Minister Liepert. Talk such as: "it's all on the table," "change is going to happen over the next four years because if we don't, we don't have a health-care system for any of us," and more recently: "now it's time to make those tough decisions."

The last quote was taken directly from the government's own news release announcing the first round of changes to the health care system. Changes that include such "aggressive" measures as: monitoring for compliance with province-wide infection prevention and control standards, performing regular service delivery reviews, and public posting of restaurant inspections.

To be fair, there were some 60 points the government intends to work on over the next nine months. However, none of which were particularly "aggressive" as was claimed.

The most aggressive may be the review of the current regional health authority model, but it will not address the inability of our current government monopoly health care system to address Albertans needs. It was not a panacea for our ailing system when the government moved from 17 Regional Health Authorities to nine in 2003, and it won't be the silver bullet if they move from nine boards to seven, five or three in 2008.

Real health care reforms must look at both allowing choice and innovation, neither of which is likely to happen under the current government monopoly. Minister Liepert should be looking at allowing Albertans to purchase supplemental private health insurance, and allowing surgeons to work outside of the government monopoly.

Polling done by Enrg Research for the Alberta government show that Albertans are ready for this type of reform. They found that 60 percent of Albertans think they should have the option of paying for quicker, more convenient access to routine procedures, and 57 percent believe that having medical procedures available privately will reduce wait times in the public system.

Albertans know that no matter how much tire kicking or window washing the Alberta government does, the current health care system is a non-starter unless they are willing to look under the hood.