Calgary Cancer centre activists rallying ahead of provincial budget

With the provincial budget set to be laid out Thursday, thepressure is mounting on the Tory governmentto follow through on its promise to build a new Calgary cancer centre.

• Calgary Cancer Centre rally protests possible deferral

Last week, the premier suggested the centre could be split between two sites rather than being built entirely at the Foothills hospital.

John Osler with Concerned Citizens for the Calgary Cancer Centre says he's frustrated by how the province is handling the cancer centre project which was originally billed as a one-stop shop for cancer patients.

"Until this most recent discussion about a split site for a cancer centre, which really isn't a cancer centre at all, I was pretty optimistic that there'd be something in the budget that our group could say, okay, we're happy with the direction,'" Osler said. "But I'm not optimistic at all, I'm pessimistic."

"The messages coming out of the government are confusing, they don't seem to know what they want to do," he said.

Dan Holinda, head of the Alberta branch of the Canadian Cancer Society,has his own message for the province.

"Pay now or you're gonna pay a lot more later," he said. "Get it done now, there's too many numbers of people getting cancer coming down the pipeline that we've got to be ready to deal with this to help them down the horrific journey."

The details are expected to come out in Thursday'sbudget. Meanwhile, members of the Concerned Citizens for Calgary Cancer Centre are meeting with politicians, community leaders and business leaders to get the message out about the need.