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The NDP is heading for an almighty dust-up with the government’s natural friends, the public sector unions.

Health Minister Sarah Hoffman stepped into the ring Monday by declaring that doctors’ pay has to be sharply constrained through new compensation models.

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She was mild about it, and the Alberta Medical Association doesn’t disagree with talking about methods of payment.

But then Hoffman said: “We can’t wait two more years.”

The doctors’ current contract doesn’t expire until 2018. Hoffman seemed to be declaring that the deal will have to change.

Immediately, ears perked up in union offices across the province. There’s nothing like a recession to make an NDP minister sound a lot like a Progressive Conservative minister.

The union representing Alberta’s 40,000 teachers will be especially wary.

Its contract with the province, which expires on Aug. 31, was legislated four years ago after a bitter conflict with the Progressive Conservatives.