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PAGE 4 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ June 15,2005 Tim Whittaker Publisher Joanne Burghardt Editor-in-Chlef Chris Bovie Managing Editor Fred Eismont Director of Advertising Eddie Kolodziejcak Classified Advertising Manager Kirk Bailey Distribution Manager Lillian Hook Ôffice Manager Janice O'Neil, Cheryl Haines Composing Managers Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 SljE Canadian Statesman Opinion g JUNE 15, 2005 durhamregion.com • Phone 905-579-4400 ■ Classifieds 905-576-933§ Distribution 905-579-4407 General Fax 905-579-2238 Newsroom Fax 905-579-1809 E-Mail newsroom@durhamregion.com. 865 Farewell St., Oshawa ON L1H 7L5 Publications Mail Registration No. 07637; infodurhamregion.com EDITORIAL . e-mail letters to newsroom@durhamrcgion.com Medical wait times may soon be over Ruling on private health care insurance necessary It may be only Quebec today, but you can be all but certain last week's Supreme Court. of Canada landmark decision will have an impact on Ontario, and the rest of Canada, tomorrow. The court decision allows those who wish to purchase private . health care insurance to do so, in the event they wish to be treated in private clinics. The judges, in a 4-3 decision, decided that the government's prohibition on private health insurance was in violation of a Quebecer's constitutional right to security of the person, ie., the right to get medical treatment in a timely manner. How did it come to this? The answer is simple, .y *1 A lack of funding, primarily from the federal government, has led to waiting times that are far too long. In many cases, patients stuck on lists are the needless 'victims 'victims of pain and suffering; in other cases too much waiting can equal death. Should Canadians have to wait for treatment they can afford to pay for, or wish to pay special insurance coverage for? •-••• The alternative for residents in some provinces (including Quebec, Quebec, Alberta and B.C.) in recent years has been to head to a private private clinic for, say, an MRI or cataract surgery, and pay the full cost. Now, in Quebec at least (and inevitably elsewhere in future), clinics will be able to work through private insurers to build up a patient base and operate outside the medicare system. They'll still, of course, be subject subject to the rules and regulations of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and be subject to government government certification and regulation. regulation. Back when the feds shared health-care funding on a 50-50 basis with the provinces, the system system worked well. But successive federal governments, governments, both Liberal and Conservative, Conservative, have over the past 25 years withdrawn from their responsibilities of adequately funding the system. Now, the Liberals, under the direction of Paul Martin, are down to about 16 per cent of total funding, leaving the provinces to fend for themselves. No wonder .health care is a disaster. ■ k Mr. Martin made the reduction of waiting times and health-care ' reform his top issue during the. . 2004 federal election. He prom- % ised more funding last year and delivered, but only to a limited ; extent;' : A "•^«-.However, the court ruling simply simply reaffirms what many Canadians Canadians have realized for some time now. We can't afford the ever . increasing price of our universal v publicly-funded health system. " - 'The pressure is now on Mr. , : : ,Martm to help oversee theimple- f mentation of a national parallel ; system of private health clinics. Change is needed to make sure Canadians get timely, high-quality high-quality health care--whether through a private or public facility. The ruling recognizes this need and supports it. CLICK AND SAY Today's question:, o iJ'J In the wake of last week's r . court ruling, do you think, Canadians should be allowed., to purchase private health insurance? Yes No ■ '< Cast your vote online at infodurhamvegioii.com j Last week's question: How do you feel about the : new provincial smoking i restrictions being introduced | and taking precedence over; Durham's smoking bylaw? N,; It's great 28.3% Should be more restrictive 13.0% Unfair to smokers 58.7% Votes cast: 392 .i VÎ1 ,"1 . ; '■-4 a HAVE YOUR SAY V « How do you beat the heat?;*: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Soccer pitch would be an improvement To the editor: ' . l * ; I live in the north part ofBow- ; manvillé, near Concession 3 and Mearns, an area that would seem to have been forgotten by developers. developers. I have requested, over the last e-mail letters to ncwsroom@durhamrcgion children who have been lost to the disease (this was the hardest part for me). As the morning, came,, it was absolutely beautiful, we started counting down the time, but it was bitter-sweet. Even though :we were exhausted, we didn't want the event to end. When I got home and crawled into my bed, I was able to count my blessings and realize that what I com three years ffrom^the Municipal .did will make a difference, and it office, information 'on ' what ' is ' is all with the help of you! f , ' 1 • 7 fiiuv".v' !: - - • 4. Tania Easton |b|fWfcui-i; : v ( T* I- vBowmanville BACKWARD GLANCE Hot spot, c. 1980 This Week file photo One of Clarington's hot spots, lately the Tanglewood, .. formerly the British Bulldog, was found along Hwy. 2 in Courtice. This picture dates from c. 1980. « reritiy being 1 built, albrig Liberty and Long-worth north to Concession Concession 3, this would be a perfect area to put a soccer field or some sort of recreation facility. It would sure beat the dusty dirt that currently sits there and; is only an attraction to noisy dirt bikes that are very disruptive. Tim Kravitz Bowmanville Relay for Life a beautiful event To the editor: J wanted to thank all of you for your support in. the "Relay for- Life." What an event! The weather was beautiful, the ceremonies ceremonies were touching and the fun never ended. With your sup- ' port I was able ,to make over ■ S400 in pledges, plus I purchased eight luminaries for the special people in our. lives that have been touched by cancer. The candle-. lighting ceremony was unbeliev- able., they had the-song "You Raise me Up," playing while the people lit the candles. It was enough to bring a tear to your eye (or many tears in my case!). There was a sea of blue shirts (these shirts are to be worn only by those who beat cancer'and are living cancer free). This was amazing to see.,, as you walked the track the candles lit your way... I met.many people all there for the same reason. There were people walking for Call for unity urged by RPN To the editor: Re: Nurses squabble over qualifications, qualifications, June 3. RPN'S have been name-called and put-down by RNs since the inception of RNAs/RPNs. RNs need to remember that until very recently, when it was mandated that they have a university university degree, that both groups of nurses' graduated from community community colleges with the RN having one more year of training. training. We both write provincial registration registration exams and we are both required to renew a licence yearly. yearly. RNs say RPNs are being used to replace them because they make less money. Whose fault is that? The RNs. They constantly deny RPNs enrolment into their professional union. Therefore, RPNs are lumped into a service- workers union. As the majority of the membership membership in these unions are non-professional, non-professional, RPNs have the lowest ■representation. No one in these unions understands understands the professional standards we have to meet or our scope of practice, so therefore, we get the smallest piece of the union pie • and arc paid less. It is high time RNs embraced RPNs as their professional co- workers. The united membership numbers of well over 150,000 people can only work to everyone's everyone's benefit. Sharon Cryderman RPN V.--' Oshawa Book of Leviticus clear on same- sex behaviour ■ To the editor: ' y ;v; ïy ] \ : 'y : ! : Re: Bible; says God ■ doesn 't A appjvyeyqf sdme-sèx fildpnqgie, j June8. i : ' t ;. :'"vA,.ï\ yyffffy In the Old Testament book of i Leviticus, Chapter 18, God gives Moses a definitive list of unlaw-. ful sexual relationships. . . These come with dire warnings and consequences, eg., in verse 22, "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." detestable." And the consequences for doing this are found in verses 27-28: "For all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it .will vomit you out, as it vomited out the nations that were before you." 1-Iow can we sing, "God keep our' land, glorious and free," while approving same-sex relationships? relationships? Kathleen Hayes Courtice Megan Kenney "No. We have enough already" already" y'NJyyfy m,: ■ Ashley Burtch "Stay ii water." "Stay inside and drink lots of!£5 Brittney Marshall "Go swimming." ' LETTERS We welcome letters that include name, city of residence and phone numbers for verification. Writers are generally limited to 200 words and one submission submission in 30 days. We decline announcements, poetry, open letters, consumer complaints, congratulations and thank you notes. The editor reserves the right to edit copy for length, style and clarity. The newspaper newspaper contacts only those people people whose submissions have been chosen for piiblication. FAX: 905-579-1809; E-MAIL: Newsroom ©durhamregion. Trasna Pankurst "Stay in the air-conditiong." ^ | ?h 11 Cash required to fix health care Tommy Douglas must be rolling rolling over in his grave. Canada's founder of medicare, Mr, Douglas took all the heavy duty political heat when he brought "socialized medicine" into Saskatchewan in the early 1960s. But the idea of having a public insurance system in place, one that would ensure everyone would liavc access to health care regardless of their means, was an idea whose time had come. And, with the adoption of the Canada Health Act in the late 1960s, medicare became the law across this country. But now, after repeated warnings warnings the system was unsustainable unsustainable unless drastic changes were made to it, we liavc a Supreme Tim Kelly Court rilling that'could spell the beginning of the end of what we have treasured and taken for granted. That ruling says that (in. Quebec Quebec only for now, but not for lpng), it is unconstitutional to prevent a citizen from buying private health insurance when the public system is incapable of ■ providing proper care in a timely manner. The man-in question had to wait a year to get. a hip replacement and the judges ruled that was simply too long. J Such a ruling could lead to challenges challenges by Albertans, Ontarians and others who believe they've been forced , to wait too long for public health care, it could bring about a parallel private system witli private insurers and private doctors in private cliniçs. In other words, it could create a two-tier system that gives lop- quality, expensive care to those : wiio can , a fiord it, and lower quality, shabbier care to those who can't! v, y ACC : V- 'i'J Those who claim to really cure , about mbciicarc -- step forward federal Liberals --- ate ■ most at fault for where tilings stand today. Long years of cutbacks to payments to provinces have left the system cash-starved. While it's true that prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin have tried to put several billion a year back into the system, it's just ii fraction of what is needed. What wc'rc faced with is the nasty political game where the provinces blame the federal government government who turns around and fights with the provinces. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, waiting times get longer and longer, more Canadians than ever don't have a family physician, physician, equipment and research costs go up but there is little or no money to pay them. In short, they play politics and bicker, while we suffer. On a related issue, consider the relative sudden silence over 1 same-sex marriage, the Belinda Stronach crossover, the Germant Germant Grcwal tapes fiasco, and the Gomcry Inquiry when the Supreme Court handed down its ruling last week; When it comes • to health care, much like our personal personal health, nothing else really matters. If the feds want a great public system, they will have lo ramp up • their share of the funding. Nothing else will cure this ailing system; ■ À;-. : Copy editor Tim Kelly 's column appears every oilier Wednesday, E-mail tkelly@dmiuimrefmn.com. The Canadian Statesman is 'N j • one of the Metroland Printing] j Publishing and Distributing \ » group of newspapers. The ; i Statesman is a member of • } the Bowmanville Clarington j Board of Trade, the Greater j Oshawa Chamber of Com- ] J merce, Ontario Community pt j Newspaper Assoc., Cana- Jj dian Community Newspaper;^ Assoc., Canadian Circula- i'$ lions Audit Board and the >4 Ontario Press Council. The publisher reserves the right, ;» ; to classify .or refuse any • j advertisement. Credit for ad-^i vertlsement limited to space ' \ price error occupies. Editorial! and Advertising content of J1 the Canadian Statesman is copyrighted. Unauthorized re** production is prohibited. , --■> . 10, -vi wifCJ. 6cna dob fMMMl linlllM