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9 n t i in ws5j u vfi 5 vj 1 4 jilt t i 4 j stoujjville suntribune thursday june 3 2004 19 waiting times biggest complaint from voters from page 1 vowing to protect and enhance medical services the liberals offer more than 9 billion in new health care spending over five years including 3 billion for imme diate improvements over two years 2 billion for a national home care fund and 4 billion for a national strategy to reduce waiting times for treatments for cancer heart disease diagnostic imaging joint replacement and eye sight- restoration they also promise to fasttrack the licensing process for foreign- trained doctors and vow to crack down on provinces that violate the conditions of medicare under the canada health act the conservatives say they will deliver funding promised under the 2003 fed eralprovincial health accord they vow to cooper ate with the provinces to ensure adequate funding shorter waiting lists and more access to treatments regard less of ability to pay they sup port the canada health acts guarantee of public funding for necessary medical servic es but support private deliv ery of some treatments they have discussed the possibility of a national drug plan the ndp promises to restore ottawas health care contribution to 25 per cent with the provinces picking up the rest up from todays 19 per cent the new democrats would also reverse private delivery of medical treatments and establish national home care and pharrriacare programs markham stouffville hospital president dr jim maclean has been listening to political rhetoric about health care for years and believes its time for govern ments to make longterm commitments i really think health care needs to be depoliticized i think the only way to do that is have a longterm plan with specific and measurable results he said it must have adequate and sustainable funding to implement the plan of all the political plat forms he is most impressed with the liberal plan because it includes specific dollar fig ures and implementation timeframes at the same time dr maclean is not opposed to the private delivery of health care services as long as they are publicly funded and accessible to all after all he reasoned much of the health care sys tem from doctors offices to labs for services such as x- rays and blood work is already privately delivered im a big believer in a uni versal publicpaying health care system however i am also supportive of delivering that in the most costeffective way we can dr maclean said if forprofit ca meet the same standards as not-for- profit in that it is accessible delivers quality and is cost- efficient i support that but private deliverers cant cherry pick the services that make them money the canadian health coalition is urging candidates to sign a medicare protection pledge after more than a week of campainging candidates say health care is a major concern for voters the biggest complaint newmarketaurora conservative candidate belinda stronach has heard is waiting times patients must now wait 13 months for elec tive surgeries an orthopedic surgeon told her during a round table discussion as much as the liberals are trying to portray them selves as champions of medicare ms stronach noted during the last decade they cut their contribution to a low of 16 cents of every health care dollar spent down from 26 cents the provinces picked up the slack scaremongering ms stronach accused the liberals of scaremongering on the health care issue by accusing the conservatives of endorsing twotier health care were committed to pub licly funded universal access to health care she said the health card is the most important credit card in your wallet that is the way we have to look at it the conservatives sup port private delivery of some medical treatments as long as it is funded from the public purse and accessible to all canadians regardless of income ms stronach said meanwhile ms stronach who was ceo of auto parts giant magna international said a proposed private health care facility on the companys aurora property would be open to york resi dents and conform to the canada health act thornhill liberal candi date susan kadis believes canadians will embrace prime minister paul martins plan to enhance medicare canada is different than the united states and most people dont want to see us go to an american system or twotier she said the conservatives are looking at alternatives that clearly involve privatization they are being quiet but everything im reading is going to an american system its survival of the fittest if you have the money ms kadis insists her party allowed federal funding of health care to drop to historic lows because they inherited a deficit from the former conservative government vaughan ndp candidate octavia beckles said her party wants to find innovative and creative ways of protecting staff photomike barrett newmarketaurora conservative candidate belinda stronach shown here addressing students at sacred heart catholic high school in newmarket says magna internationals private health care facility would be open to all york region residents medicare arguing privatizing treatments will leave lower income canadians vulnera ble she pointed out the provincial liberals budget delisted eye exams physio therapy and chiropractor services meaning poorer ontarians or those without private insurance wont be able to afford the care we want to ensure canadians will be able to use their health card not their credit card ms beckles said this is the no 1 issue for canadians yorksimcoe green party candidate bob burrows wants to put more emphasis on pre venting illness we have to spend an awful lot more time and ener gy to protect health rather than building huge monu ments to failure facilities to treat people after they become ill he said door crashers sat june 5 930 am 1 130 am while quantities iast the already reduced prices on all duvets 60 an additional off the already reduced prices on all window coverings door crashers sun june 6 12 neon 200 pm while quantities last an additional 50 the already reduced prices on dinnerware sets an additional 60 the already reduced prices on selected crushed velvet pakhwork quilts an additional 50 the already reduced prices on blankets weekend specials fri june 4 to sun june 6 while quantities last saveanaddmonal off 60 the already reduced prices on all womens mr max fashions saveanaddmonal the already reduced prices on all womens alia pants saveanaddmonal 50 the already reduced prices on womens selected blazers saveanaddmonal off 50 the already reduced prices on all womens maternity fashions saveanadditional off 60 the already reduced prices on all womens togeiher fashions peisonal shopplrfg only all merchandised sold os is and all sales are final no exchanges returns or adjustments on previously purchased merchandise savings oilers cannot reserve the right to correct any error reg was and sears selling price refer to the sears catalogueor retail store price current at lime ol merchandise receipt oilers valid at sears shops on steeles 404 outlet store shown only merchandise selection varies by store for other hot deals visit the outlet site at wwwsearsca markham outlet store shops on steeles 404 i i i 3 4 4 i ua j v store hours monfri 1000 am 9 pm sat 930 am 6 pm sun 12 noon 5 pm s e a rjc l u b e ctnrrifht tn ummim be 2004 sau pmctt in efka huday friday june 4 1c iuirl u sunday salldotsnomytopurchamsmadeprio