Our Lives Without Healthcare

Dear Editor,

Over the past few months, I have been alarmed at the discussions regarding healthcare.

It seems Alberta and Newfoundland are taking the lead on destroying the healthcare system.

In Alberta, Conservative MLA Dr. Raj Sherman was kicked out of the Tory Caucus for his scathing e-mail about political interference and leaks of a private healthcare document. Add to that the firing of the head of Alberta Health Services, Stephen Duckett, because of his refusal to speak with reporters about the issue. Duckett's wife even accused that Duckett was hired to cut $1.3 Billion from the healthcare budget in his first year.

In Newfoundland, the Conservative government has battered and bruised medical doctors to the point where 14 specialists have resigned, an unprecedented move that has thousands of Newfoundlanders wondering where they will get specialized medicine after February. All the doctors wanted was salary parity with Atlantic Canada doctors. Yet, the Conservatives refused to allow Binding Arbitration, knowing full well they would lose.

It will take one swipe of a pen to allow healthcare to be cancelled in Canada. The Federal Conservative Government has hinted that they will drop the funding for healthcare should they get a Majority government. This would leave the provinces holding the bag and we all know that no province can afford to do that, not even Alberta.

So what do we, as Canadians, do? Are we going to elect another Conservative government that is hell bent on killing healthcare or do we make a change?

How do we pay for our Healthcare? Just as we pay for new items at home with a pay raise, we have to raise taxes. Put the 2% back on the GST that the Conservative government took off (2 cents for healthcare is cheap). End the tax breaks for large corporations. Tax banks on profits from service fees and other user fees that are charged to patrons. Decrease salaries for our provincial and federal politicians by 2%. Abolish the Senate (that savings alone could fund a third world country). Co-operate companies that declare bankruptcy so workers and government share in the profits. Place a 2% tax increase on people who earn more than $100,000 per year, 5% tax increase on people who earn more than $200,000 per year, and 10% tax increase on people who earn more than $300,000 per year. Levy a 2% tax on jackpot lottery winnings.

If we don't take charge now, we will lose healthcare. Two percent is not a lot to pay, but the Conservatives don't care, they would rather give your money to the rich, big corporations, banks, and spend it on fake lakes and extravagant meetings with foreign dignitaries while depriving Veterans of a pension.

Where do you want your money spent and can you qualify for private healthcare with your medical background? Swipe your pen in the next election and get the Conservative governments and their rich friends out of power.


//signed//
Robin Brentnall, CD

The Hangover

Dear Editor,

I woke up this morning feeling very empty.

Am I suffering the effects of a Danny Williams hangover, where everyone looks back at the great time we were having only to wake up this morning and see that it was a drunken state of hipnosis?

I realized this morning that we still have High Unemployment, High cost for gas and home heating oil, ours doctors are upset and leaving, healthcare is in a shambles, trade workers heading to Alberta again due to no work here, Rural NL in ruins, IGOR victims still without help (comparable to the people in New Orleans after Katrina), no firm deal on the Lower Churchill (only a term sheet which is like a grocery list that will change as items become unattainable), and much more facing our seniors than they should ever have to face as a senior?

Did I mention the union employees still fighting on picket lines for a raise?

Thanks for the drinks and entertainment Danny, but I believe we drank too much too quickly and now the party for NL is over. We better take a couple of aspirin and call a doctor in... Oh right, our doctors are leaving.

I feel sick to my stomach.


Robin Brentnall, CD