Canadian Politics

[JCon]

2 hours ago, Wideleft said:

Fair enough.  I do get triggered by sentences that include "Preston Manning had a good idea".

Agreed. Sorry, @the watcher.  

[HardCoreBlue]

2 hours ago, Wideleft said:

Fair enough.  I do get triggered by sentences that include "Preston Manning had a good idea".

We should start a thread entitled what's your top 5 triggers and what are some ways you can make them not your triggers? 🙂

The obvious  but extremely difficult way is to get off all forms of social media and become a recluse.

[Wideleft]

3 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

We should start a thread entitled what's your top 5 triggers and what are some ways you can make them not your triggers? 🙂

The obvious  but extremely difficult way is to get off all forms of social media and become a recluse.

I'm going to add that I used "trigger" in The Queen's English way.  Never liked how it is used now.

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, Wideleft said:

I'm going to add that I used "trigger" in The Queen's English way.  Never liked how it is used now.

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, Wideleft said:

I'm going to add that I used "trigger" in The Queen's English way.  Never liked how it is used now.

Ummm...we're back to the "king's English" now.

[Noeller]

34 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

 

#IYKYK

[Wideleft]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

 

#IYKYK

 

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ford-jones-health-surgeries-private-clinics-1.6715117

Quote

Ontario is significantly expanding the number and range of medical procedures performed in privately run clinics as the province deals with a surgical backlog made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The change will be introduced over three phases. The first will see surgical and diagnostic clinics in Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo and Windsor perform an additional 14,000 cataract operations each year, representing about 25 per cent of the province's current wait list for the procedure.

Next, more private clinics will be able to offer MRI and CT imaging, as well as colonoscopies and endoscopies.

"These procedures will be non-urgent, low-risk and minimally invasive and, in addition to shortening wait times, will allow hospitals to focus their efforts and resources on more complex and high-risk surgeries," the province said in a news release.

The government intends that by 2024, the third phase will see hip and knee replacements performed at for-profit clinics.

Gross. 

[Fatty Liver]

27 minutes ago, blue_gold_84 said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ford-jones-health-surgeries-private-clinics-1.6715117

Gross. 

Always wondered why we accept bribery when it's labeled as "lobbying" when it's a prosecutable crime with a direct paper trail of evidence?  The biggest flaw in government today is that wealthy donors, unions and corporations are allowed to buy influence with payouts and promises in order to maintain their position at the top of the heap, it goes against all democratic principles of fairness and equity. 

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, Fatty Liver said:

Always wondered why we accept bribery when it's labeled as "lobbying" when it's a prosecutable crime with a direct paper trail of evidence?  The biggest flaw in government today is that wealthy donors, unions and corporations are allowed to buy influence with payouts and promises in order to maintain their position at the top of the heap, it goes against all democratic principles of fairness and equity. 

Totally agree...I would add unions to you list as well though.

[Wideleft]

1 hour ago, GCn20 said:

Totally agree...I would add unions to you list as well though.

[itchy]

3 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

I was looking into this further.

I work for a union, you have to register to be able to by the looks of it, and we don't. In fact I am required to fill out a monthly report to document any time I talk to a politician, and any time during elections we have to report every penny spent during the period, with a very low limit (like $3k nationally). 

Unifor does more so (under 1 million), but I'm going to guess that they're an outlier and that it's a veritable drop in the bucket in the big picture when you compare it to corporations. 

So, do some unions do this- yes- but I think it's disingenuous to lump them together when you look at the big picture. I don't think union contribution amounts are anywhere remotely near wealthy donors, corporations, or right wing organizations.

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, itchy said:

I was looking into this further.

I work for a union, you have to register to be able to by the looks of it, and we don't. In fact I am required to fill out a monthly report to document any time I talk to a politician, and any time during elections we have to report every penny spent during the period, with a very low limit (like $3k nationally). 

Unifor does more so (under 1 million), but I'm going to guess that they're an outlier and that it's a veritable drop in the bucket in the big picture when you compare it to corporations. 

So, do some unions do this- yes- but I think it's disingenuous to lump them together when you look at the big picture. I don't think union contribution amounts are anywhere remotely near wealthy donors, corporations, or right wing organizations.

Moreover, union finances must be transparent and answerable to the membership. Not so for corporations.

[WildPath]

Not to mention how many politicians suddenly find themselves in top roles for corporations that were beneficiaries of their governing once they leave office.

[blue_gold_84]

Whoopsie doodle.

[Bigblue204]

As someone who worked for a for profit medical clinic, I can assure you the bottom line comes before anything else. And I honestly believe we had people with hearts running the show. Even still, at the end of the month/quarter/year...the discussion inevitably lead to $$. 

Put people who are ONLY interested in making $$ (which is eventually going to happen) and it won't be long before American style health care takes over.

[JCon]

We need to look to Europe. They have the right model to provide sustainable universal healthcare. 

[HardCoreBlue]

1 hour ago, blue_gold_84 said:

Whoopsie doodle.

For some, telling the truth no longer matters. Everything is transactional to get what you need.

[Tracker]

2 hours ago, blue_gold_84 said:

Whoopsie doodle.

This healthcare crisis is both caused by and benefits the Cons. Having systematically starved the system for decades whenever in power, s crisis can now be reacted to by farming out a lot of of procedures at exorbitant charges.   They can now wring their hands and point to the expenses and say that public healthcare was what they have said all along- that its too inefficient and costly. Privatization is obviously (in their august opinion) the only remedy.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Tracker

[Fatty Liver]

2 hours ago, JCon said:

We need to look to Europe. They have the right model to provide sustainable universal healthcare. 

We would also have to accept Europe's tax rates if we wanted a system comparable to theirs.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Fatty Liver

[Tracker]

8 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

We would also to have to accept Europe's tax rates if we wanted a system comparable to theirs.

If the higher taxes mean lower suicide rates, less societal violence, better outcomes for critical illnesses, high education rates and increased contentment for Canadians, I'm all for it. The Americans and Canadian right-wingers will be apoplectic, but so be it.

[JCon]

14 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

We would also to have to accept Europe's tax rates if we wanted a system comparable to theirs.

Yup!

[Wideleft]

1 hour ago, Fatty Liver said:

We would also have to accept Europe's tax rates if we wanted a system comparable to theirs.

Finland taxes their churches 1-2.1%, depending on the parish.  I say that would be a good start.

[the watcher]

21 hours ago, JCon said:

We need to look to Europe. They have the right model to provide sustainable universal healthcare. 

It's always bothered me that when we look at fixing our issues with our Healthcare system we only think that it's either the American  way or ours. There are many different systems in Europe and the rest of the world. We  need to do look beyond the Americans when we look for solutions.

As far as the cost of systems I haven't looked since covid hit but generally most of Europe like ourselves are in the 10 to 11.5 percent of our GDP to fund our Healthcare systems.The Americans spend a whopping 17+ percent of their GDP on Healthcare. The cost argument never has held water.

And as far as results for  having their expensive system , we are 12th to 14 in life expectancy. Americans are around 32nd.

It's been awhile since I looked at the numbers and it was precovid so I stand to be corrected.

My point boils down to there are more answers to fixing our Healthcare issues than the old private or public argument.

Edited January 18, 2023 by the watcher

[Fatty Liver]

3 hours ago, the watcher said:

It's always bothered me that when we look at fixing our issues with our Healthcare system we only think that it's either the American  way or ours. There are many different systems in Europe and the rest of the world. We  need to do look beyond the Americans when we look for solutions.

As far as the cost of systems I haven't looked since covid hit but generally most of Europe like ourselves are in the 10 to 11.5 percent of our GDP to fund our Healthcare systems.The Americans spend a whopping 17+ percent of their GDP on Healthcare. The cost argument never has held water.

And as far as results for  having their expensive system , we are 12th to 14 in life expectancy. Americans are around 32nd.

It's been awhile since I looked at the numbers and it was precovid so I stand to be corrected.

My point boils down to there are more answers to fixing our Healthcare issues than the old private or public argument.

Guaranteed if they privatize segments of our health care system as Conservatives continually push to do, sooner or later money will begin to flow into deep American pockets and we will lose control of the ability to reform the system into anything other than a replica of the American health care model.  That extra 5.5% cost in their system you noticed, is the wealthy getting wealthier off the pain and misfortune of others.