Politics (As Usual)

[GCn20]

 

I think there are a great deal of horror stories like this. 2 years ago my 4 year old daughter fell off a trampoline at our cabin in Thompson. We took her to the ER at 10 pm. At 4:30 am she had still not been seen and fell asleep. She was in a great deal of pain prior so we asked the ER nurse how much longer we could expect to wait. She said that since our daughter was not considered critical it would be another 2-4 hours. We took her home and came back the next day.

Next day at 10 am we arrived and waited until 4:30 pm before she was seen by a doctor. He sent her for an X-ray, though he insinuated that she might just be faking for attention. A 4 year old faking for a 24 hour span? At any rate, the X-rays came back and she had broken her leg and the break was right by her growth ring of her bone. Off to Winnipeg for emergency surgery where we were advised that had this gone any longer there would have been a real danger of her leg bone never growing correctly. The surgeon even suggested off the record that we file a lawsuit for malpractice as she should have been examined much earlier with a suspected broken bone. I didn't bother. However, I have decided to become active and vocal against the RHA's. Our medical care in Manitoba is in shambles so that the NDP can play politics with hospital care through the formation of the RHAs.

 Had my daughter been crippled for life so that NDP cronies can sit on boards, they are quite frankly completely unqualified for and fleece the taxpayers for per diems, I would have lost it.

Egregious management by the NDP. It just goes on and on. Anyone sitting down and viewing the truth would see this but the NDP are masters of throttling thought by creating panic with their "boogeymen".

 

 

But this is how ER works. The most serious stuff gets looked at first and with a broken bone it's generally just a matter of dealing with the pain as opposed to anything being potentially life threatening. They will make people sit in pain if they're not likely to die on them while they prioritize people who might keel over if they have to wait. 

 

 

A broken bone in a child is completely different than an adult. It is not just pain management. Because a child is still growing irreparable damage can be done if a broken bone is not treated in a timely fashion. ER policy posted on the hospital wall states that a broken bone in a child under 12 years of age should be seen by a doctor within 2 hours.

[GCn20]

 

 

Manitoba's reliance on transfer payments has been mentioned several times.  Transfer payments as a percentage of total government revenue are sitting at about 25%.  They used to be 40%.

I don't know what time frame you are comparing to, but is the change in percentage due to reduction in transfer payments, or increase in other taxes?

 

I know that on a per capita basis, we draw way more money in federal transfer payments than all other provinces west of the maritimes.  We draw almost double of what everyone west of Quebec gets.   We draw more than Quebec.   I find it all quite embarrassing.   We need to be self sufficient.

 

What offends me even more, is the cost of subsidy that we provide to the territories.   Manitoba (per capita) $ 2,626  (2014-2015)   Quebec  $ 2,390    Yukon  $24,901   NWT $29,412  Nunavut  $40,352.

 

I don't mind helping others get through tough patches and offering short term assistance, but we need to let unviable communities close and move rather than subsidizing the HE** out of them year after year after year.

 

http://www.fin.gc.ca/fedprov/mtp-eng.asp#Manitoba

 

 

No one is self-sufficient, not even Alberta.  Given the differences in resource base, I'm not surprised our transfers are about double what Alberta's and Saskatchewan's are.   

 

 

 

The difference in our resource base is not that great. We have just as much potash as Saskatchewan, and we have several HUGE mineral finds in the North that are going undeveloped because our province is not considered a desirable province to deal with by the mining companies. Thompson is in real danger of losing it's mine in the next few years, Flin Flon is at an unprecedented low of employees right now....and it's all because our government of the day seems hell bent on not developing our resources. Do you think potash just stops at the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border?

[Mark H.]

It's more the oil than the potash. Sask has been mining potash for half a century.

[GCn20]

It's more the oil than the potash. Sask has been mining potash for half a century.

 

 

Yep, they have. However, it is only the last 10 years that has seen the price of potash skyrocket. They are now doing it with great profitability and with great positive impact on their province's economy. Something we could do as well, if our provincial braintrust weren't so hell bent on making sure we don't develop our resources unless the companies doing so are government owned.

 

You can talk all the rhetoric you want about the NDP and whether or not they are developing our resources. I will instead choose to look at the hard facts. 500 people in my summer home will hit the unemployment line later this year in Thompson. Real estate has depreciated by close to 20% since this was announced a year and a half ago, and my real estate agent tells me that when the actual layoffs come that I can expect a further drop in my cottages worth by as much as 15%. What have I heard from my government....bupkus...nill....zilch...zero. Just what I expected really. I sure wish the Steelworkers union would sit Selinger down in a back room, maybe then this catastrophic turn of events that is facing Thompson might not be treated so lacksadaisically.

[kelownabomberfan]

The way we do any kind of Health Care in this Country needs to be re-examined. To simply blame the erosion on any one Government, be they Liberal, NDP, or Conservative is over-simplification. They all got us into to this mess and nobody, so far, has the footballs to propose changes that will address the problem. Why? Because they fear the proposed radical changes will get them voted out, so they keep wasting and wasting, because "that's just what it costs".

And we accept it.

Fair enough. Each province is in charge of their health care though, and in cases like Manitoba, where the government is in bed with the unions because the unions fund and control the party in charge, you are going to have far more inefficiencies etc. We saw that here in BC when the NDP were in charge, it was like open season on the province for the unions with no checks or balances.

A friend of mine works in the health-care scheduling business and he says you will never see any professional group abuse overtime more than nurses. It's like they think it's a right of their job. Of course, when you say stuff like this, you get the nutbars who think that you are "attacking" nurses etc. Always an over-the-top emotional reaction when you even suggest that possibly they stop willfully stealing from the taxpayers, and work for the wage that their union negotiated. So there's one big reason why you can't ever talk about changing anything in health care, you can't talk about doing anything differently without someone claiming they are being "attacked".

In BC now, the Liberals have hired so many administrators it just makes no sense. Way too much overhead. No business would ever be run this way. And that's the problem, the health-care system is so obsessed with not being "run like a business" they go out of their way to lessen the accountability. A relative of mine was a doctor (retired now) and I asked him what's wrong with health care. He said "What if tomorrow the government said "food is now free". You'd be ordering steak every night. Except after a few days you'd be sick of steak, but you'd still order it. And after awhile, you'd just throw it out. But now you feel you have a right to that steak, even if you are just going to throw it in the garbage, as it's an entitlement. And that's what's wrong with health care".

[GCn20]

 

The way we do any kind of Health Care in this Country needs to be re-examined. To simply blame the erosion on any one Government, be they Liberal, NDP, or Conservative is over-simplification. They all got us into to this mess and nobody, so far, has the footballs to propose changes that will address the problem. Why? Because they fear the proposed radical changes will get them voted out, so they keep wasting and wasting, because "that's just what it costs".

And we accept it.

Fair enough. Each province is in charge of their health care though, and in cases like Manitoba, where the government is in bed with the unions because the unions fund and control the party in charge, you are going to have far more inefficiencies etc. We saw that here in BC when the NDP were in charge, it was like open season on the province for the unions with no checks or balances.

A friend of mine works in the health-care scheduling business and he says you will never see any professional group abuse overtime more than nurses. It's like they think it's a right of their job. Of course, when you say stuff like this, you get the nutbars who think that you are "attacking" nurses etc. Always an over-the-top emotional reaction when you even suggest that possibly they stop willfully stealing from the taxpayers, and work for the wage that their union negotiated. So there's one big reason why you can't ever talk about changing anything in health care, you can't talk about doing anything differently without someone claiming they are being "attacked".

In BC now, the Liberals have hired so many administrators it just makes no sense. Way too much overhead. No business would ever be run this way. And that's the problem, the health-care system is so obsessed with not being "run like a business" they go out of their way to lessen the accountability. A relative of mine was a doctor (retired now) and I asked him what's wrong with health care. He said "What if tomorrow the government said "food is now free". You'd be ordering steak every night. Except after a few days you'd be sick of steak, but you'd still order it. And after awhile, you'd just throw it out. But now you feel you have a right to that steak, even if you are just going to throw it in the garbage, as it's an entitlement. And that's what's wrong with health care".

 

 

 

The unions and RHAs are a huge impediment to actually fixing what is wrong with health care in this province. The sense of entitlement has got to end and RHA's making purchase decisions based on who buys them the best lunch needs to stop as well. Also, a federally funded hospital in Winnipeg for our native population would help as well. Our tax base, which is small, is being asked to take on way too much of what should be federally funded. Currently, Manitoba in it's entirety makes up 3% of Canada's population. However, 21% of Canada's total first nation population lives in Manitoba and a further 7% in Northwestern Ontario and Nunavut also fall into our health care region for geographical reasons. That is 28% of all the native population that the taxpayers of Manitoba are being asked to provide health care for. Now I don't begrudge anyone health care, nor do I have a problem with us supplying it, what I have a problem with is the funding model. Native Canadians under the Indian Act fall under federal jurisdiction. Treaties with our entire nation were signed and agreement made on the provision of health care, among other things, to be a federal responsibility. Somehow, the feds have us funding what should be their budgetary responsibility. 3% of the population funds 28% of this nations responsibility in this regard. That hardly seems fair does it.

[Mr Dee]

 

Fair enough. Each province is in charge of their health care though, and in cases like Manitoba, where the government is in bed with the unions because the unions fund and control the party in charge, you are going to have far more inefficiencies etc. We saw that here in BC when the NDP were in charge, it was like open season on the province for the unions with no checks or balances.

 

 

Much too easy to just blame the unions for the problems regarding Health Care…or the Nurses, or the Doctors, or the Liberals, etc. etc. Every political party has had their chance at handling budgets and handling Health Care under those budgets. And every party has failed. The Federal Gov. sit in the big chair and those in power dole out the cash as they see fit, whether it makes sense or not. 

It's the system that is flawed, combined with the logistics of living in such a huge country.

There is no easy answer, and the will to adopt other countries' policies for a try, just isn't there. And it's a shame, because somewhere out there, is a better system for us, but we don't have the leaders to find it.

[kelownabomberfan]

Much too easy to just blame the unions for the problems regarding Health Care…or the Nurses, or the Doctors, or the Liberals, etc. etc. Every political party has had their chance at handling budgets and handling Health Care under those budgets. And every party has failed. The Federal Gov. sit in the big chair and those in power dole out the cash as they see fit, whether it makes sense or not. 

It's the system that is flawed, combined with the logistics of living in such a huge country.

There is no easy answer, and the will to adopt other countries' policies for a try, just isn't there. And it's a shame, because somewhere out there, is a better system for us, but we don't have the leaders to find it.

I don't think it's "too easy" at all. There just is no will to even look at it, as the fear-mongering machine starts up immediately. I lived for a year in Australia, and they have a two-tier system, and no one there seems to complain about it. I don't know why people here complain about it, other than out of ignorance. It would be interesting to see what Australia's wait times are, compared to ours, as I think that is the number one issue - people here have to wait too darn long for treatment and surgery and thus their health suffers for it.

[The Unknown Poster]

Yup.  Its not about forcing people to pay.  in fact, does it even have to be two tier?  What about private delivery of the public system, like at Pan Am Clinic?  Let the private businesses cut the fat, pay for the expensive machinery etc.  With public oversight.

 

Perhaps better inner city clinics would help too.  How many people go to the ER, especially at night for a non-urgent reason because they have no family doctor and little means to get to a clinic?

[bigg jay]

Yup.  Its not about forcing people to pay.  in fact, does it even have to be two tier?  What about private delivery of the public system, like at Pan Am Clinic?  Let the private businesses cut the fat, pay for the expensive machinery etc.  With public oversight.

 

Perhaps better inner city clinics would help too.  How many people go to the ER, especially at night for a non-urgent reason because they have no family doctor and little means to get to a clinic?

 

I believe this is the intended purpose of the Quick Care clinics the WRHA has been opening (there are 3 currently).  I have no clue how effective they have been though.

[The Unknown Poster]

Maybe some Nurse Practitioners working the ER would help.  Its probably not too difficult to identify people who can be given some Tylenol and told to go to bed, go see familt doctor or require some fairly quick and easy attention.

[17to85]

Yup.  Its not about forcing people to pay.  in fact, does it even have to be two tier?  What about private delivery of the public system, like at Pan Am Clinic?  Let the private businesses cut the fat, pay for the expensive machinery etc.  With public oversight.

 

Perhaps better inner city clinics would help too.  How many people go to the ER, especially at night for a non-urgent reason because they have no family doctor and little means to get to a clinic?

This is something that should be looked into. I don't know if it's the best solution, but it needs to be looked at. The trouble is that you start talking about private anything people go all in on the "No American style health care!" rants. There is a lot of middle ground between Canadian and American health care, we should stop pretending it's so black and white. 

[The Unknown Poster]

 

Yup.  Its not about forcing people to pay.  in fact, does it even have to be two tier?  What about private delivery of the public system, like at Pan Am Clinic?  Let the private businesses cut the fat, pay for the expensive machinery etc.  With public oversight.

 

Perhaps better inner city clinics would help too.  How many people go to the ER, especially at night for a non-urgent reason because they have no family doctor and little means to get to a clinic?

This is something that should be looked into. I don't know if it's the best solution, but it needs to be looked at. The trouble is that you start talking about private anything people go all in on the "No American style health care!" rants. There is a lot of middle ground between Canadian and American health care, we should stop pretending it's so black and white. 

 

That's the problem.  You cant have that conversation.  The left is far too dishonest.  No disrespect intended but it's true.  One only needs to look at Trudeau's shocking nonsense about Harper at every turn to see it no longer matters what Harper says.  If Harper came out and said he likes May flowers, Trudeau would find some way to slag him with it.  The left would "fix" health care by raising taxes and throwing more money at it.  They'd hire more doctors and nurses who would continue to work the same inefficient system and nothing would change.

 

Maybe if we got an extremely strong Provincial or Federal Conservative government that could do what it wanted without fear, we could get some positive change.  There needs to be a comprehensive plan undertaken.  To be honest, if it was me, I'd form a bi-partisan committee to study health care reform including an audit of how finances are used and the efficiency of how its implemented.  Perhaps if it's bi-partisan you might get some common sense common ground.

[17to85]

I hate when the NDP says they're going to hire more doctors. No kidding, seems like there's a shortage of doctors in this country, especially in remote rural areas. If hiring doctors was just a case of hiring more doctors it would be an easy fix. I'd like to hear where they propose to find these doctors that we need. 

[tacklewasher]

Maybe some Nurse Practitioners working the ER would help.  Its probably not too difficult to identify people who can be given some Tylenol and told to go to bed, go see familt doctor or require some fairly quick and easy attention.

 

I don't know. Already horror stories about people being sent home from ER with serious issues that needed looking at. Also, tough to tell someone to go see their family Doc when a lot of people don't have a family doc.

[tacklewasher]

The trouble is that you start talking about private anything people go all in on the "No American style health care!" rants. There is a lot of middle ground between Canadian and American health care, we should stop pretending it's so black and white. 

 

 

I don't even think it's middle ground. I think both systems suck and need to be tossed in favour of something better. And the government should be the ones getting off their asses to determine what that looks like. But, as said above, the will to actually do that seems to be less than the political cost.

[GCn20]

Health care is a complex problem that needs to be addressed soon. The bulk of the population in Manitoba is rapidly aging. We simply don't have the tax base to support health care in the coming years if it is run like the gong show it is today. Manitoba is rapidly becoming a giant retirement home where the elderly vastly outnumber the youth. If we don't see some serious change in our province the future looks bleak. Tax and spend won't solve it. We need concrete economy growth or we are dead in the water.

[FrostyWinnipeg]

This just in: Shelly Glover to not see re-election.