Quebec Gets One Right...

Quebec recently announced a number of tax increases including one that will charge patients $25.00 for each visit to their Doctor.

Being the L'Enfant Terrible of Confederation, no other Province, other than Quebec, could get away with this - but in this instance Quebec is bang on.

Canadians are approaching the expenditure of 50% of all their government revenues (read taxes) on Health Care and the trend upward will only worsen as our aging population - ages further. As a per centage of our Budget, we are paying as much on our Health Care as the Americans pay for their military (i.e on a per capita basis) And the Americans want to emulate our Health Care System. Soon all the US will be able to afford are bullets and needles. But that is the stuff of a future editorial.

Now back to Quebec.

Quebec realizes, as does any thinking health care provider, that unfettered (read free) access to our Health Care system simply cannot be sustained. As it is, there are not enough Doctors for all of our citizens.

Those who pay no taxes, get their care free and those who pay taxes, pay for everyones' care. In both cases, there is no disincentive to use the system, regardless of how minor your health complaint. A runny nose, a sore throat, flu and the cold take time away from more serious conditions.

One of the best ways in which to discourage needless Doctor visits is to charge a fee for each visit. And then watch the numbers decline.

In this sense, Quebec is on the right track and because it is sacrosanct from federal censure, we, in the ROC will all ultimately benefit from its initiative. If Quebec can do it, then everyone can do it.

Where I differ slightly from Quebec's proposal is in regard to the amount of the proposed fee. Twenty-five Dollars ($25) per person, per visit seems a little on the steep side. This could really add up if you factored in a family of 4 struggling to to get by in today's high cost of living.

A $10.00 charge per visit would, I believe, be equally successful in significantly reducing demand.

In any event, the fee per visit is a welcome step given Health Care's out of control costs. It is though only a start. Many more tough decisions will need to be taken to tame the beast.

But in the levying of a visitation fee, Quebec has it right. Bravo.

As I see it...

Taking The Supreme...

Out of the 'Supreme' Court of Canada.

While all eyes were on the Guergis firing, our illustrious House of Commons was voting in favour of a fully Bilingual Supreme Court.

By a vote of 140 to 137 - Member Yvon Godin's Private Bill C-232 passed the House of Commons and is now being considered by the Senate. All Conservatives present voted with the no's.

If it passes the Senate, Bill C-232 will represent the most divisive law since the passage of the Official Languages Act in 1969.

I say this because with the advent of the Charter of Rights in 1982, the Supreme Court of Canada's role changed from one of just interpreting laws to one that includes making laws - as history has shown since then. In some very important instances, the Court's power now exceeds that of Parliament itself.

But hardly a word in Print or in the other media about this Vote.

That said, there was an excellent piece written this past weekend by Dan Gardner in the Ottawa Citizen under the heading 'Most of us need not apply for top jobs'.

Gardner points out that Bilingualism "bars at least 90% of candidates before the search even begins".

Here are some other interesting figures he floats: bilingualism among Anglophones is only 9.4%; among allophones it is but 12.1%; and among francophones 42%.

Although not specifically stated in his article, Statistics Canada shows that Bilingualism (English / French) over the past 50 years has increased a miserly 5% (from 12 to 17%) despite the billions of dollars spent on it.

Gardner deducts from the above that although "you still get good people (for the Court), ..." you won't get the best".

One could argue that with the Supreme Court challenging Parliament for Supremacy - you most certainly want and need the best.

Finally, Gardner makes a rather interesting analogy. Say women, who make up 51% of the population were excluded from consideration - "one half of the available intelligence and energy is squandered". Now compare that to Official Bilingualism where up to 90% of the population is excluded, as a matter of public policy.

Added to this mixture is the fact that Bilingualism exists in numbers only in Northern New Brunswick, Quebec - although it holds to unilingual status, and Ontario - east of Bank Street. Should the Court become exclusively Bilingual, vasts tracts of Canada and the Majority of the Population - in the East and for most off Ontario west - would be effectively excluded. This when Quebec currently already has one third of the Court's appointees (3 of 9).

I fear that should this Bill become law, Separation will soon again raise its ugly head, but this time it will not come from Quebec.

As I see it...

"Galagher"

I Don't Think I Would Like Helena Guergis...

Note: I took some heat from writing this editorial, the prevailing view being that Guergis got what she deserved. Maybe so. But what I was trying to say is - 'What happened to Cabinet Ministers only losing their jobs when involved in cooking contracts for friends and relatives and failing to disclose their personal interests when Government Financial Decisions are taken? I still do not see tandrums or a letter writing campaign rating the same level of concern! Poor judgment yes - a firing offence - you decide. G


...If I Knew Her.

But I Don't.

What I do believe is that she is being unfairly treated.

All the editorials of late, class Ms. Guergis as being totally unfit to be a Cabinet Minister and they are are critical of Harper for taking so long to boot her from Office.

I think it is all over-reaction and I am sticking my head out here somewhat because - like you, I do not know what the latest scandal is that forced Harper's hand and had him call in the Police.

I suspect it will amount to not too much - as in the case of all of the known complaints to date.

Let's review a few - beginning with the most grievous - that is to say - of the known ones - the PEI episode.

Guergis lost it when an airport security official asked her to remove her boots for scanning just prior to boarding her flight back to Ottawa. Having lived in PEI for 5 years I can tell you that anyone worth knowing is known by everyone in PEI. Hence that security official certainly knew he or she was dealing with a Minister of the Crown. Why would that person ask a Cabinet Minister to remove their boots? Who was more stupid - the Security Personnel for asking her to take off her boots or Guergis for losing it?

I suspect the official was a Liberal just trying to play one-up-man-ship on a high ranking Tory. But whether that was the case or not - it was in my opinion a dumb thing to ask of Ms. Guergis.

Plus, as you know from previous Blogs - I believe it is a dumb thing to ask of any traveller unless there is good reason - i.e. profiling and or security intelligence to back-up the request.

Indeed I suggested that I look forward to the day when the common traveller starts to balk at these inane requests. I didn't though expect it to start with a Cabinet Minister given that such action is unlikely to advance their career.

Complaint two was related to staffers writing to local media as if they were constituents and not her personal staffers. Wrong? Yes. Big Deal? Not really. Just another Dumb Move but hardly the stuff to get fired over. Suspend the Staffers involved for a period of time and you can bet that they will not be so slap happy with their pens in the future.

Now to the real stuff - her husband - former Tory MP - Rahim Jaffer.

Guilt by association but she is married to the guy.

Anyway - Jaffer's grand faux pas was to boast that as a former MP and as a husband of a Cabinet Minister he had ins with the Prime Minister's Office. Truth is, he probably did. But the over-riding truth is that anyone who is (or thinks) he or she is anyone in Ottawa makes the same claim on a regular basis. If Jaffer is guilty of that - half of Ottawa would be in the Docket with him.

And, oh yeah - he had a government issued blackberry. Just imagine. If I was Chief of Staff to a Minister, and I was once, I would see nothing wrong with the Minister's spouse being able to communicate quickly with their husband or wife. Indeed, in the crazy world of Politics it is ever more essential that families of politicians be able to do so at the public's expense.

So what does Harper know that we don't know? If it follows along with the minutia to date, it won't amount too much.

I truly hope that it is something worth while, to have brought the cops in, but I despair that it is not given the track record.

To date, Guergis has been given a bum rap. She is now history, but the bigger story here is what is does to prospective politicians out there watching all of this.

Sadly, they will likely conclude that they do not need any of this.

As I see it...

"Galagher"

The Victoria Cross...double glazed

My late father, god bless him, often told me with pride that the British (also read Canadian) did not hand out their medals indiscriminately like the Americans.

In essence, if you were awarded a medal in the Canadian army of World Wars I & II you bloody well earned them.

Flash ahead to 2010 and now you have the Tim Medal Honour - aka- the 'donut gong'.

Now employees of Afghanistan based Tim Hortons can earn military medals for their distinguish service to the cause.

I can just see the citation that will go along with the first medal so earned:

"Confronted by longer lines than usual, Tim Employee X held his ground. In the face of this ever increasing onslaught, he did not retreat, even when it was evident that the Walnut Crunch had run out. He was an inspiration to his fellow employees, who by this time, had fled to the relative safety of the back room leaving Employee entirely alone...."

The only good thing about this development is that my father has been spared from experiencing it.

As I see it...

"Galagher"

The Detainees Are Starting To Get Away...

On The Liberals.

Ignatieff has made much on the Detainee Issue despite the fact that like the Prorogation Issue, it is but a tempest in a teapot.

The simple fact is that other than for the left wing Media, Canadians do not give a Tinker's Damn about the so-called rights of Terrorists in far off countries. That is unless, as in the Shidane Arone tragedy, Canadian soldiers are directly implicated.

It only goes to show that the Opposition Parties have nothing of substance available to attack the Harper Government. This despite the fact that unemployment is historically high, and the economy is just now coming out of the most serious Recession in our history.

But as I said at the outset, the beleaguered Grits are now starting to lose control of the issue.

It is morphing into a Constitutional Issue as to whether or not the Government can keep classified documents from Parliament. There is no easy solution - the Opposition states that as Parliamentarians they have a right to see any and all documents pertaining to the Detainee Issue. The Government for its part truly believes that for matters of security this cannot be allowed.

The compromise proposed by Harper to have a former Justice of the Supreme Court review all the documents seems to me to be a fair and just one. The Liberals do not appear to be at all satisfied.

If it goes to its logical conclusion it could very well precipitate an Early Election. And no one - especially the Liberal Party wishes for that.

Personally, I do not see an Election being called on this issue but I do see Harper making it a matter of Confidence. What I expect to see is the Liberals blinking on the issue and standing down. Failing that, they will vote against the Government but only in such a small number to avoid election calamity.

As I see it...

"Galagher"

Fowler's Follies

At this past weekend's Liberal Think Fest, Robert Fowler - a former Canadian Ambassador to the UN - lashed out at the Government for not sharing his vision of the world. Such arrogance.



Indeed, from my long time in Canada's Civil Service - his arrogance is consistent with those who spend time in the Foreign Affairs Department. Only the Immigration Department can rival DFAIT in this regard and it comes in at a poor second.



Fowler, you will recall, was recently held hostage by the Al Qaeda in Africa and it was the same Tory Government, he criticizes, that saved his sorry hide. Some gratitude.



Fowler was also the Deputy Minister when Canadian Forces Clayton Matchee and Kyle Brown tortured to death a young Somali, by the name of Shidane Arone, in 1992. There was definitely a cover-up and it was starting to unravel when the then Liberal Government shut down the Somali Inquiry established earlier to ferret out the facts. This has to rank as the most blatant interference on the part of a Canadian Government in living memory. And yet, there were probably more complaints earlier this year about Harper's prorogation of Parliament than there were complaints about the cancellation of the Inquiry in 1993.

Fowler was the Deputy Minister of Defence when the killing took place and the Inquiry Report concluded that the scandal stemmed from a distinct lack of leadership on the part of the Senior Officials at Defence. You don't get much more senior than the Deputy Minister.

Of note, Fowler was one of the next witnesses to be called when Chretien disbanded the Inquiry.

Flash ahead to 2010 and we find a new revitalized Fowler quick to give his comments when some 16 years earlier - when it counted - he was no where to be seen.

One particular comment from Fowler that I found particularly galling was his assertion Canada is too supportive of Israel. He suggested that this was caused by a blatant attempt by our politicians to woo the Jewish Vote when in actual fact their are more Muslims living in Canada than there are Jews.

And this despite the fact that none of the world's Terrorists are Jewish and the only truly democratic state in the middle east is Israel.

It is time that Fowler returned to his enforced silence.

As I see it...

"Galagher"

I Like Ann Coulter...

Though I do not have much use for Ottawa U - so called 'Canada's University. (It is not by happenstance that the CBC calls upon the tenured left wing professors of Ottawa U to support its politically correct point of view)

And my above feelings long preceded Ms. Coulter's recent attempt to speak on its campus.

I have followed Ann Coulter over the course of the last couple of years and I must admit that initially I too found her to be a right wing loon. But as time went on, I realized that she was simply trying to be provocative - and in so doing to make points which needed to be made.

Permit me to give you a recent example.

Coulter has been accused of saying that Muslims should not be allowed to fly - I guess on the premise that not all Muslims are terrorists but nearly all terrorists are Muslim.

Well the fact is - Ann Coulter never made that statement - and as she herself has pointed out - this is consistent with most of the statements that she has alleged to have made. This is not surprising given the inherent bias of our left-wing media.

What she did say - and she admits to doing so, is that all Muslims who fly, should be profiled.

Even with that she has gone too far but the essence of what she is saying makes imminent sense.

Here we have democracies around the world suspecting everyone of being a terrorist with this leading to grandmothers, babies and the like from the general population being searched for bombs and weapons and indeed most recently being electronically stripped searched.

As I have pointed out in past Blogs, this state of affairs is utter nonsense.

Alas with current state of technology, Profiling is still the way to go.

But Profiling itself need not apply to the whole of the Muslim Community. It too can be targeted to those most likely to fit the description of a terrorist - e.g. young, not married. And it can be further supported by counter terrorist measures such as continued development of the no-fly lists.

Anyway, what I am trying to say, is that although Coulter exaggerates for effect, but the essence of her message is solid.

Political correctness and aversion to profiling are fall-outs from the transition in society which began in the 1960s and for which I am planning one day return to in greater depth.

Canada has sold out to such thinking - as has Europe. The United States is the only country remaining where the fight against it remains but even America is split right down the middle.

Like it or not, the Ann Coulters are part of this fight - from the right, and if they lose, all of us in the West will lose too.

As I see it...

"Galagher"