Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 21, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus a13 pm i Phi ii inv 2001 information act remains vital tool for Public elected officials sometimes lose sight of a fundamental concept of a democratic society the Public right to know and the absolute need for transparency in in the course of officials tend to take a proprietary hold of Public to dispense As they see this was clearly illustrated in the first Case to the ombudsman involving a the Munici Pality of displeased with the coverage by local passed a Resolution to hold up release of Council formerly the minutes had been released As soon As produced but Council wanted them held Back until As at the next Barry intervened and persuaded Council to accept the obvious the Public right to Public transparency is Central to a healthy but at deliberations Are held behind closed doors to exclude the one recent example is the meeting of mayors to discuss the grave problems facing this was an important subject of wide but it was held in a press Confer ence was held after the closed meet but what was the jurisdiction of holding the meeting in secret would it have revealed their strategy to Deal with Ottawa so what these Are All Public matters dealt with by Public culture of secrecy in his annual report to the House of commons last John Feder Al information attacked the government for continuing its Cul Ture of the government and its agencies were refusing to disclose information to which the Public was the Lack of disclosure at City Hall is being challenged in an application to be submitted to the ombudsman under the Access to information this Issue concerns the refusal of the City to reveal the business plan for the pro posed new the which is contributing millions of dollars to the is entitled to know All the Tuckett has completed 12 years As ombudsman and he talked about his experience at a meeting of ombudsmen in Edmonton this what bothers him Are the spurious claims that Access to information legislation is a threat to Cabinet confidences and ministerial he is refer ring to requisitions on briefing notes to Public opinion and other factual information used by government in making Tuckett finds governments Are most resistant to requests for information from the Media and political they probe into the background of pol icy decisions or activities with the potential to raise High Public in responding to these Applina says there is less Likely to be full the More Likely a release of a record will bring Public the More Likely the Public body will look to ways to deny Access May be refused on irrelevant it is illuminating to examine the contentious issues listed by Tuckett during his it seems so obvious this information should have been released without but each request was vigorously they include records of lottery Rev Enue broken Down by Community report on compulsive gambling records of government involvement in trying to keep the Winnipeg jets Here Public opinion polls paid for by the government briefing notes to the min ister leading up to the riots at heading Ley jail travel expenses of ministers attendance records of Cabinet minis ters at the Treasury refusal in every one of these governments at first refused to divulge information that belongs to the in the Case of the Winnipeg the tory government stonewalled for More than a year in All the free press performed a Public service in requesting the information in the first Tuckett persevered and let go of any of these cases until the information was revealed to the without the Force of the Access to information operational since none of this information would have been made the act remains a vital tool for open govern look to other countries for healthcare successes by Linda West the Quebec governments Clair report last year urged the government to encourage private sector investments in areas such As Lon term care diag Nostic laboratories and Day surgery clinics while ensuring appropriate regulation of these these services would still be paid for through Public former Saskatchewan Premier Roy assigned by prime minis Ter Jean Chretien to Chart the future of says Hes no longer concerned about Albertas new private health Law stating that May be less of a concern with respect to the Canada health act than it was when it was initially Intro in he has also said that there could be some feathering in of privately provided services that the tradition of publicly funded and administered services might be combined with a larger role for the Pri vate vast changes since National medicare was established in there has been exponential growth in what healthcare professionals can do and what people can do for themselves to improve their length or Quality of there have also been vast changes in Virtu ally All aspects of technology and demographics Over the past 17 and these changes Are Likely to continue at an increasing each provinces health insurance plan must insure All services that Are medically the Canada health act neither mentions the Quality of services to be provided nor gives a detailed list of what ser vices will be insured provincial governments define the Range of insured services varies among provinces and from one year to the according to the Canadian medical there Are 23 ser vices that Are provided in some provinces and reinsured in others including Psychoanal ear Wax penile pros thet insured persons must have reason Able and uniform Access to insured health free of financial or other no one May be discriminated against on the basis of health and so queuing is allowed to such Canadian press archives medical such As Fri Are less expensive and More readily available in some other an extent in some areas that it causes prolonged suffering and disability with the loss of employment and inde none of the principles of the Canada health act focus on outcome or attainment of the highest possible level of health increased life reduced nor does the act mention aspects of health care that other countries including Home Community medication and regulated Many healthcare providers in Canada phys Othera dentists and pharmacists Are further privatization of the delivery of health care implies greater Reliance on individuals and institutions outside most of whom the Public already knows and we must then ensure that they Are regulated in a manner where information regarding the Quality of their care is available to the other countries have had much Suc Cess in this area when appropriate regulations and incentives Are in in France the country rated 1 by the world health Organiza Canada was rated the healthcare system is based on com petition and the Freedom for patients to choose their own doctors and treat ment Security the compulsory health insurance finances or reimburses for health care or the government of France has Cre ated a framework for health care in which Public and private hospitals co exist to provide the population with easy Access to the required both Public and private hospitals and clinics Are subject to government approval for their their development and major medical equipment scan beyond this there is an process in which the results Are the results of the French system speak for themselves they have virtually no waiting lists three to four weeks is considered a Long wait and is rare and their system costs them per person per year less than the Canadian France achieves a higher disability adjusted life expectancy Canada 72 France beyond the French system is fairer to the poor As French citizens personally pay less through private insurance or out of pocket reevaluate int it time canadians reevaluated their healthcare system and looked where other countries Are having Suc Cess in delivery time and High Quality care Linda teaches labour relations at the univer sity of Manitoba faculty of z letters to the editor the free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain r2x fax email errors mar defence of literary Freedom Tom Ole sons spirited defence of liter Ary Freedom of expression leaving out the naughty june 9 would have been far More impressive if he had got his facts Oleson correctly refers to Thomas Bowdler and his expurgated Shakespeare As the source for the term his glib summation the victorians were not big on writing naughty at least for Public consumption is a Gross historical inaccuracy on several bowlers family Shakespeare came out in 1818 not 1810 As Oleson while Victoria was not even born until the following year she did not come to the throne until the Early part of her reign was not characterized by the repressive morality conventionally associated with which is really a general social artefact of the later part of the 19th Bowdler set about expunging naughty bits from the bards works during the English a period noted for the extravagant behaviour of the Prince Regent later George in and the scandal surrounding his relationship and Legal Battles with his what does this have to do with Ole sons argument against Harper Collins plans to Bowdle Rize the narnia books perhaps not much but in an argument is More pow Erful if it is based on Correct if you really want to help defend literary at least do your Philip Hultin Winnipeg use imagination for Pooh painting i am writing to express my appreciation of the balanced perspective of the Pooh phenomenon Given by Sigrid Dahle in her Art review Pooh painting draws derision june i have been following this Story i through newspaper and radio Over the past the predictions that acquisition of the Pooh painting will Lead to International Fame and Fortune for Winnipeg Are highly in my i am also wary of the cites having the connection to Disney that would necessarily be Given that they hold the copyright to All things Winnipeg would become a funnel for the flow of Money to Disney in Exchange for permission to use the cutesy images that Shep Ards drawings have become in their since Winnipeg now owns the i suggest applying some imagination to develop a really creative and innovative use of Janie Marchand Winnipeg smokers must take responsibility i am writing this letter in regard to All the other letters that people Are writ ing blaming the tobacco Industry for their i completely agree that the tobacco Industry has to stand up and take responsibility for the facts that were hidden by like the fact that cigarettes Are Addic i have to take umbrage at people who place All the blame on the tobacco there has been so much information out there about the effects of cigarette smoking that you have to be deaf in Complete denial not to realize what cigarettes do to your body and the bodies of those people who have the misfortune to be near you when you Are As someone who is asthmatic and allergic to cigarette it makes me very angry when people blow smoke in my face causing me to choke and fight just to keep breath ing As they Are walking by and then complain about How the tobacco Industry is to blame for their smok As the Odds Are greater that if parents smoke the children will i Hope this letter will cause people to Start thinking about this smokers need to take responsibility for their own it is not All the tobacco Industry Annette Vankoevering Winnipeg dont limit soph now compensation the suggestion that Thomas soph now should receive a maximum of for the hardships he has and will Likely continue to live As a result of his wrongful murder conviction is both laughable and whether soph now had a bizarre personality a purely subjective and irrelevant observation or the Justice system had no right to Rob him of the Opportunity to live a Happy and fulfilling the Man committed no crime and was harassed and one can Only imagine what it is like to be vilified and demonized by an entire society for something you Are innocent i had the Opportunity to witness first hand what it must be like while at a medical clinic waiting room in the 80s when soph now walked every Eye in this Large room became fixed on him one by each person sitting there recognized this Man who had supposedly murdered a Lovely teenage soph now sat alone trying not to draw attention to himself while getting the dirtiest looks from most of the people i was one of there is no doubt that he Felt the hatred and Dis gust in the if prison was hell for i doubt very much that free Dom and life in mainstream society or much Thomas soph now deserves fair compensation for what the system put him through and robbed him the amount of is no less insulting and arrogant than tossing a Quarter to someone youve just kicked the out Ken Mackey Winnipeg doonesbury by Garry Trudeau Wop ont 9hquu up Gnu the Mousy of wining a ;