Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 17, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba A16 Winnipeg free press thursday june 17, 2004 Freedom of Trade comment editor Terence Moore 697-7044 Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights editorials doctor shortage c Anada a provincial governments reduced the number of doctors so enthusiastically during the 1990s that 1.2 million canadians who had need of a doctor in the year 2003 failed to find one who could give them an appointment. This is not merely a question of a Rural doctor shortage Statis tics Canada estimated that 965,000 of the canadians who can to find a doctor lived in Urban areas. Canadian medical schools reduced their enrol ments in the Early 1990s at the request of provincial governments who were convinced that health care costs were rising because too Many doctors were finding sick people and treating them at the expense of the govern ment run health insurance schemes. With fewer doctors they Rea soned the expense would Rise less fast. At the same time Manitoba and other provinces kept tight restrictions on the opportunities for foreign trained doctors to qualify for practice in this coun try. One result of these efforts turned up in statistics Canada research published two years ago. The health Access sur vey found that 18 per cent of canadians who sought health care during the year 2001 encountered some kind of difficulty ranging from problems with Mak ing an appointment to lengthy waiting times. This was one Early indication that the country needed More doctors. This weeks report that 1.2 million people in Canada 56,600 in Manitoba could to find a doctor at All supported the same conclusion. A fur ther 2.4 million canadians 88,800 in Manitoba reported that they did not have a regular doctor and had not looked for one. If those a doctored canadians had found a doctor provincial governments would have been charged for that Many office visits and for the additional diagnostic tests specialist referrals and treatments that might have been ordered. The health care costs that provinces incurred in 2001 would have been that much higher. The Canada health act requires governments to make health services universally accessible and in a certain sense they Are because provincial govern ments do not refuse health insurance coverage to their citizens. But in another sense they Are not because provincial governments have restricted doctor Supply to such a Point that about five per cent of the people can to find a doctor and another 18 per cent can to see one quickly or easily. Its a Way of saving Money and Economy is necessary because governments can scarcely afford the volume of medical service they Are supplying now but it Falls Short of the Promise of Universal health care. Manitoba should bring More local medical Stu dents and More foreign trained graduates into med ical practice so that More patients will find a doctor. The government should find ways of curbing its health care expense without denying service to the patients. Iran a threat grows the International atomic Energy Agency this week issued a damning report about Iran a nuclear weapons program. Iaea head Mohammed Elba Radei in an unusually Strong statement denounced Iran a continuing attempts to deceive in nuclear inspectors. The atomic watchdog revealed that Iran had tried to buy thousands of magnets that Are Nec Essary for centrifuges used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and that traces of weapons Grade uranium had been found in Iran a nuclear plants. Iran denies that it is developing nuclear weapons it says that it needs nuclear plants for Energy Pur poses despite being one of the worlds richest nations in terms of Oil and natural Gas. No one believes the iranians any More. Europe has come to the conclusion that the mullahs Are lying. This week a group of european nations led by Germany France and Britain As much As said so in a report condemning Tehran that is expected to be adopted by the Iaea this week. The problem of Iran has yet to come before the United nations Security Council but a report from the atomic Agency is expected to be Given to the Council in september a report that will condemn Iran for its Pursuit of nuclear weapons in flagrant violation of the nuclear non proliferation treaty to which it is a signatory. That would allow the in to impose sanctions against Iran although these previously failed in Iraq and in North Korea the other two members of the Axis of evil denounced by . President George Bush. Although no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq there is no doubt that sad dam Hussein had used chemical and biological weapons and was pursuing the acquisition of nuclear weapons. There is Little doubt that had he not been deposed his quest for weds would have continued. This month it was announced that North Korea had tested a rocket engine powerful enough to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile that could hit the United states. The North koreans have made no Bones about ? in fact have gloated about ? their nuclear weapons program. Sanctions did not deter Iraq it took an invasion to rid the world of Saddam Hussein and no one now has the stomach or the Means to enforce the worlds will on Iran. Sanctions have not deterred North Korea although beloved Leader Kim Jongil has indicated he is susceptible to bribery. Iran however is too Rich to be bribed too Strong to be invaded. Even in the absence of Iraq the nuclear threat continues to grow. Gone now but never forgotten it is time to Praise women and take a respite from the election Campaign. I have always been fond of my three Sisters although i say at once so have i been of my two Brothers. But Sisters Are different. They Are sweeter More affectionate and in my family encouraging and supportive. The oldest Leda and Vera have passed on and i think of them with Good memo Ries and sadness. Testimony to my love for my Sisters evolves around a five Dollar Bill. My sister Leda told me about it a few years before she died in 1997. She was extolling my Virtues when she asked do you remember sending me five dollars i had no recollection whatsoever. I searched my mind but could retrieve no inkling of that transaction. It had happened decades ago but Leda remembered. That five dollars tells a lot about our family and the times. As with Many others Money was scarce during the depression. But we never went hungry As did others. I recall once visiting a family that had Only Fried bread for supper. A bicycle was a luxury. When i wanted to go for a spin i walked a mile to borrow my uncles Bike. In the thirties jobs were few even the most menial. My Sisters Leda and Vera opted to become teachers and went to Normal school which offered certificates after a years train ing. Winnipeg demanded higher standards for teachers so my Sisters found jobs in Rural schools. It was like going to a foreign country City bred girls thrust into a farm environment and expected to perform in an extraordinary Man Ner. This was culture Shock and by today a Stan Dards the school setting was spartan the demands on a sophisticated scale. Heat came from a Wood burning stove in the classroom and the Only other Structure was an outdoor Buffy. Grades 1 to 8 were taught. My sister Vera 19, she had taken grades 10 and 11 in one Yea was not much older than some of her pupils. She taught at Rondeau and Harland schools in the Interlake. Leda 22, taught at Mcfarlane school South East of Inwood. A history of Inwood and sur rounding District published in 1980, states the school was built in 1910 and also used for a time for Church services. It was in a swedish District one of the colourful pieces of the mosaic of the Interlake that included ice Landers Metis French canadians and ukrainians. School districts held Raffles and dances to raise Money to pay teachers. The pay was $48 a month with $20 going for room and Board a main source of Cash for the Farmer landlord. Mcfarlane school closed in 1962 with 10 pupils. Not a bad run for a one room school. The one room school had some Merit ? Chil Dren of an assortment of grades Learned from one another. Teachers were held in High esteem and my Sisters had talents to contribute both were accomplished pianists and Many schools had organs. It was not unusual to name a new child after a respected teacher and i wonder whether the names Leda and Vera Are so honoured. Vera was fair with Grey Blue eyes Leda dark hair Brown eyes and Beautiful. Leda born 1908, died 1997left after a Cou ple of years of teaching to seek a career in new York where she had friends. She married moved to . With her husband where she obtained a psychology degree and received mention for her work with autistic children. It was when she went to new York that i sent her a five Dollar Bill in a letter knowing her funds could not be called ample by any stretch of the imagination. My income was Only a few dollars a month from delivering newspapers. Apparently i thought her need was greater than mine. It was More than that however. I did love my Sisters. I suppose i must have Felt pretty Good about this but i never told my family. That $5 was a lot of Money in those Days. One sister told me of a Farmer Selling a calf for fifty cents. A bakery at Salter Street and Aberdeen Avenue sold 30 loaves of Rye bread for a Dollar. A corned beef Sandwich went for 10 cents. Twelve pounds of apples sold for a Quarter. With that perspective i burst with Pride and think of it As a Fortune bestowed on my dear sister Leda. Its a Happy thought. Another Happy thought my sister Ruth her self a pianist and music professor renowned for her Chicken soup is thriving in . Notwithstanding harpers Pirouette there is i think a primal instinct that for bids voters to feel sorry for the Guy in control of your country when he is fighting for his Job. Is he the top dog or in the Paul Martin was not prime ministerial on tuesday night. In the lifetime he spent in front of the to Audi ence struggling to be heard i Don to think any one would have found the sympathy to throw him a styrofoam Floatie if they had one. Jack Layton a preen ing and bullying should have made a prime minister look More dignified but the Only Man on stage who appeared in executive command was Stephen Harper. But it was or. Martin who pinned or. Harp debate. We Are a nation of minorities or. Martin thundered. And if we re not prepared to protect minorities against the occasional oppression by the majority then in fact what a going to happen is that the Basic values of this coun try will winnow away. And the fact that or. Harper will not recognize this i must say raises an enormous number of questions As to the Basic commit ment to the charter the Basic commitment to minority rights the Basic commitment to our freedoms in this it was a predictable attack ? the liberals have Little else in their Arsenal against the conservatives ? but it was convincing and it saved or. Martin from an otherwise dismal night. The charter override was written into the Constitution in 1981 in a Deal with the premiers who did not want the supreme court to have unbridled authority Over provincial Law. Its this is an Issue that exquisitely illustrates the fears of Sec. 33 opponents the legitimate claim to rights by a marginalized minority can be sacrificed with the acquiescence of a disinterested majority. Gay marriage has significant support in Canada but its not an Issue Many voters will keep near to their hearts when they re in the polling Booth an x away from registering their disgust with the scan Dalous liberals. Oddly too As Long As or. Harper refuses to disavow using the notwithstanding clause on Gay marriage ? thereby snuffing out the scaremongering by liberals ? he helps to prop up or. Martins party. Or. Harper is unlikely to do anything risky at All if he forms a minority government. Its an Odd thing True but it May keep this country from committing a terrible wrong. ;