He has always wanted to strangle it. He has had to restrain himself for so long. From the moment he entered politics, with the support of an organization that was founded to destroy medicare.But now at last his foul assault on our precious healthcare system has begun.And it's both stealthy and monstrous. Read more »
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Oh no. Remember how I said the other night that Jimbo Flaherty probably hated having to call his new budget Porky Action Plan 2013?Because there couldn't be a worse way to sell ANYTHING.Well forget that theory eh?Because there was Jimbo yesterday getting a Porky Action sign engraved on his new shoes. Read more » It seemed like just another day in the Great Frozen North.A day when Canada looked liked it always does at this time of the year. But then I remembered it wasn't just another day. It was the seventh anniversary of the day Stephen Harper and his Cons came to power. The day of infamy, when everything changed, and the Canada I knew and loved started getting old and dying.Read more » (originally written May 21, 2012. Part of Great Upload of 2013.) Tommy Douglas I read a bio of Tommy Douglas recently, figuring as a guy with sinister leanings (sinister in the original Latin sense of “left”, that is ) I might as well brush up on the father of Canadian Medicare, and reigning Greatest Canadian. To me, the biggest surprise was the standing ovation he got from the NDP faithful after his farewell speech at their 1983 convention. Not the fact that he got one, mind you; the fact that it was twenty-three minutes long! Given . . . → Read More: Eclectic Lip: Douglas, Deng and Diocletian 
 anthropology, best Roman Emperors, black cat white cat, Canada, Canadian Medicare, CCF, China, Confucius, Crisis of the Third Century, Deng, Deng Xiaopeng, Diocletian, female infanticide, feudalism, gender imbalance, Greatest Canadian, history of feudalism, jack layton, Mao, Mao famines, medicare, Mouseland, NDP, October Crisis, one child policy, persecution of Christians, politics, Tommy Douglas, universal healthcare Canadian provinces cooperate in order to save money: Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers have worked out a deal to buy six generic drugs in bulk, which will save us an estimated $100 million. Imagine that, politicians from across the country working together for the common good! In today’s divided and dysfunctional Canada! We need more of this national cooperation and national planning (and nationalization of key industries). According to un-Canadian capitalist extremists, cooperation is weakness and tantamount to communism (and thus very bad). Conservatives promote a winner-take-all society based on brutal competition, greed and cheating. This, despite the Margaret Thatcher, former British prime minister, close personal friend of murderous dictator Augusto Pinochet, and idol of capitalist extremists everywhere, was in hospital just before Christmas to have a growth removed from her bladder. Unfortunately her spokeswoman said she is doing “absolutely fine”, despite experiencing serious health problems in recent years. Meanwhile, many of her fellow citizens — and citizens of other countries who have adopted her vicious agenda of slashing and privatizing healthcare — can’t access the treatments they need in an uncomplicated and timely manner. Give it up, evil Baroness Thatcher. You’re almost 88 years old, you’re . . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: Margaret Thatcher, former British prime minister, close personal… Oh boy. Trying to keep up with Stephen Harper these days is like trying to keep up with a pickpocket working a crowded railway station.Or a pimp working a Republican convention.One moment he's selling us out to the Chinese Communist Capitalist Part… . . . → Read More: Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper’s Stealth Attack on Medicare Golly. Don't look now eh? But I hear that Stephen Harper has fallen hard for the new Republican heartthrob Paul Ryan. You have to believe that the duo of Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty are salivating at the chance to work with a Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan White House. Ryan is a supporter of the Keystone XL pipeline and has praised the Tories' decision to cut Canada's corporate tax rate to 15 per cent, pointing to the U.S. rate of 35 per cent as increasingly noncompetitive…And yes, like Harper and Flaherty, Ryan has 'Tea Party' tendencies. And I have . . . → Read More: Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Teabagger The economic downturn is taking a toll on the health of Canadians according to the Canadian Medical Association’s annual report card. The report card represents a poll of Canadians conducted in July by Ipsos Read Public Affairs. According to the … Continue reading → And the list goes on. It is no secret that many for-profit health companies in the United States are regularly fined for various forms of fraud, usually cheating Medicare or Medicaid, or jeopardizing patients’ health, or both. This is the second big one I have read about this week, the other being cardiac surgeons working for the hospital chain HCA performing unnecessary procedures on up 50% of patients. The lower level of for-profit involvement in Canada’s health care system has meant less blatant fraud, though there have been prosecutions and legions of questionable practices involving private companies ‘bonusing’ doctors . . . → Read More: False positive: private profit in Canada’s health care: GlaxoSmithKline Sets Record with 3 Billion Dollar Fine Medicare for Autism Now! is featuring a series of interviews in connection with the Medicare’s Orphans series. Interview 3 features Dr. Melvin DeLevie a practicing British Columbia physician with extensive experience with autistic children. As summarized on the Medicare for Autism Now! web site: “Dr. Melvin DeLevie, long-time Vancouver paediatrician with extensive experience dealing with children with autism. This 20 minute interview is a powerful indictment of Canada’s archaic approach to the treatment of autism which is in stark contrast to the treatment of children with any other disease or disorder. He gives examples of why social services personnel are . . . → Read More: Facing Autism in New Brunswick: Medicare’s Orphans: Dr. Melvin DeLevie On Canada’s Archaic Approach To Autism Treatment I wasn't planning to write about this storm in the twittersphere. Because what can you say eh? Except that it's obviously summer. Tony Clement is a shameless idiot. Ezra Levant is a freak of nature. And Norman Bethune is bigger than all of them. But now that the grotesque Con Rob Anders has crawled out of his hole to dump on Bethune's legacy I feel I need to say something.Read more » Health care advocates are urging the Harper government to return to the table and negotiate a new 2014 health accord with the provinces. The message is part of a national day of action July 18 – a week before provincial … Continue reading → Below is a brief message to Canadians and other progressives around the world from Canada’s biggest progressive citizen’s organization. Founded in 1985, the Council of Canadians has members and chapters across Canada. It works “to protect Canadian independence by promoting progressive policies on fair trade, clean water, energy security, public health care, and other issues of social and economic concern to Canadians. The Council does not accept money from corporations or governments, and is sustained entirely by the volunteer energy and financial assistance of its members. The message: Friends, Today is a day to celebrate this truly magnificent country of . . . → Read More: CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Council of Canadians: Today We Celebrate Canada Fifty years ago, on July 1, 1962, Saskatchewan introduced the first universal health insurance program in North America. The United States Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a fitting birthday present. Even though the Act was passed two years ago it now has legs. Granted the American plan may be better for the insurance companies and private hospital chains than the population. Nonetheless, it establishes that the Untied States can make health care accessible to all. It is a step towards a more functional, equitable, democratic and sustainable system. Congratulations to . . . → Read More: False positive: private profit in Canada’s health care: Happy Birthday Saskatchewan Medicare from the U.S. Supreme Court Winnipeg, June 18, 2012: Opposition to the Harper government’s plan to cut health care for refugees is gaining momentum across Canada. Joining in a National Day of Action Against Refugee Health Cuts, about 500 Winnipeggers rallied at The Forks to hear from health care professionals and newcomers to Canada about the threats posed by Harper’s plans. In this clip, Dr. Michael Dillon outlines the impressive line-up of opposition to these cuts, the outcomes of which, according to Canadian Doctors for Medicare, “could range from diabetics not getting their insulin, to children not receiving immunizations, to letting people succumb to heart . . . → Read More: Paul S. Graham: Video: Stop Cuts to Refugee Health Care in Canada OPSEU represents about 36,000 health care professionals and support staff who work in settings ranging from community mental health to large urban hospitals. When it comes to this BLOG, we don’t hide our perspective as workers. We hope that those … Continue reading → North America has always been home to one good Rush and one evil Rush, but never have they engaged in battle … until now. Canadian prog rock legends Rush have demanded that the Rush Limbaugh Show stops using their music. The band’s music was regularly played leading in and out of commercial breaks during Limbaugh’s heavily syndicated program. But acting in the wake of Limbaugh’s extraordinarily sexist (even for him) comments about law student Sandra Flute, Rush’s music publisher sent him a cease and desist letter invoking copyright and civil rights law. Good Rush isn’t alone in the fight. . . . → Read More: Art Threat: Rush (band) pulls music from Rush (bigot) Golly. I don’t know why so many people in the inbred village of Ottawa seem to suffer from Big Daddy Fever. The tendency to portray Stephen Harper as a political genius, instead of a deranged right-wing nerd who is slowly killing this country. But this is ridiculous: “I think by making this about foreign interests, U.S. money, not allowing ourselves to be held hostage by the U.S, the government’s been very smart and been able not only to take advantage of an opportunity, but also take advantage of something Canadians are thinking anyway,” Mr. Armour said. And so . . . → Read More: Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Spidey Man Early on in my courtship with the man himself we still hadn’t figured out the best way to drive from Eastern Ontario to Western Massachusetts. Mapquest would have us go straight through Montreal but I, familiar with the joy of discovering great secondary roads, was sure that there would be a way to avoid the [...] The open letter below was written to Canada’s Premiers from the Presidents of Provincial and Territorial Federations of Labour: An open letter to Canada’s Premiers: Labour leaders call on Premiers to unite & defend healthcareThe future of Canada’s healthcare system is at a critical stage.As leaders of the provincial and territorial Federations of Labour, we are calling on the country’s premiers, who are meeting in Victoria, to put forward a united front and stand up for Canada’s universal healthcare system and the millions of Canadians who depend on it. In December, the Harper government sent a clear message that . . . → Read More: Larry Hubich’s Blog: Labour leaders call on premiers to unite & defend healthcare There has been lots of discussion about how Stephen Harper’s majority only represents 40% of voters because of the way our electoral system works. But, in reality, his agenda has much fewer supporters. We must remember that the Conservative Party is a coalition. It is not a coalition in the sense that the proposed Liberal-NDP coalition (with an accord with the BQ) was. That proposed coalition They promised they wouldn’t go after medicare. But that was then and this is now. The Conservative government is putting the provinces on notice that Ottawa plans to shrink the rate of growth in health transfers. As Finance Minister Jim Flaherty prepares to meet his provincial and territorial counterparts Monday in Victoria, signals continue to pile up that Ottawa will not keep increasing transfers by 6 per cent a year beyond the 2015-16 fiscal year. And what does Stephen Harper have to say about this? “We have committed to the 6 per cent for a few more years. Over the . . . → Read More: Montreal Simon: The Cons Go After Our Medicare System It’s Thanksgiving Monday here in Canada. Me and mine have much to be thankful for today, having narrowly avoided a serious health crisis among one of our own. So this Thanksgiving I am grateful for the blessing of good health, and I can even appr… . . . → Read More: 350 or bust: “Canada’s The Best Country In The World” Tips on talking to political adversaries. Moving past politics, partisanship and labels, recognizing corporatism masquerading as progressivism or conservatism, and going straight to the issues. |
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