Tuesday, February 14, 2006

B.C. Throne Speech Frames Healthcare

SoftPrivatization
KillBillVille

Update: Sat Feb 18/06 - This post has been editted from it's original form in which I suggested that the sitting Lt. Governor tacitly agreed with the concepts, if not the words, she must, as part of her job, read from the throne speech. That was inappropriate, especially without supporting evidence, and for that I apologize and have made the appropriate changes. I'll write about the importance of the mea culpa in blogging in more depth, in an upcoming piece.
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The following is from yesterday's provincial throne speech:

"Does it really matter to patients where or how they obtain their surgical treatment if it is paid for with public funds?" asks the speech, which was read by Lt.-Gov. Iona Campagnolo on behalf of Premier Gordon Campbell's Liberal government.

"Why are we so afraid to look at mixed health care delivery models," when they work in Europe?

"Why are we so quick to condemn any consideration of other systems as a slippery slope to an American-style system that none of us wants?"


And now the herd press is falling all over themselves to tell us how GordCo is working hard to protect our healthcare system.

We, however, figure we're actually being set up for a coming bill that will begin the death of universal healthcare by the thousand cuts due to a mandated explosion of private everything (and that banging you hear is Donald Copeman's head repeatedly hitting the ceiling as he floats euphorically above the crowd a la Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins - just a spoonful of sugar and a fistful of dollars and all that, what?).

It's like deja-vu all over again, Edwardian England/Gilded Age style*.

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*Or, despite the throne speech's words to the contrary, maybe we should call it "Love, American Style!" After all, it is Valentine's Day, and we are looking rearward towards the bad old days.

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