NDP: No Champions of Health Care

Photo by: jasleen kaur
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasleen_kaur/4952166117/

So Jack Layton wants to ride in on his white horse and save our health care system from the grips of the evil Harper government, eh?  Funny, I seem to recall hearing that song and dance before only it wasn't Jack doing the jig, it was Gary Doer.  If you want the truth of how wonderful the NDP are at rescuing heath care, just ask anyone in Manitoba and they'll tell you.  How do I know about health care in MB?  Because I spent almost 30 years of my life there.  In case you don't know anyone to ask about how wonderful health care is under an NDP government, I'll give you a few hints...

How you liking your emergency room care?

You like waiting hours and hours to see someone? Stop your whining!  At least you have an emergency room you can actually walk into.  What did the NDP do to reduce emergency room waiting?  They closed 17 emergency rooms in the province, and that statistic is of January, 2010. 


Hallway medicine would end 6 months after Doer got elected... but it didn't.

Doer's response for eliminating hallways medicine?  Pretend it doesn't exist!  It was 1999 folks when he made this election promise and it still hasn't happened.


Doctor shortage, nursing shortage would all come to an end.

But it's only gotten worse.  Manitoba now has "highway medicine" on top of it's hallway medicine.  "Patients in the area who need emergency care are being taken to hospital in Brandon, a drive of about 50 kilometres northeast from Souris."



11 years later and the wait for a personal care home bed has increased.
 
As of February 2011 there are 1300 patients waiting for PCH beds in Manitoba. 
 
"A leaked WRHA document from the “Aging in Place” plan revealed the NDP were planning to cut 680 personal care home beds from the system back in 2006. In October 2010 a leaked document revealed theWinnipeg Regional Health Authority was forced to block admissions to PCH beds from the community. All of this in the context of the NDP receiving over $30 billion in transfer and equalization payments from Ottawa in the past ten years, with no results."



These are just a few examples of just what kind of a saviour the NDP were in Manitoba regarding health care.  You can expect about the same from Jack Layton and the NDP party with regard to their pie-in-the sky promises.

I Once Was a Dipper...

It's not something I'm proud to admit.  It happened long before I knew anything about politics.  I was a single mother 26 years old and on social assistance.  A former teacher from my high school who was the NDP MLA in my riding was door knocking in my apartment building and managed to give me a bunch of pamphlets and woo me into the NDP fold. 

The NDP loved people like me and still do.  People who don't make much money, who blame the government for their problems, people who are for the most part, ignorant of many economic truths.

So I went to their meetings once a month, which consisted primarily of senior citizens and Mennonites in the community.  I listened to members bitch and complain about how the government never did enough for them.  I listened to them complain about how evil the Liberals and Conservatives were.  I went there because I wanted to know how the NDP could help make my life better.  They were the party for people like me afterall, poor single mothers with mouths to feed and never enough money to do it.  That was how they wooed me, they told me and NDP government would make everything better, especially my life.

It sounded good.  But I had a lot of questions.  I got very, very few chances to ask them.  Members with seniority seemed to get all the floor time and I got, well... none.  With all honesty I can say they never listened to me, and never seemed to care as much as they want you to believe.  Only once at a meeting I got to talk to someone about some concerns I had, and you know what he did?  He flashed a huge smile and told people around us in the room what a great addition I was to their party.  A single mother finding it hard to get by? That's fantastic! We could really milk a lot of sympathy from people!  Excuse me?  That's not why I was there... and that's why I never went back to another meeting.  It was shortly after that I got a job working for a Conservative MP and cancelled my NDP membership, trading it for a Conservative one.  I have been a Conservative member to this day.

People can go around claiming that the Conservative Party preys on people's fears, of coalitions and what-not.  The truth of the matter is, the NDP party preys on people's ignorance.  The less informed people are about how the economy really works, or even life for that matter, all the better.  They take advantage of people's weakness and exploit it.  I may dislike the Liberal party, but I despise the NDP.

Jack Layton goes around slamming Harper for supposedly cozying up to his corporate and big oil buddies, which is more lies, but isn't it hypocritical when the NDP have always cozied up with the unions?  That's right, union presidents who don't give a damn about anyone else but themselves and their union buddies.

NDP policies are NOT about getting you out of poverty as they want you to believe.  The facts are, their polices will either keep you in poverty or make you poor.  That's what they do.  It's all show-and-glow folks.  Looks really enticing when you first see them but if you are unfortunate enough to rely on them, you will have great difficulty getting back out and on your feet.

You want to talk healthcare Jack?  You want to talk Tommy Douglas?  Tommy Douglas is turning in his grave with all the self-righteous horseshit about Canada's healthcare you've been tossing around.  You want to close private clinics (except abortion clinics, of course) even if ordinary Canadians can get their publicly funded health services there?  Self-serving hypocrites!  Why would you shut down facilities that can not only serve low-income Canadians reliant on services provided by private clinics, but also allow more private clinics to free up more space on waiting lists? Why? Sorry but that contradicts Tommy: "No social institution will be discarded which continues to serve society in the best interest of all" (1934).

With the NDP what you see is NOT what you get.  It is Pandora's box.  Looks great on the outside, but once you open it you will find it is not what you thought it would be ... at your own peril.  Beware.

This is Stephen Harper

Seems there is a book of Stephen Harper's naughty quotes floating around somewhere but fear not!  I found some vintage Harper that speaks to who he really is for the most part and I figured I can circulate my own findings just as well as the media!

This was Harper's leadership race speech on January 12th 2004 in Toronto:

"I warn you that I am no Paul Martin.  I have not been packaged by an empire of pollsters and media managers.  I have not been groomed by the experts and the influential.  I was not born into a family with a seat at the cabinet table.  I grew up playing on the streets of Toronto, not playing in the corridors of power.

When I left home for Alberta, I had to get a job.  I wasn't on loan to the corporate elite.  I'll never be able to give my kids a billion-dollar company, but Laureen and I are saving for their education.  And I have actually cooked them Kraft dinner- I like to add wieners.  When my family goes on vacation, it isn't on a corporate executive jet.  I pay for the ticket and we stand in line to get a seat with everyone else.

We need the Red Tory vision of important national institutions and sustainable social programs because the Conservative Party will never leave the vulnerable behind.  We need the economic Conservative vision of lower taxes, more efficient government, lower debt, and free enterprise, because the best social program is still a job.  We need the social Conservative vision of strong families and safe communities because our children are our most precious resource and our families are our most cherished institution.  And we need the democratic reform vision of a government that is responsible to the people, not a government responsible to the Prime Minister's office.

Fellow Conservatives, if we stand for ideas, if we stand as a team, we will win the next election.  But the tired, old, and corrupt Liberal Party is right now cornered like an angry rat.  They are going to attack us like we have never been attacked before..."

Conservatism IS Canadian

When I was at the library a short while ago, I came across a book I wasn't looking for at the moment but decided to take out because it sounded very interesting.  It's called "What's Right" by David Frum, "The new conservatism and what it means for Canada."

What I found inside was this gem of a quote that was just begging to be shared.  I've already put it up on Facebook.  Here it is:

"Conservatism is Canadian because the Canadian character-despite all these decades of burgeoning government- remains defined by work, not idleness; by self-reliance, not whining; by enterprise, not dependency; by individual rights, not group rights; by neighbourly compassion, not forced redistribution; by openess to the world, not protectionist barriers; and by decency, not permissiveness."

Be proud to be conservative, you can't get more Canadian then that!

When it comes to Parliament, Harper is no Diefenbaker

Governor General Vincent Massey and Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, May 12, 1958.
© National Archives of Canada
Credit: Duncan Cameron/National Archives of Canada, PA-112693
(Photo has not been produced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of the Government of Canada)

Harper may name ice-breaking vessels in the Chief's name, praise Diefenbaker's Bill of Rights and promote his "northern vision" all he wants, mentioning Diefenbaker's name in countless public speeches, but he will never have Diefenbaker's love for Parliament.

I have to admit, I haven't been paying much attention to Harper and all the little things that have been transpiring in the House of Commons.  I read about them in the media, then I forget about them soon after.  Must be that left-leaning media spin again...the media just likes to pick on Harper...the opposition parties are just a bunch of whining children... but after receiving an email from a fellow conservative who clearly expressed his disgust for Harper's treatment of Parliament, I had to give this topic a bit more thought.

I guess it comes down to the idea that either everyone else is crazy or maybe there happens to be an ounce of truth to these stories.  These stories about contempt of Parliament have been slowly gathering momentum with no sign of stopping and the usual excuses given by conservative supporters have developed a hollow ring.

If Harper admires Diefenbaker even half as much as he has claimed to, I have to wonder if all those references to the Chief were made because that's what core conservative supporters want to hear.  Now I'm not saying that nothing Harper has done in his 5 year tenure as PM has given glory to the Chief, but what I am saying is it's more fluff than substance. 

Diefenbaker always stated that he loved Parliament, period.  He never had to though, his actions told us clearly that he did.  So I did some digging and from the mouth of the Chief himself, I found his thoughts on Parliament:

"The first duty of Parliament is to remain a Parliament, not to become a subservient and ornamental body."


"It is subservient today with its majority, but it isn't ornamental. Yes – it is the will of Parliament, not that of a government, that is the will of the nation. The sovereignty of the people is delegated to Parliament, not to the Executive. When I say "Parliament”, it means the minority as well as the majority in Parliament... "

"How many of you have sat in the Gallery of the House of Commons? If you have been there, you will have seen that great institution treated with shocking contempt, sorely wounded, robbed of its rights, its independence gone, usurped by a few Ministers who treat the rest of the Cabinet as juniors, and members of all Parties as though they were not entitled to be there.
I love Parliament. I have said that before. I am one of those who does not form personal antagonisms with others who sit opposite to me. I hope I shall continue in that. But I witnessed scenes -- my colleagues here witnessed scenes -- that deny anything like it ever having taken place in the history of a democracy. We say we will restore Parliament."

- Major Campaign Speech

MAJOR CAMPAIGN
Speech No. 1
JOHN DIEFENBAKER – Massey Hall, TORONTO, April 25, 1957.


"At a time of global economic instability, Canada's government must stand unequivocally for keeping the country together. At a time like this, a coalition with separatists cannot help Canada. And the opposition does not have the democratic right to impose a coalition with the separatists they promised voters would never happen."- Stephen Harper Dec. 3, 2008 (Fact: the opposition does have a democratic right to form a coalition government if the government has lost the confidence of the House).

Harper referred to Parliamentary debate in the House of Commons during the English televised debate as "bickering"

Harper also stated: "People expect the party that wins the most seats will form the government." According to political scientist Peter Russell, "the licence to govern in Canada is the confidence of the House of Commons. Period. Full stop."

According to an article on CTV: Harper was asked if his refusal to acknowledge the contempt ruling is an indication of how he would govern should his party be returned to power.

"On the question of contempt, the only contempt in this election is the idea that Mr. Ignatieff's opposition can lose the election and form a government without an electoral mandate, with the support of the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois," he replied in French. Harper did not use the word "contempt" in his English remarks.

What I find most fascinating is the shortage of quotes by the Prime Minister talking about Parliament.  Try googling "Stephen Harper" and "Parliament."  Where there is a quote from Stephen Harper regarding Parliament, he's usually changing the subject to the economy or ignoring the subject altogether.  Google "Diefenbaker" and "Parliament" and you'll have more quotes than you'll know what to do with.

Unless someone can provide me with quotes I have missed regarding Harper talking about Parliament, I have no choice but to conclude that Harper and Diefenbaker differ greatly when it comes to how they view Parliament.  I haven't even included what has transpired in Parliament by the Harper government that is viewed by many as contempt of Parliament, not love.