Cornwall ON - I don’t know why so many people don’t think about our healthcare system until it’s too late.  Either they or someone they love are the victim of the short comings and decline of Medicare.

I firmly stand on the opinion that we are not being well served by our service.  It’s not the Doctors or nurses fault.  It’s our own.   We don’t challenge our politicians and government loudly enough.  And they won’t do much as it risks votes for a not discernible pay off.

Medicare was created during a Minority government.  It would be lovely to see it reformed via one as well.   With some estimates as low as 25%  value for what we’re funding it’s not a solution that requires vast amounts of funding.   It requires holding those in charge accountable and putting people in place if necessary who can tackle the job of making sense of the billions of dollars spent.

Canada is comparing worse to other Western country’s  medicare systems, but the financial crunch is impacting everyone as seen in the story from the UK below.

LINK

Some of the most common operations — including hip replacements and cataract surgery — will be rationed as part of attempts to save billions of pounds, despite government promises that front-line services would be protected.

The Sunday Telegraph found the details of hundreds of cuts buried in obscure appendices to lengthy policy and strategy documents published by trusts. In most cases, local communities appear to be unaware of the plans.

And that’s how governments work.   You don’t find out about many changes until it’s too late.

Here’s an example of how we’re overpaying for services.   I have Sleep Apnea and have to use a CPAP machine.  If I go to any of the four local providers of CPAP equipment here in Cornwall I essentially am offered the same equipment at the same price as the province sets caps or essentially the market.

Last I checked it was just over $1000.00 for an initial set up.  The province pays 75% and you or your insurance company have to pick up the balance.   The only thing is that these rates are inflated as much as Generic drugs were until recently.

How many millions if not billions are billed to the system and user for all of the many different products and services?

We don’t need private healthcare in Canada.  We need ACCOUNTABLE healthcare.   We need our governments to hold their staff accountable for getting us the best service they can at the most affordable cost instead of passing the buck to the taxpayer.

BUT, and this is a big BUT, it can only happen if we, the voters,  hold politicians and governments to task.   Ask your MP, or  MPP how they feel and how they’d vote.      Politicians generally aren’t stupid people.  If they know an issue is important enough to enough people they get things done.

Canada innovated Medicare.  We should be setting the example instead of looking at the success of others or even worse, giving up and letting our country get swallowed up by US styled health care.

Jamie Gilcig – Editor – The Cornwall Free News

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Cornwall ON - So I was chatting with some news folk earlier this week about how “slow” it’s been news wise.   Slow in the news biz doesn’t mean that there’s no news; but just no HUGE news.  Nothing to really get people running or reading.

Here at The Cornwall Free News some of you may have noticed we do things a bit different than a traditional newspaper.  We tend to not even remotely try to cover everything, but simply look for tid bits to entertain and inform you, our most valued viewer.

Sometimes we hit and sometimes we miss.   Sometimes we get more feedback personally than via the site.  Recently we ran a story that had very few comments but seemed to hit some nerves locally here in Cornwall resulting in quite a few comments in person to me and via phone and email.

Being a “Citizen Journalist” or pundit can be an interesting ride.  You can write a piece and it can have opposite effects.  Some people can hate and despise you; tell people not to advertise on your paper and conspire to see your company fail, while others smack you on the back and become sponsors.

I think we don’t really conspire here; at least I don’t, to cause anyone to go to extremes emotionally in response to our material.   We have our supporters who like The Cornwall Free News and those that well…..

However we’re grateful to all of you who read us.  Thank you for the support and keep telling your friends and a family, and I and the Cornwall Free News team will keep trying to entertain and inform you.

If you have any stories you want us to cover or news tips feel free to email us at info@cornwallfreenews.com

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Cornwall ON - There’s a trend in politics of passing the buck, especially in some potentially dynamic issues.   Don’t want to ask for a raise?  Form a committee to come up with a solution.   Don’t want to tackle a tough issue?  Form a committee.

Well people in Cornwall love their dogs.  There are an awful lot of dogs in the area too, and there’s no shortage of parks or land in Cornwall.

However dogs are not allowed off leash or in parks.   Sure there are liability issues, but you’d think that as progressive a city management and council as we have there’d be a remedy to this?

A group was formed with the sole mandate of creating a dog park in Cornwall.   For some reason it was quite secretive and some have suggested cliquish.     Many sites were mentioned, some fundraising done, meetings with our MP, a presentation to council, etc, but we still don’t have a dog park.

Now in a recession and with a council focusing on keeping taxes down you don’t want to write cheques willy nilly, but surely there are some options that Cornwall could initiate and “Git er done”.

How about designating at least one park in Cornwall “Leash Friendly”?    Why should it be taking this long for such a simple project?     Hopefully during the upcoming municipal elections some of the candidates for council will come up with some solutions for the thousands of residents here in Cornwall that want a place to take their dogs; maybe even one near the 401 which could potentially attract the thousands of people that drive by our city without stopping and visiting?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

What do you think Cornwall?  You can post your comments below.

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Cornwall ON -- I love Canada.  I love being Canadian.   Yesterday was an historic day in our country.   I know many of you have seen titillating images of a burning police car or two, and some broken windows, but standing in the midst of the 20,000 + people attending the rally in Queens Park you felt little tension.

It was a peaceful rally.  You could talk with the police and there clearly wasn’t a lot of that “something’s about to happen” look on their faces.   The crowd was there to vent.  They were there to have their say.

The sad thing is that I’m not so sure anyone is listening?   They’re too busy building fake lakes, posing for photo ops, and playing one upmanship games with our cheque books!

It also was an excuse for about any group to have their moment and try and get their message out.   You had Greenpeace, Oxfam, Unions of all types as well as fringe political parties, and movements from the Tamil’s to Free Tibet.

I think Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo summed up many of the thoughts of those protesting.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=myCbOmxwUfo

It was a party in the park and I’m proud that there were no incidents at Queens park.  I watched as the officers peddled away en masse heading off to where a group of masked attackers marred the day.

We were chatting that it must’ve been very hard for the police at the event as they were there to protect the protesters as well as the area; not an easy mix.

The Free Marc Emery people had their spot too.

Dylan McMullin sings his Marc Emery Tribute song.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RztRgrnxn6I

They chose not to march in the rally as they shared they were concerned of potentially being involved in any disturbances.   They smoked their green, wore their flags, and had their say to those that came to them.

We’ll be doing a few stories about the day and some surrounding stories.  If you have any photos, videos, comments from the day if you were there feel free to email us at info@cornwallfreenews.com and you can post your comments below as well.

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Cornwall ON – Boycott BP is the buzz word on Facebook and across many minds as the flow of oil continues and the impact on the US coastline is starting to increase.

I spoke at a rally this weekend and what I said is that we need an “Evolution, not Revolution.”   I think that instead of boycotting BP we need to BUY BP, and any company that isn’t a good corporate citizen.

It can be as painless as simply changing your RRSP’s a bit.   I’m hoping that one day in the not too distant future there will be funds exactly built on the premise of having environmentally minded people take over, or have a say in companies by buying up their shares.

Protests only go so far; after all they are only words.  Blowing up things, as was recently done to an RBC branch in Ottawa doesn’t send a message, or at least one that will result in the type of reactions that people with a political goal can really hope to achieve.

BP right now is spending millions on Google and other search engines trying to cover the agenda on the spill.   They are talking about still giving out over $7 BILLION dollars in dividends this week while still not responding the the Obama administration’s demands of funding for a victim’s compensation fund.

BP needs to pay for this crisis.  All of it.   Because they chose and still continue to choose to not drill relief wells at the same time as the major well this crisis is going to forever change our world.   We need to learn from this lesson and frankly whomever made these choices at BP needs to be removed from their position.

We need to make sure that companies like BP do their drilling and activities in the safest way possible.  In the end we pay for it no matter what so we may as well call the shots.

If you really care about this tragedy you do have options.   Your voice is important, and your vote really does count.

BP shares are down over half their price from when their rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.  IF you really want to send them a message buy some BP shares and become an owner and work from within.

Evolution, not Revolution.

Jamie Gilcig – Editor – The Cornwall Free News

What do you think Canada?  You can post your comments below.

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Cornwall ON - There’s a lot of spin right now and it’s as choppy as the waves bringing that BP oil to American and possibly Canadian shores.

BP is spending a lot of money maneurvering search engines and media as they try and spin the story to minimize the impact on the company and its leaders.

LINK

BP is attempting to spin its story in a far more proactive and decidedly modern way. The company may be spending up to $10,000 a day to pay for “oil” search terms that redirect Google, Yahoo and Bing Web search users to the company’s official website, according to ABC News.

Meanwhile activists are taking to the net starting up boycotts, and making some very cool looking signs and slogans.   I haven’t seen this kind of energy and activity since the 70′s and that’s pretty exciting to an old fart like myself.

See I am emerging into politics, and by no means am I a conventional type person or politician.    I am not advocating any boycotts.  I’m not suggesting burning effigy’s in the streets either.

No, my dear readers I’m pointing my stubby finger at you.   Yes you.  If you’re reading this I’m going to first commend you on having the good taste to be reading The Cornwall Free News, but then I’m going to suggest that this is ALL YOUR FAULT.   It’s mine too as we are of course all YOU.

We either elect the people that make the regulations or deregulate.  We are the people that don’t vote and thus tacitly participate in this penny wise pound foolish crime against the oceans and in the end us.

Recently I awoke to a yellow tinged murky view from my window.  Forest fires burning hundreds of miles away impacted my little patch of land.   Well what’s happening in the Gulf is much bigger and much worse.

So we have BP trying to minimize the damage instead of focusing more on fixing the damage.   Everyone’s trying to cover their back sides in this mess.

Kevin Costner, the actor, said it best recently.

“We are all at fault here. It’s just too easy to blame BP. What we need to do now is come together.”

This Saturday, June 12th, there’s going to be a world wide protest against BP including an event here in Cornwall Ontario that I’ll be attending after the Farmer’s Market.

If you click on the poster you can go to the event’s facebook page.    When the local organizers phoned me and invited me to attend they said that they’re not expecting many people at the Canal at 2PM, about 15 maybe.   Personally I’d like to see more.

There are things we can all do in life whether it’s about BP’s oil spill; the envrionment, our health care system, over taxation, the legalization of Marijuana, our erosion of personal freedom, or any subject that you feel passionate about.

Apathy, if an election candidate, should never poll near the top.    The challenge that I’d like to make to any of you that have read this far in this editorial is to get off your rump and find an issue you believe in and get involved.

One person, one vote, can make a difference.

Jamie Gilcig – Editor – The Cornwall Free News

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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Cornwall ON - I love reading about our Medicare system in Canada from outside sources.   It’s interesting to see other perspectives.

LINK

Canada, fretting over budget strains, wants to prune its system, while the United States, worrying about an army of uninsured, aims to create a state-backed safety net.

Healthcare in Canada is delivered through a publicly funded system, which covers all “medically necessary” hospital and physician care and curbs the role of private medicine. It ate up about 40 percent of provincial budgets, or some C$183 billion ($174 billion) last year.

Spending has been rising 6 percent a year under a deal that added C$41.3 billion of federal funding over 10 years.

But that deal ends in 2013, and the federal government is unlikely to be as generous in future, especially for one-off projects.

Now that’s a bit of a scary picture.

“Why are we paying more or the same for cataract surgery when it costs substantially less today than it did 10 years ago? There’s going to be a finer look at what we’re paying for and, more importantly, what we’re getting for it,”

And that ladies and gentlemen is the money shot.   We need Medicare reform.  We don’t need more money pumped into the system.  I would suggest we barely get 25 cents on the dollars in services for what we pay.

Why were we paying 50% more than we should for generic drugs?  How many other services, products, and fees were we collectively over paying for?

I’ve spoken with a lot of people in the field over the years; the ones that work way too much over time, or have to find creative ways to get work as is the case of many Quebec doctors for example who are limited as to how many hours they can file for while there’s a doctor shortage!

The problem isn’t with our staff.  If you cut salaries for example you’d see even more of our rare and valuable doctors, technicians, and nurses heading south or overseas.

The problem starts at the top.  It starts with the voter; you and I.  It starts with politicians who would rather write cheques than deal with costs; at least until recently.

There’s no need to destroy Medicare as the Drug Industry and big insurance companies in the South would like.   There is a huge need to reform the system and realize the discounts that collective purchasing should accrue as was envisioned by the founders of Medicare.

I was listening to AM radio in Montreal yesterday and almost all the commercials I heard were for Private medical services.   That’s wrong.  It should be illegal in Canada, and it’s undermining a Medicare system that doesn’t seem to care.

We, as the people that pay the bill need to hold our politicians accountable, but we need to be accountable too.  IF we want to save Medicare it will be up to voters to make sure that happens.

And time is ticking because after 2013, if a certain Mr. Harper has his way Medicare will become a Provincial issue totally and that will allow NAFTA to put the kill shot into what is truly our National institution and gift to the world.   A gift we will have lost forever, and that would be very sad indeed.

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Cornwall ON - Isn’t it horrible when you dread going to a hospital whether as a patient or for a loved one or friend?   I got the call Monday morning.   Heart attack.  The person called 911 and made it to the hospital quickly where two angioplasties were inserted into the artery and the flow of blood returned.

15, 20, 25 years ago and this person would most likely have died and this simple and now routine procedure had them up and walking within hours.   Amazing.

So as I enter the hospital I lather up with the antiseptic at the entrance and walk through the crowded emergency room.   All is not well in our hospitals (this one was in Montreal) and if you look closely you can see some of the issues.

First off most of the people I saw in the emergency didn’t really look like they belonged there.   Now I know I’m not a MD, but I’m not a dumb dumb either.

Reading hospital materials while spending hours waiting I read how the hospital has banned staff from wearing jewelry while on duty to protect the spread of super bugs.  Nurse in our room was wearing multiple rings.

The other patient in the room had over eight children, and I do mean children, visiting their loved one, plus adults, and this on a heart patient floor.   Screaming babies and heart attack victims are not the best combinations.

There was also the bruising of poorly delivered blood test attempts.    Now I know that some of this may sound petty, but when you’re in the eye of the storm it can be scary.   When it’s your loved one that an error is made on it’s scary too.

We need to do more to make hospital care less of a lottery situation, and while driving into Montreal on Sunday I listened to Lowell Green doing a repeat show on the situation of Seniors who fall through the cracks of our medical system and that shook me to the core.

There’s a saying that the mark of a civilization is how their elders are treated.   Do we really want to live in a Soylent Green kind of world?

The people working in our hospitals do such a good job.   I think they need our help to make the system better.   We need to help them do the job they trained to do and that’s save lives, our lives.

What do you think Canada?  Is it time to save Medicare and find a solution to how we take care of our society; after all we’re all a part of it?   You can post  your comments below.

Jamie Gilcig – Editor – The Cornwall Free News

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Cornwall ON - Today for lunch at the Agapé food bank the menu du jour was a vegetable soup, some cooked ham, scalloped potatoes, some white bread with hydrogenated margarine, coffee, and cold rice pudding.   For $1 it’s a deal.  Many of the packed room eating didn’t have to pay.    The space was crowded and the mood mixed.

The Agapé centre feeds a lot of people daily.    In addition they give out food baskets, and work their food bank.

They’re always short of volunteers and of course always need more donations to the food bank.

Poverty is horrible.    People being hungry in this day is just plain wrong and totally unacceptable.

We can blame those that need services.  We can blame society; but to me what’s important are the possible solutions.

I want to thank “Reggie Walker” for introducing me so closely to this issue here in Cornwall and to City Councilor Mark MacDonald who’s also taken a personal interest in this issue.

Cornwall isn’t as bad as a lot of other places, but there’s still a lot more that can be done.   For more information contact the Agapé centre.

Why am I writing this?

Because I’m a very lucky person and like they say “therefore but the grace of God”.

Tonight I attended the Chamber of Commerce mixer.   It was a totally lovely evening.    Beautiful location that Schnitzels.   There was free wine sampling; free beer sampling; some totally amazing chicken wings, and really good pizza.    A cheese plate with fresh large grapes, fresh veggie trays with dips.  And of course a lovely huge cake to celebrate the evening.

I was saddened as this was out of reach for almost all of those I encountered today at lunch.   Again, in this day and age nobody should go without healthy food, & shelter.

Don’t get me wrong.   I don’t blame a single soul at that mixer tonight.  I can tell you that these people help pay for the Agapé and Cornwall does a terrific job of pulling together to help each other.

No, this is a societal issue, and there are many questions to answer to ever make things better.

In the meanwhile, for tonight, as I still feel full from the food and good cheer, I feel grateful for all that I have and can do on this tiny blue marble we all share.

Tomorrow many of the same people I saw today at lunch will be back again for their $1 or free lunch.   We need a better way.

For more information about The Agapé Centre visit their website, call them (613-938-9297) or visit them at their location on 40 5th Street West.

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Cornwall ON - BP’s oil spill in the Gulf has led to a spurt of value to the Oil Sands in Alberta.   As usual the focus economically is on the easiest and dirtiest of energy sources.  And the vision is purely in the short term.

While we collect those short term dollars on the Oil Sands we do so without the proper focus on finding cleaner ways to glean energy, and cleaner ways to harvest the oil sands themselves.

What lessons are we learning from the current crisis in the Gulf, the full story of which isn’t really being covered in the media yet?  You can’t have that much oil spill into the ocean without massive impacts on life in the area.

What will it take for our governments, and in fact us, to realize that we need a better way before we truly are left with no choices or face a catastrophe that we can’t simply pay our way though.

Alternative energy sources need to be fast tracked, and we need a societal vision that’s supported and clearly visible for all to make choices about.  We need more than a bit of ethanol in our gas tanks, or a few solar panels and wind turbines.

Canada has some golden opportunities if we as a nation embrace them, and we need to embrace them soon.  It’s more than conservation and the environment.  It’s not about tree hugging.  It’s about money, business, and maxing the benefit for all Canadians including more jobs that we need.

Do we really want to buy our electric cars at Walmart?

What do you think Canada?  Y0u can post your opinions below.

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