We are undergoing changes from an industrial economy to the knowledge and information based economy, and our leaders are selling out rural Saskatchewan to big corporations. The agricultural crisis is certainly affected by the interest of the global agro-business corporations to have low commodity prices and by the deregulation of the transportation system, but this crisis could have been smoothed out by proper governmental policies to diversify our economy, and inform the public of the occurring economic changes.

As health care is concerned, this government could have provided the decentralization of health services, instead, the establishment of the health care districts has been a scam by this government to centralize health services for the benefit of the urban bureaucracy and big corporations. The districts were supposed to be independent agencies, instead they are puppets of the government and of the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO).

In 1995, in a meeting I had with Wayne Strelioff, Provincial Auditor, he mentioned that SAHO was going to be eventually audited by his office. Also, Wayne Strelioff confirmed that the districts were independent agencies and that these districts were directly approachable for the marketing of high technology services, such as payroll and accounting. We know today that SAHO is not audited by the office of the Provincial Auditor, and we also know, as mentioned above, that the districts are puppets of both the government and SAHO. The government and the districts have not complied with The Health Districts Act in the past(1), and SAHO, along with Saskatchewan Health, has undermined the autonomy of the districts with a myriad of private contracts selling out our resources, and killing rural Saskatchewan.

Today, creation of wealth and provision of services take second place to the big health care contracts selling out our resources, and this is why we have lawyers at the helm of our health care system. We have Brian Rourke(2), as the Supreme Asset of the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations, and we will have Louise Simard(3), former Minister of Health and lawyer with MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman, as president and CEO of SAHO. In 1991, the Romanow's government came to power under the slogan "Open the books", today they cover their assets under the confidentiality clauses of the so called private contracts; after all, this is what to expect from a government which was formed giving the finger to the Saskatchewan people(4). This government has no vision because our future has been already privately contracted out.

The Saskatchewan Health Information Network (SHIN), the Telehealth projects, the closure of the Plains Health Centre, the 10 million dollars deficit of the Saskatoon Health Board, the 30 million dollars deficit of the Regina Health Board, the Stargarden's defunct project and SAP payroll have cost a tremendous amount of resources, and again rural Saskatchewan bears the strongest penalty for such wastes. Health care is mismanaged but at the same time, as I mentioned above, is being sold out to big corporations and for the short term benefit of urban Saskatchewan. Remember when Pat Atkinson defended the overrun of the closure of the Plains Health Centre and stated "Nothing has been hidden, There's no smoking gun, No one has run with the money?(5)" She was right, nobody ran with the $50 million, but these millions of dollars not only have been a waste of taxpayers money but they didn't circulate in rural Saskatchewan either.

In one of my past articles, I mentioned how paradoxical it was to see the closure of the Carrot River Hospital, when at the same time money was being wasted for a never ending Telehealth project(6). I also mentioned that the Telehealth project was technologically obsolete and that our local high technology businesses were being deprived of deserved opportunities.

I have always opposed the "law and order" mentality of this government(7) and of our Tin Pot dictators. Do you know that the businesses supporting SHIN(8) and Telehealth(9) are American conglomerates involved in the military area of operations? Let us hope that health care reform don't include the further court martialling of our family members and the further killing of rural Saskatchewan.

Endnotes

Quote by Donella Meadows "challenging a paradigm is not a part-time job. It is not sufficient to make your point once and then blame the world for not getting it. The world has a vested interest in, a commitment to, not getting it. The point has to be made patiently and repeatedly, day after day after day" ftp://sysdyn.mit.edu/ftp/sdep/Roadmaps/RM1/D-4143-1.pdf http://iisd1.iisd.ca/pcdf/meadows/default.htm

General reference: Articles by Mario deSantis published by North Central Internet News

1. Refer to the Reports of the Provincial Auditor, 1995-1999. Provincial Auditor Saskatchewan

2. Saskatchewan Health Information Network-SHIN: Ignoring its mandate and diverting money for the Y2K Nightmare, by Mario deSantis, November 3, 1999

3. Louise Simard is the new CEO for SAHO, by Mario deSantis, March 13, 2000

4. Governmental coalition in Saskatchewan: a private contractual deal at the expense of the electorate? By Mario deSantis, October 2, 1999

5. The closure of the Plains Health Centre: The $50 million overrun and the gimmick of saving money in health care, by Mario deSantis, December 19, 1999

6. North East Health District: the Closure of Carrot River Hospital and Telehealth, by Mario deSantis, March 9, 2000

7. Milgaard's $10 million compensation: covering up the personal assets of our policing Saskatchewan Government, by Mario deSantis, June 24, 1999

8. SAIC will implement the SHIN initiative in partnership with Avnet, Digital Equipment, Ernst & Young, Professional Computer Services, SaskTel, and other suppliers and subcontractors, under the direction of the SHIN board. http://www.shin.sk.ca/about/Partner.htm Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) is a diversified high-technology research and engineering company based in San Diego, California. SAIC and its subsidiaries have more than 39,000 employees with offices in over 150 cities worldwide. During the 1999 year, SAIC won $8 billion in new business. SAIC's staff has provided technical expertise to cleanup efforts at Three Mile Island and Prince William Sound and to the success of Operation Desert Storm.

9. HEALTH MINISTER ANNOUNCES NEXT PHASE OF TELEHEALTH PILOT PROJECT DEVELOPMENT, Government of Saskatchewan News Release, Dec 04, 1998, Health 98 - 896. Saskatchewan Health and six health districts have recently signed a $1.5 million contract with Computing Devices Canada Ltd. (CDC) for further development of the Northern Telehealth Pilot Project. http://www.gov.sk.ca/newsrel/1998Dec/896.98120401.html Computing Devices Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation, and has achieved a global reputation for providing leading edge, technology-based solutions to the armed forces in over 20 countries.