Times are changing, until this week, health workers were not allowed to speak out about their concerns for the state of health care and for the safety of their own patients. Health workers were not able to express their voice because their collective agreements prohibit them to question the management of health care; you know, health workers are just front line workers and they cannot have the overall picture of the management of health care.

Ten months ago, as Karen Ponto, a Saskatoon nurse, expressed publicly her concerns that patients were at risk, she received immediately a letter from a lawyer asking for clarifications of her statements and she retorted "If they think that a lawyer is going to muzzle me or any of the nurses... they're sadly mistaken(2)." Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has confirmed that we will be going to the urn on November 27 to express our democratic will. And I say, what kind of democratic will we can express when the country is divided, when this government is accused of being dishonest(3) (4) and secretive(5), when our own Supreme Court is telling our police forces across the country to lie, cheat, mislead to get a confession(6).

As I said in a previous article, democracy is not voting or belonging to a party(7). Today, democracy is in our own hands, in our own opportunities to speak out our frustrations and looking for changes; and all of a sudden we are doing it; here on page D4 of the StarPhoenix dated October 21/2000 I find some 10 (ten) open letters written by Royal University Hospital health workers. And these health workers are not going to be reprimanded by their employer because they didn't comply with their collective agreements, and these health workers are not going to be intimidated by their employer's lawyers either. This is democracy, and casting a ballot on November 27 is not democracy for sure!

References/Endnotes

Articles by Mario deSantis

1. Urgent to stem specialist exit, SP Opinions, October 21, 2000, StarPhoenix, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

2. Intimidation: Management style at Saskatoon District Health, by Mario deSantis, January 27, 2000

3. Wanted: Government you can trust, "My report this week was highly critical of government excesses, but the root of the problem goes far deeper, writes Auditor-General DENIS DESAUTELS." October 20, 2000, Commentary, The Globe and Mail

4. October 2000 Report of the Auditor General of Canada

5. Shhhh! Tell me no secrets, "When the Information Commissioner blasted the Chrétien government this week for excessive secrecy, he was only telling part of the story", says crusader KEN RUBIN, October 20, 2000, The Globe and Mail

6. Supreme injustice: The Supreme Court just said it's fine to use threats and lies to get confessions, by Clayton Ruby, October 17, 2000, The Globe and Mail

7. Royal University Hospital: $7.5 million blunder and nobody is accountable, by Mario deSantis, October 20, 2000