I firmly believe that our governmental biggest policies of saving money and centralizing any governmental or pseudo governmental service are killing the entrepreneurial spirit of the people of this province. In addition, the consequential governmental focus on researches to support these biggest policies have further contributed to the shrinking of this province to greatness. This is why the intelligence and creativity of our people has been muffled, this is why our politicians continue to be always busy in either speaking out and meaning nothing or lying all the way to their banks(1), and this is why our researchers continue to advance the governmental agendas by useless researches after researches(2). We have the news today that the implementation of the latest research on municipal amalgamation would save some $29 million(3). How far can we go in tolerating the incompetence of this government and the lies of their associated researchers? And if you think that our media or our own local university can do anything to publicize what is wrong in our researches(4)(5)(6)(7)(8) you can forget about it!(9) Research has become the driving political force of this government and it is time to remind Premier Roy Romanow and his politically and socially connected friend Peter MacKinnon(10), President of the University of Saskatchewan, that research is not politics and that "you guys are all wet, you're full of it(11)!"

In this writing, I want to highlight the deficiencies of the widespread use and abuse of the tool of statistical analysis by referring to the No-Fault insurance study by Dr. David Cassidy. This botched study represents the quintessence of the political travesty of this government when one considers that this same government was formed by giving the finger to the Saskatchewan electorate(12), and when one considers that Honourable Jim Melenchuck, Education Minister, lied outright when he said he would repeal the No-Fault insurance legislation once in power(13). Also, I believe that the time is mature for dismissing altogether the approach of statistical correlation analysis for dealing with phenomena which cannot be independently repeated, and advise Dr. Cassidy to study such phenomena through system dynamic simulation models(14)(15)(16)(17).

Dr. David Cassidy's study on No-Fault Insurance

This study is titled "Effect of Eliminating Compensation for Pain and Suffering on the Outcome of Insurance Claims for Whiplash Injury(18)" and while it was directed by Dr. Cassidy it was coauthored by Linda J. Carroll, Pierre Cote, Mark Lemstra, Anita Berglund, Ake Nygren.

Effective January 1, 1995 the government of Saskatchewan issued legislation that eliminated the Tort-Compensation system for traffic injuries, which included for the injured the right to sue for pain and suffering, and implemented the No-Fault insurance system under which the injured doesn't have the right to sue for pain and suffering. The purpose of the study was to find out if this change of insurance coverage was associated with a decrease in claims and improved recovery after whiplash injury. For the period prior to January 1, 1995, the study included the population of persons who filed insurance claims for traffic injuries after June 30, 1994. The study made the conclusions that "the elimination of compensation for pain and suffering is associated with a decreased incidence and improved prognosis of whiplash injury," that is, in particular and in other words, injured people recover twice as fast from whiplash and related traffic injuries if they cannot sue for pain and suffering; and that the change to No-Fault insurance resulted with a decreased incidence of whiplash claims as well.

References & 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 Ensign

Dr. Cassidy's study on no-fault insurance: supporting another shock absorber, by Mario deSantis, April 20, 2000 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantisArticles/2000/desantis164/nofault.html

The fight against No-Fault Insurance is a fight for our Freedom: Attend the Public Forum at the Saskatoon Public Library on May 13, 2000, by Mario deSantis, May 9, 2000 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantisArticles/2000/desantis168/Cassidy.html

1. Liberal vows revenge, by Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post, September 30, 1999, Regina, Saskatchewan

2. Saskatchewan Health Care Researches: A campaign to assist the Romanow's government and cheat the people, by Mario deSantis, May 7, 2000 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantisArticles/2000/desantis166/econ_healthcare.html

3. $29-million saving, by Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post, May 25, 2000, Regina, Saskatchewan. Also refer to Consultant slams reports backing amalgamation: Studies short on hard facts, former U of M dean contends, By Neil Scott, The StarPhoenix, May 11, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

4. U of S to conduct preliminary review of research misconduct allegation, On Campus News, University of Saskatchewan, Volume 6, Number 17, May 21, 1999 http://cwis.usask.ca/communications/ocn/May21-99/news18.html

5. No pain, No gain, by Les MacPherson, The Star-Phoenix, April 25, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

6. Folly to slag fair research, Opinions, The StarPhoenix, May 26, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

7. Dr. Freeman's Letter To Dr. Wigzell http://www.angelfire.com/nf/coalitionagainstnf/Dr.htm

8. Dr. McLennan's Letter to Dr. Wigzell. The pompous assets of Professor McLennan can be appreciated by the following excerpt "Our respective universities have been attacked by Michael Freeman a chiropractor with a PhD from a small university in the USA". Dr. Barry D. McLennan is Chair, Coalition for Biomedical & Health Research (CBHR); Member, CIHR Interim Governing Council (IGC); and Assistant Dean, Research, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan http://www.angelfire.com/nf/coalitionagainstnf/Dr.htm

9. University of Saskatchewan: Report to the Community, a commitment to change, The StarPhoenix, May 27, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. This is a one page advertising message from Peter MacKinnon, President of the University of Saskatchewan. Possibly, it is a response to the article Research focus strains U of S: prof. University cuts classroom quality, top teacher says, by Gerry Klein, The StarPhoenix, May 19, 2000

10. Peter MacKinnon, President of the University of Saskatchewan, is the husband of Honourable Janice MacKinnon, Minister of Economic Development, Government of Saskatchewan

11. Skeptic Magazine Interview With Robert Sternberg on The Bell Curve, Interview by Frank Miele, from Skeptic vol. 3, no. 3, 1995, pp. 72-80, Skeptics Society, P.O. Box 338, Altadena, CA 91001, (818) 794-3119. Robert Sternberg is Professor of Education and Psychology at Yale and the author of The Triarchic Mind. He is also the editor of The Encyclopedia of Intelligence, and he is on the editorial board of Intelligence, the leading scientific journal in the field of intelligence and mental ability. Robert Sternberg thinks that the study of intelligence is vitally important to the health and survival of our society. http://www.skeptic.com/03.3.fm-sternberg-interview.html

12. Governmental coalition in Saskatchewan: a private contractual deal at the expense of the electorate? by Mario deSantis, October 4, 1999 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantisArticles/desantis71/GovContract-Oct04-99.html

13. Melenchuk not off the hook, groups against no-fault say. There's no question Liberal leader promised to get rid of plan, opponents of system say, by Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post, May 25, 2000, Regina, Saskatchewan

14. Simulation Defined. Simulation is a powerful tool for analyzing, designing, and operating complex systems. It enables you to test hypotheses without having to carry them out, saving you thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars! http://www.imaginethatinc.com/frame_simulation.html

15. Systems Dynamics in Education: Thinking Differently, by Mario deSantis, February 20, 1999 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantis35/SysDyn-Feb21-99.htm

16. System Dynamics in Education: Commonality of Structure and Behaviour, by Mario deSantis, March 28, 1999 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantis40/sysDyn_Mar29_99.html

17. Systems Dynamics in Education: Systems Thinking and Systems Dynamics, by Mario deSantis, February 26, 1999 http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/desantis36/paperSysDyn-Feb26-99F.htm

18. Effect of Eliminating Compensation for Pain and Suffering on the Outcome of Insurance Claims for Whiplash Injury, by J. David Cassidy, Linda J. Carroll, Pierre Cote, Mark Lemstra, Anita Berglund, Ake Nygren. The New England Journal of Medicine -- April 20, 2000 -- Vol. 342, No. 16 http://www.nejm.org/content/2000/0342/0016/1179.asp