Dr. McLennan's article is a reflection of a reductionist mind set whereby good research people are blamed for the systemic faults of the system, reprimanded, removed from office and replaced with new researchers who take the roles of principal investigators and principal manipulators of their subordinates and of their statistical data. Statistics is not comprised solely of the manipulation of numbers, but it includes the stories and the emotions of people behind these numbers(3).

In SGI's no-fault insurance program we have injured victims who have claimed to have been under surveillance for years by SGI's investigators, and we have injured victims who have claimed that their health conditions were reassessed without any further medical evidence. The discretional reassessments of the health conditions of the claimants made by SGI's adjusters remind me of the phony paper medical reviews undertaken by the State Farm Insurance company in the United States(4). And whenever concerns for the infringements of privacy rights by SGI's investigators were reported to the police, the same police said that they could not help because the surveillance was ordered by the government(5). And the many allegations raised by injured claimants that SGI's adjusters were lying to them, prompted claimant Ken Hidlebaugh, a policeman in Prince Albert, to recommend the use of a tape recorder while talking to SGI's adjusters(6).

I don't agree with Dr. McLennan's contention to have further expensive researches, here in Saskatchewan, about the merit of no-fault insurance. We cannot have further researches on no-fault insurance whenever we have widespread allegations of administrative wrongdoings and violations of privacy rights by our authorities, our crown corporations and our academic institutions. No-fault insurance is not a research matter anymore, it has become a political matter affecting all of us(7). The future of our province is not in further phony researches, instead, the future of our province is in the education and integral upbringing of our children.

About the author: Mario deSantis is an Educator and Economist and many of his articles have been published in the journal Ensign http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/

Note: this article was published by The StarPhoenix of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

References

1. Proper way to challenge study: more research, by Dr. Barry McLennan, The StarPhoenix, June 30, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (The text of his comments)

2. The incredible abuse of Saskatchewan No-Fault insurance, by Mario deSantis and reviewed by James deSantis, May 28, 2000

3. PUBLIC REVIEWS OF NO-FAULT INSURANCE IN SASKATCHEWAN, 2000 Spring meetings in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert. Coalition Against No Fault Insurance http://www.angelfire.com/nf/coalitionagainstnf/

4. Investigation of State Farm Insurance and paper medical review, Dateline, NBC, June 23, 2000; Burrelle's Transcripts <Burrelle@aol.com>

5. Public Review Hearing on No-Fault Insurance, Meyer CompuCourt Reporting, Transcripts page 25, Saturday, June 10, 2000, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

6. Public Review Hearing on No-Fault Insurance, Meyer CompuCourt Reporting, Transcripts page 29, Saturday, June 10, 2000, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

7. No-Fault is not an administrative matter, it is a political matter, it affects all of us, by Mario deSantis, June 9, 2000