Let us not get confused and divide politicians into the freshman college political science view as being either left or right, depending on their propensity to support the increase or decrease of taxes. The fact is that politics and business have become artificial games for the few and privileged.

Some weeks ago Dr. Jon Witt was fired as administrative head of the emergency department at the Royal University Hospital (RUH) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Witt wrote a letter to health minister John Nilson saying that

"I know there are patients who our ER physicians feel have been permanently disabled and died due to the critical understaffing at RUH ER [1a] [1b]."

The health region's chief of medical staff, Dr. Ronon Conlon, felt offended that Dr. Witt bypassed the hierarchical administrative structure and has stated that he conducted a review of patient files and didn’t find any validity to Witt’s statements. However, Dr. Witt has affirmed that

"Dr. Conlon chose to ignore the list of 88 names we gave him, 88 patients who were admitted to RUH emergency and subsequently died within 48 hours. Every one of the patients, not one of them was seen within national guidelines… This is about medicare and free speech and the ability to speak up when there's something wrong going on. I'm very concerned, very concerned when the corporate health-care agenda is to silence critics, to try and muzzle concerns about safe patient care[2]."

I find it disappointing that while in the United States there is a move by the Kerry presidential campaign to make health insurance a public right, here in Saskatchewan and Canada, we have a corrupt corporative health system moving towards further privatisation.

I am also disappointed about our current events depicted by our mainstream media and conventional politicians. The StarPhoenix editorial "Election brings war on terror closer to home[3]" is appropriately described as nothing more than pro-US jingoism by Saskatoon resident Tom Brownbridge[4]. The Starphoenix editors should do more home work to support their opinions. They must realise that the Spanish people voted out Aznar’s government not necessarily because Spain had troops in Iraq but mostly because the government lied to the people when they first insisted that the March 11 attack was the work of ETA’s terrorists[5]. These same editors contend that "Canada is at war to protect the value we hold dear." However, Brownbridge hardly think that we defend our values when billions of Canada Pension Plan dollars are invested in 15 of the top 20 military contractors "unless of course you can find value in profiting off the death of people you never met." I maintain that our values have been changing as these values have been privatised on behalf of corporations. In 1950, in Canada, personal and corporate taxes each contributed roughly 20% of federal revenues. But by 1998, the personal tax share reached around 46%, while the corporate share declined to 6%[6].

Our politicians have changed too as they have been selling their souls to their corporate friends. I have recently received an urgent request for donations from the Conservative Fund Canada. Their undated letter states "THE ARROGANT INCUMBENT GOVERNMENT OF PAUL MARTIN IS FULL OF THE VERY PEOPLE WHO WATCHED AND DID NOTHING WHILE THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT SQUANDERED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON POLITICAL CRONIES." It is true that the Liberal government has squandered millions and millions of dollars. But then it is also true that prior to the Leadership convention of the new Conservative Party I received taped calls from former Ontario premier Mike Harris inviting me to vote for Belinda Stronach. Mike Harris launched the "Common Sense Revolution" of governmental privatisation that materialised with the elimination of a $37-a-month benefit for pregnant welfare recipients to insure that "those dollars don't go to beer[7]" while making sure that Hydro One would engross the bank accounts of his greasy friends[8].

Our values are changing for the worse and further privatization will further divide people, the few and privileged from the many and destitute.

References

1a. Witt, Jon Emergency Room Doctor Letter to John Nilson (PDF) January 20, 2004 http://sask.cbc.ca/documents/er_doc_letter.html

1b. Haight, Lana Whistle-blower MD fired: Doctor who wrote to gov't loses position at RUH ER (PDF) April 9, 2004, The StarPhoenix, http://www.canada.com/components/printstory/printstory.asp?id=E5960962-4532-493E-9647-D270C8F6C330

2. Haight, Lana MD cites list of ER deaths: Officials given 88 cases from RUH emergency: Witt (PDF) April 3, 2004 The StarPhoenix, http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/story.asp?id=FE8ABD4D-9DE1-44F2-B4E9-D7B1756C996C

3. StarPhoenix Election brings war on terror closer to home March 31, 2004 Editorial

4. Brownbridge, Tom Editorial on Spain nothing more than pro-U.S. Jingoism April 2, 2004 The StarPhoenix

5. Lederer, Edith M. Annan: Spain Blaming ETA Affected Election (PDF) March 16, 2004 Associated Press, http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3868936,00.html

6. Dale, Bob OPINION: Life Among the Econ: A Canadian Perspective Progressive Economics Forum http://www.web.net/~pef/bob.html

7. O'Malley, Martin Common Sense Mike steps aside March 21, 2002 CBC News Online, http://www.cbc.ca/news/features/harrismike_stepaside020321.html

8.  Mittelstaedt, Martin $105,000 bought Hydro an e-mail: Message is only record of Tory's efforts (PDF) March 23, 2004 The Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040323/HYDRO23/National/Idx