willy

We like to call him Premier. He earned the right when the last government was left with 2 seats. The economy in BC is outpacing the rest of the country right now and has a rosy outlook. We have long term contracts with our nurses and docs. We have our provincial transportation systems being upgraded. We won the Olympic bid for 2010. The film industry is growing (best year ever) Tourism has recovered. Softwood tariffs are dropping. Massive red tape has been cut out for small business. They are just starting to save us. 4 more years. And I can guarantee 4 years because they kept the promise to have set election dates. And we know they have balanced the books because they are the first government in Canada to use generally accepted accounting principles. Good work Mr. Campbell.

Quite simple, we have one of the best aerospace industries in the world in BC and have many more resources than Atlantic Canada in that regard. We do not have a ship building industry that builds large ferries.

The safe injection site is a city program. The Campbell that is paying for it is the mayor. And I would much rather see more treatment beds than this big waste of money.

What could possibly be wrong with fighting next US troops. These brave young people were sent to war. Respect their sacrifice.

What's wrong maplesyrup, can't find a job. I never seem to have a problem finding work. Need work, make work. It is individuals who build companies and compete. Individuals trade goods and services. Governments just get in the way. This is the fundamental difference between the left and the right. I am responsible for myself and the left thinks big brother knows best.

Caesar, run then and see if anybody will vote for you. Until then I like the Grumpy, bitter, white man who would have sent young ppl to Iraq. Again, do we not have anyone with at least one name. In the whole country you must know of someone. I like who ran for the conservatives for the most part. The grass is not always greener.

Ceasar, when was the last time they were a have not province. They are special, they have no debt. This is what 60 years of Conservative rule can accomplish. Isn't it beautiful?

Who is a good candidate then? Name one.

I don't know Caesar, I didn't think I was mean but maybe I do make you feel inadequate. The information I receive on health care comes from many years working in healthcare. I go to see people speek on health care. I have access to research on the structure and operations of healthcare and I have read Romeno, Kirby and Mazenkowski's reports. Everyone on this forums seems to be up on the media coverage as am I. I have a fundamental belief that big government creates big government. I firmly believe we need to build into the system incentives to drive service and volume. I want access to quality healthcare like any of my other right wing friends but I don't think nationalized systems of delivery will ever achieve this. Why this makes me mean I don't know? But if I ask you to challenge your own premise this is only done because your arguments don't add up. I don't know you so I have no reason to be mean. Try and justify what you say as apposed to just using the old because I said so.

So where did you learn this information? The Sun or the Province? Yes that would be thier spin. These outsourced jobs you talk of are the same HR outsourcers that many major corporations are using to manage their affairs. That is right paranoid business people trust them to keep their information private but you see some great conspiracy. Learn a little of the nature of these jobs. Here is one for you, these are the same outsourced jobs that BCHydro is using. Accenture is a world class company offering their services. Do you have a problem with highering the best? The Washington Group was the local ship builder( and this has nothing to do with health care) and they did not have the resources. Until they admitted that they would have had to built the halls of the ships in China, BC Ferries could not comment. This did go to broad tender and they did not make the short list. The details are not public unless the bidders wish to make them so. As a smaller bureaucracy has challenges managing health care the part that I see most affable is that you want to hand it over to an even bigger bureaucracy. The Feds couldn't even manage a gun registry let alone something as complex as health care. Here is a little clue, the private clinics wouldn't survive if this very expensive system we have now was even a little bit timely. Ceasar, I notice that if you can’t argue the facts you go off topic to muddy the discussion. How about focusing on improving the actual delivery of healthcare?

We did send troops. Two ships full of sailors and 30 army. Sadam is gone and nobody is unhappy about that. As arm chair quarterbacks you can go on about comments made during a debate 1 1/2 ago but you should pay more attention to what we are doing today. Did you notice that we can not garner multilateral support on Iran. Yes our foreign policy is impotent. Truth is we cant demand anything from any body as a country. Words with no stick, is just winning and nobody listens to winners.

The Terrible Sweal, lets put my comments back into the context. I was responding to: My statement was, based on contradicting that belief in oneself is an adequate religion for hart change. That's all. Oh yea and that I do believe God is at work. Secular or not if this is the case people will continue to be converted regardless of debate. Let me tell you from where I was, to where I am, it is miraculous that I am now a Christian.

They are not union workers or leveled managers. They get paid fee for service minus expenses. The highest paid physicians are a hand full of very specialized surgeons. They can make up to $500 thousand a year. But we are talking 50 out of 7000 physicians. The education you talk of is a couple a conferences with subsidized travel expenses. Not exactly the lottery. Many don't have time to even participate in the program. ceasar you need to get a new premise, this one seem to be very flawed.

Last year we had the largest trading surplus with the US in the history of our relationship. Yes we had the softwood problem (still do) and the beef problem (still do) but this just shows how much trade we really do with them. Over 80% of all of our trade. Plain and simple don't shoot the golden goose and listen carefully to Edwards and his protectionist rant.

Ceassar, do you ever realize you don’t know what you are talking about. Yes, GPs have office staff, book keepers and yes accountants. The paper work far exceeds billings. They need to track the clinical side of the practice. The accountant and office staff, can not make the medical requests, drugs, equipment ect. Stop trying to win the argument at all cost and look at what physicians really do. On the other post you mentioned $300 thousand a year. That is average billing not made. Please tell me you know the difference between net and gross income. I should not bother. By the way physicians in BC today signed a three year deal with a wage freeze for the first two years and the third year will go to arbitration. This is standard across all the health professions contracts signed this year. The physicians also announced that they are committed to reform the primary system with the government. The deal was said to help redirect $100 million to direct patient care.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. If you mean that the challenges of GP's by way of managing their business and maintaining the clinical aspects are onerous, yes I agree. If you mean that foreign physician have a hard time getting licensed yes I agree. It is the most challenging for those who English is a second language. If you mean that physicians spend as much time on paper work as they do treating patients, I agree.

Here is a good link to a good report. Kirby! This link shows specifically how socialist contries have incorporated private delivery to universal health care for the benefit of all citizens. http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus...jan01vol3-e.htm Romanow was a shame. He did not examine real change. The status quo with more money was his big answer. Where is the money? Mazinkowsky in Alberta came to very similar conclusions to Kirby and Alberta is using those conclusions. This debate should not be about equity but rather accessibility to services when we need them.

Quite simple, I have witnessed God working on peoples harts including my own. I tried for many years to be a better person, and not continue to make the same mistakes. It was when I learned to rely on God for transformation that my hart changed. I should note that I was an atheist until I was 26 years old. I am also university educated and specialize in the profession of human behaviour to this day. The fruit of my faith is God working in me.

Christianity is about a living God. Not one of words in a book. Those words are promised to be breathed to life by the holy sprit that is granted by faith in Christ. Here is the supernatural relationship with God. As the centrality of the gospel I acknowledge that I am not sufficient, and that I am worthy of Gods displeasure, but that is okay because God loved me so much he sent his only and righteous son to die in my place. So I have been made right again with God and can live in his presence forever. When Christ resurrected he left the sprit to guild and change us, because it is not about us keeping rules but a reliance and faith in God where the spirit changes our heart. This humanity you talk of is a broken humanity that can be capable of great love but also capable of great evil. Humans are selfish and this humanity is a Star trek dream. I have seen no evidence of real progress in the human heart. This concept to a none believer may seem absurd but to a believer who really doesn’t embrace the supernatural relationship with God, they are missing out the rock and foundational freedom Christianity provides. This is not an exclusive religion, as it is open to all nations but it is only granted through faith in Jesus. Psalm 23 “Though I walk through the valley of death I shall fear no evil”

It would be the Collage of Physicians that licenses the profession. The CMA is primarily a lobby group at the federal level. The Provincial entities “AMA, BCMA, OMA, etc.” they act as the collective barging body, PR group , provincial lobby, and they may also manage the money and benefits. The provincial bodies have the most power. The Collage of Physicians also license provincially. Many provinces do tie foreign trained physicians to rural duty for 2 or 3 year time periods. This may be an option to extend to local physicians. The idea has long term implication as in the first few years massive investment needs to be made to get a practice up and running. Incentives in the start up phase may also encourage those in school to look at family practice.

Physicians are the hart of the system. They are the ones with the clinical knowledge. Nurses can be more quickly trained and probably better used but who do we really receive health care from. First and foremost we need a family doctor as a gateway into the health system which is largely made of specialist physicians who will treat us. The answer for Maplesyrup is salary and not fee for service as it is in most situations now. This is clearly a disincentive to productivity. We all want a doctor to spend time with us but we don't have enough doctors to live in that situation. The demand right now for family doc's greatly exceeds the supply. The wage increases and larger class sizes still haven't solved the problem. These are challenging dynamic issues and they are not as simple as Maplesyrup and Ceasar would make out. Other than nurses who are these other professionals that would increase access to health care. Ceasar you seem a little angry, who would you like treatment from: a. Psyc Nurse b. The guy who works the x-ray machine c. The cleaning staff d. The cook e. The hospital administrator f. Family doctor g. Pysciatrist Note only two of them are doctors but they are probably the only people who may be able to help. You do have to want the help however; do you want some help. Anger can cause stress, which can cause high blood pressure, ulcers, skin problems and even early death. Really you should get it taken care of. I have to now go under my bridge for the night. The Troll

Maybe if we had more good union employees, the system would be better. Hey get a life. Do you really want the lowest paid doctor to work on you. Look a little closer and you will be glad that doc's have ongoing education. As for insurance it is part of the contract. GP's still have to pay office staff, equipment costs and building costs. If you think they are over paid, look into what they actually do for the money. In rural areas, some physicians are on call all the time. I could go on but we need to pay people well to do what they do. They work 60 to 80 hours a week. They have to deal with death all the time. The money aint worth it.

eureka, Spending is the answer eh? So for a province the size of BC 14 Billion dollars this year is not enough. How much is enough. The percentage of GDP does not relate to the demand we can expect on our health system as the population ages. I would like to see primary health reform. This includes teams of physicians working as gate keepers to the health system, with nurses playing a frontline roll to see patients with physicians checking in on the work. We need better electronic health records to minimize the need for tests. We need patients to take responsibility and not see a doctor for a common cold. We need a market model that encourages surgeries not global budgets. You can take your fingers out of my pocket. All I want is a health system I can access when I need it. No lines and I don't want to go broke in the process. My tax dollars can go to better uses if used wisely like social housing, education, arts, sport for all, and maybe a little foreign aid. Again BC cut 1.5 billion in income tax and increased user fees and sales tax. This is not a provincial tax issue. The feds cut the transfers 10 years ago. It would be nice if they increased the spending up to at least Romano’s 25% but that will still not provide more physicians (specialists and gps) or nurses. Our model will not serve the demand. Look to the Alberta reforms and you will see a progressive move to meet our needs. Remember that health care in our current model treats sickness, an investment may look to avoid sickness. (i.e. fitness, environment, standard of living, education can all be tied to better health)

Translinks vote was not the birth of this project. It has been debated and rounds of public consultation have been going on for yes 10 years. 4 years ago you may remember the Arbutus corridor debate when a community person from that area made some dumb comments about powerful people in the Arbutus area. The City of Vancouver voted to support the Rav line in council 2 years ago. The fact that a board of directors on translink did not represent their constituents and wanted to start the debate over again is appalling. Everyone has an opinion but this project has been processed to death. The reason the train will not go down Arbutus is because the major population stops are not on that line. Cambie has a mall, college and high density zoning. The south river crossing from the Cambie route will also be less expensive. Get the facts straight. Arbutus by the way is 40 blocks from UBC, this is not going to drive ridership. The other infrastructure improvements are on the number one highway close to Revelstoke and the number 3 by the kicking horse pass. The provincial Liberals are spending a lot of money on highway improvements. The primary driver is safety. In the lower mainland the drivers are air quality improvement and the ability to move goods. You may hate the Liberals but really what is the point of being blind. The NDP government after all started the Rav process. We need rapid trasit, if you don’t believe me visit a place like LA and see the gridlock and air pollution. The population for the lower mainland is projected to almost double in the next 20 years. Would you suggest that we do nothing to prepare for this growth?

The Rav line has been in the works for 10 years. The city of Vancouver approved it more than 2 years ago. The price of the property value by being under ground will over time will pay for the upgrade portion(I assume that is what you mean by fancy). As for the highway to Whistler, many people die on that road every year and with the development near Pemberton it needs improvement. Safety on our roads also effects the health of our province. That is why we have many projects working on upgrading highways around the province. Why is it lefties just don't understand investment. Our tax dollars build the infrastructure for the Olympics, the revenue from the Olympics pays us back and we are left with facilities. Go to Calgary where they still benefit in many ways from the 88 Olympics. Healthcare, schools and children services are born out of our ability to pay. Infrastructure will help our economy grow so we can afford quality social services. Active people (sports) and clean air will go alone way to improving our health. Should health care not also look at prevention and not just the already sick?