You let in a right wing party

[Smallc]

Actually, it says right in the story that they had decided on a plan to fix the problem several weeks before the story broke. That's funny, because I brought it to her attention several weeks ago.

Health Minister Theresa Oswald said yesterday that she and health officials agreed a few weeks ago to make more money available to pay overtime and hire new technicians so that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners could be run on the weekends.

Edited August 16, 2009 by Smallc

[jdobbin]

Actually, it says right in the story that they had decided on a plan to fix the problem several weeks before the story broke.

Actually, it says in the story that MRI wait times have rising for two years. How long does it take to approve overtime?

[Smallc]

Wait wait. Now you're changing you story. And you're wrong...the story is wrong. The waits have not been rising for two years as fast as they've risen in the last few months. I know that because I keep regular track of the waits. It seems that many doctors only started ordering them in the lat few months. They had gone up a bit over the last two years, but only in the last few months did the wait skyrocket.

Edited August 16, 2009 by Smallc

[jdobbin]

Wait wait. Now you're changing you story. And you're wrong...the story is wrong. The waits have not been rising for two years as fast as they've risen in the last few months. I know that because I keep regular track of the waits. It seems that many doctors only started ordering them in the lat few months. They had gone up a bit over the last two years, but only in the last few months did the wait skyrocket.

I have been checking the lists too since I have lots of people waiting for MRIs. It has been long waits for many people.

[Smallc]

The waits stabilized at about 3 months for a long time. Only recently have they shot up.

[jdobbin]

The waits stabilized at about 3 months for a long time. Only recently have they shot up.

The you should write the newspapers and radio stations who have said that the waits have been rising since 2007.

[Smallc]

IOt rose in 2007 and then stabilized. Only in recent months has the maximum wait (and almost no one waits that long) gone about 12 weeks. Perhaps I'm not remembering everything correctly, but it's what I remember.

[madmax]

"Saskatchewan is projecting a $1.3-billion drop in potash revenues this fiscal year.....To deal with the shortfall, the government said it will take a $185-million dividend from the Crown Investments Corp. and delay funding the children’s hospital in Saskatoon and some schools."

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1137644.html

The NDP set them up for successes and they still f it up.

Economically and budget wise the NDP would be hardpressed to do anything differently. However the Conservatives choices and the NDP choices are very different when it comes to who suffers during a downturn and who benefits. The Conservatives or Sask Party will take care of their corporate supporters giving them what they need. And Corporations don't need Childrens Hospitals.

[jdobbin]

IOt rose in 2007 and then stabilized. Only in recent months has the maximum wait (and almost no one waits that long) gone about 12 weeks. Perhaps I'm not remembering everything correctly, but it's what I remember.

It has been 3 or four months wait through 2008. The exact number in 2008 December was just under a 100 days, nearly 60 days longer than December 2007.

So...no. This hasn't just spiked. It was a problem last year and it has grown this year. And questions have been asked in the Legislature and there was reassurances the new MRI was around the corner. Well, it is still not up and running and with holidays in July and August, the fear was that the wait was going to jump up to 6 months. That is a far cry from just over a month in 2007.

The excuse that the number of doctors ordering scans doesn't fly because it was the government that said it would reduce the wait for specialist to be seen for the first time. Well, in the end the wait to see the specialist is climbing again because people haven't gotten their scans to go analyze the results.

[Smallc]

The MRI was never around the corner. It was never supposed to be in place until next year. Neither of them will be. That said, it sounds like they have a short term plan which should bring the wait down significantly. This is a problem that isn't easily solved and it isn't something that any government could easily solve.

Oh, and the wait to get final results form a specialist is still much shorter. First, if you have an even remotely serious condition, you don't wait long at all (anecdotal case, a person I know popped their knee out on Tuesday last week and couldn't get it back in....they went to the doctor the next day and had an MRI on Friday) if you have an even remotely serious condition, and second, you only have to go to the specialist once because your regular doctor already ordered the MRI and as a result, you don't have to wait for the specialist, the MRI, and then the specialist again. Once the new machines are up and running and this backlog is eliminated, we'll have a much better system for this. There are simply kinks to iron out...and they're ironing them.

I'd also remind you that without the NDP, the wait never would have been down to 7 weeks in the first place.

[Smallc]

It has been 3 or four months wait through 2008.

There must be an echo. Only recently has it spiked above that number. That's the backlog they're trying to eliminate.

[jdobbin]

There must be an echo. Only recently has it spiked above that number. That's the backlog they're trying to eliminate.

The problem of a 3 month wait was all last year. They didn't do anything about it and it grew to what it is now.

They kept promising that it would be cured with the new MRI. However, as your link has shown that was promise that couldn't be kept. We are seven months into the new year and the situation has not spiked. It has simply grown month after month. Your claims that it has only been two months of unacceptable numbers is simply not true. It has been 18 months of steady increases in waiting.

I know you prepared to defend the NDP in Manitoba to the very end but this has been a problem that has been 18 months long in the making. This idea that they were just about to announce overtime when the news stories came out is a rather fantastical explanation. It should have been done last year.

The idea that there has been a spike is a fiction. It has just grown and grown for 18 months.

Edited August 16, 2009 by jdobbin

[jdobbin]

The MRI was never around the corner. It was never supposed to be in place until next year. Neither of them will be. That said, it sounds like they have a short term plan which should bring the wait down significantly. This is a problem that isn't easily solved and it isn't something that any government could easily solve.

This was the argument made by the NDP early in the new year when there were questions about how the wait times were growing during the winter of 2009/2009.

The short term plan for overtime was always available to the government but for some reason they have let the waits grow and grow. And don't say it has just spiked. The numbers show they just kept growing month to month increamentally. It was 3 months in December. Since then, a week here and there have been added to the list. No spike.

Oh, and the wait to get final results form a specialist is still much shorter. First, if you have an even remotely serious condition, you don't wait long at all (anecdotal case, a person I know popped their knee out on Tuesday last week and couldn't get it back in....they went to the doctor the next day and had an MRI on Friday) if you have an even remotely serious condition, and second, you only have to go to the specialist once because your regular doctor already ordered the MRI and as a result, you don't have to wait for the specialist, the MRI, and then the specialist again. Once the new machines are up and running and this backlog is eliminated, we'll have a much better system for this. There are simply kinks to iron out...and they're ironing them.

Overtime should have been authorized a long time ago. Why the government has to be goaded into action all the time is beyond me.

I'd also remind you that without the NDP, the wait never would have been down to 7 weeks in the first place.

If you are prepared to give credit to the NDP for every thing it does, you ought to be prepared to criticize when they don't act. It is August. This has been a growing problem and they have just gotten off their butts.

And we still don't know how fast it will cut the wait times.

[Smallc]

If you are prepared to give credit to the NDP for every thing it does, you ought to be prepared to criticize when they don't act.

That's rather hypocritical of you. The criticism you level against any Liberal is very thin. I'll criticize anyone, and I've said that this is a problem that should have been addressed sooner. Unlike you though, I give them credit for addressing the problem now.

[jdobbin]

That's rather hypocritical of you. The criticism you level against any Liberal is very thin. I'll criticize anyone, and I've said that this is a problem that should have been addressed sooner. Unlike you though, I give them credit for addressing the problem now.

That is a lie. And one easily countered. I said the Liberals wouldn't win an election since 2006 and I believe that now as well given the numbers. I said that the party was too fractured and that Dion would never win Quebec because of the Clarity Act. I believe that the party has not had the policy discussion on a wider level beyond its members like Pearson did and which eventually helped it break from similar minority governments.

I think Ignatieff has done better for finances which I criticized Dion repeatedly. Party organizers are better as well but Ignatieff has to present a vision based on the policy platform that was developed in June. Despite everyone saying they don't want an election, it seems all parties are itching for one. I think Ignatieff probably has no choice but to give them one. Having said that, I don't think he will win unless that vision has been made clear and we haven't seen it yet.

What you have been doing isn't criticism. It is a apology. And then you say how triumphant the provincial NDP is, how it could never be done without them. You say how no one cares about issues such as the election issue despite the fact that this is the same argument that the Tories made when they faltered. You then trumpet social housing being built except that it hasn't changed the long term demand for rental housing for all income levels. Vacancy rates are zero and no building is taking place in a meaningful way to meet the demand because of rent controls.

Real people are hurting and it is happening now. If the MRI issue could be fixed by authorizing overtime, it didn't need weeks of planning to do it.

Edited August 17, 2009 by jdobbin

[Smallc]

Real people are hurting and it is happening now. If the MRI issue could be fixed by authorizing overtime, it didn't need weeks of planning to do it.

Right, you're the Liberal party's number one critic.

The fix is not just overtime, it's hiring additional staff. The problem obvious got worse than was expected, and though it should have been handled sooner, it's being dealt with now. I don't know whether or not it will work (I assume it will), but it's a remedy for the problem that the NDP has already fixed once.

Edited August 17, 2009 by Smallc

[jdobbin]

Right, you're the Liberal party's number one critic.

I do not support the NDP and Tories. It doesn't mean I don't criticize the Liberals. I certainly don't apologize for their poor performance when it happens.

I see more criticism from me in regards to the Liberals both provincially and nationally than I see from you on the NDP provincially. Your argument that people don't care about election shenanigans is pure partisan nonsense since Doer proved that they do when the Tories went down in defeat. Doer is now making the same arguments that Filmon made and it is rather disgusting to see.

The fix is not just overtime, it's hiring additional staff. The problem obvious got worse than was expected, and though it should have been handled sooner, it's being dealt with now. I don't know whether or not it will work (I assume it will), but it's a remedy for the problem that the NDP has already fixed once.

It was overtime that was needed when the issue was growing and it is the solution that they have turned to now.

They are training people but it is overtime now and for the next months that is required.

[Smallc]

Your argument that people don't care about election shenanigans is pure partisan nonsense

Funny thing that, since I have a Liberal Party of Canada card in my wallet.

[jdobbin]

Funny thing that, since I have a Liberal Party of Canada card in my wallet.

I was talking about the elections violations in Manitoba. I am hearing the same arguments that were made by Filmon being made by Doer. And when I hear that people don't care, we found out that they do. A proper inquiry is required.

[Bryan]

I'm no fan of the Manitoba NDP. I think they are doing a piss-poor job on most fronts. They completely ruined one of the best medical centres in the country, they are making an absolute mess of the new photo ID, almost everything regarding family services is screwed up beyond recognition, they've hosed Manitoba Hydro, and the list goes on and on. Manitoba is still doing well in spite of a patently incompetent government, not because they have any idea what they are doing.

However, jdobbin, your spin on this particular issue is utter nonsense..

FIVE TIMES as many people are getting MRIs now as were only a few years ago.

The wait times are clearly marked on the website. The search bar is there right at the top of the main page. http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/waittime/

Googling "Manitoba MRI wait times" gives you the same result as the first hit. http://www.google.com/search?client=safari...-8&oe=UTF-8 If they were trying to hide it, they aren't doing a very good job of it.

It is true that the NDP is not blameless when it comes to the increased volume though. They should never have allowed primary physicians to send everyone and their dog for an elective MRI. Those are the people who are waiting for weeks if not months, and they should never have been put on the list in the first place. Urgent cases still get them pretty much immediately.

[jdobbin]

However, jdobbin, your spin on this particular issue is utter nonsense..

FIVE TIMES as many people are getting MRIs now as were only a few years ago.

However, they got rid of the private option because they said it was inferior and that increased the wait times. There wasn't a concerted effort to look for other private partnership since 2007.

The wait times increase each month. Not enough overtime was authorized to help clear the backlog that they in part created.

They allowed any doctor to order a scan which helped clear the waits for specialists to order scans but didn't think about what the short term demand would be before their new MRIs were in place.

So the spin is that demand is solely the problem. Decisions the government made and didn't make allowed it to grow to five months long and only when the media started reporting how long it was did they act.

The wait times are clearly marked on the website. The search bar is there right at the top of the main page. http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/waittime/

That is not the main page the media is talking about.

Googling "Manitoba MRI wait times" gives you the same result as the first hit. http://www.google.com/search?client=safari...-8&oe=UTF-8 If they were trying to hide it, they aren't doing a very good job of it.

When the provincial governments received money to help pay for diagnostics from the Liberal government, they all agreed to list wait times prominently on their main government pages. That was to allow comparisons from province to province and within provinces.

I suppose you can find anything with a Google search but the promise since 2004 was that it would be prominently displayed on the main government page.

It is true that the NDP is not blameless when it comes to the increased volume though. They should never have allowed primary physicians to send everyone and their dog for an elective MRI. Those are the people who are waiting for weeks if not months, and they should never have been put on the list in the first place. Urgent cases still get them pretty much immediately.

As I said, they were warned there would be a short term increase. Their response was to kill private MRIs and not authorizing overtime and increased staffing till now.

Edited August 17, 2009 by jdobbin

[punked]

Some more about Sask:

"Dear Editor:

The Wall government has created a financial mess, but their friends in the corporate news media are busily trying to cover for them. Editorial pages and columnists suggest the government 'had no way of knowing' that its budget forecasts were so faulty, while others argue the situation 'still isn't too bad'. It's time for both the government and its cheerleaders in the corporate media to face reality.

The facts are these. The Wall government forecast $1.9 Billion in potash taxes and royalties this year to balance its budget; a few months later that number is off by 67% or $1.3 Billion! The government based its budget surplus on a forecast of 2.1% economic growth for this year; a few months later they've adjusted that to .6%! The result is that the government had to bleed our public utilities for $480 Million in dividends, and our so-called 'rainy day fund' for another $399 Million, just to maintain the façade of a balanced budget.

These problems are of the Wall government's own making. When its budget was introduced last March, the NDP pointed out the potash revenue projections and economic growth forecasts were out of whack with reality, and private sector forecasts. We urged the government to get its runaway spending under control. Government spending today is 32% higher than in the last NDP budget in 2007. We urged the government to reconsider its fantasyland budget plan. It scoffed at our warnings and blindly pushed on. Today, Saskatchewan people are being asked to pay the price for the Wall government's fiscal incompetence.

It is worth noting the government created this mess during a time of unprecedented resource wealth for our province. They inherited a booming economy and record resource revenues from the NDP, but during this period they have drained our so-called 'rainy day' fund from more than $2 Billion to only $800 Million. A competent government would have grown the 'rainy day' fund during the boom times, but this crew has blown more than half of our cash reserves at the height of the boom!

Now the Children's Hospital has been delayed another year or more, and school repair projects have been put on hold so the Wall government can continue to pretend that it knows how to balance the budget. Shame on them and shame on the corporate news media for defending this kind of fiscal

incompetence!

Trent Wotherspoon, MLA

Finance Critic

New Democrat Official Opposition"

[Oleg Bach]

Don't you know that big buisness is the right wing party? Big buisness likes to rationalize and justify their bad behaviour. They got big not by loving people but by dispising people. How else did they get so rich - YOU don't gather up that kind of wealth being kind.

[madmax]

I'm no fan of the Manitoba NDP. I think they are doing a piss-poor job on most fronts.

Sure they are.....

I believe the only Province to run a balanced budget during this recession IIRC???

Economic conditions deteriorated over the past few months in other provinces, especially in Ontario and Saskatchewan," she said. "All provinces will recover slowly over the next year. Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario are expected to post the strongest growth in 2010."

(LEFT WING)

Manitoba's 0.8% growth rate this year was the result of a construction boom that began four years ago, the report added. In 2010, growth will reach 1.8%.

(Right Wing}

Saskatchewan's economy is expected to contract by 2.7% in 2009

Manitoba -- what recession?

Updated: Mon Mar. 23 2009 15:44:09

The Canadian Press

One might forgive Manitobans if they seem slightly smug these days.

Edited August 18, 2009 by madmax

[Oleg Bach]

Look at the city state of Toronto - totally right wing extremists run the place - under the guise of socialism. The left went so far left that they popped out on the right side. They in effect cross the floor - Politial ambition has no princlples - If you were to privately ask Jack Layton to abandon his Marxist ideals - and he could be PM - He would take the offer.