KINCARDINE -- They don't have babies in this town any more.
Oh, sure, people fall in love and get married. Women get pregnant. But when it comes time to deliver the baby, they have to head out of town -- to Owen Sound, an hour away, or Walkerton, a 30 minute drive.
Kincardine is just one of scores of communities that have a doctor shortage. The local hospital, serving 12,000 people, doesn't have an obstetrician to deliver babies.
Local councillor Ken Craig is on a town committee working on strategies to attact more doctors and to keep those who are already here. He estimates that between 3,500 and 4,000 residents don't have a family doctor. Those people use the so-called "orphan clinic." It's not a perfect solution, because it means patients don't get to see the same doctor all the time, but it's the best they can do right now.
"It's just a question of supply and demand," says Craig. "The highest bidder gets the doctor."
And the emergency sign on the hospital could apply to most rural communties when it comes to doctors. They are in crisis.
The Downside Of Socialized Medicine
Tax Cut For Green Cause
Cutting taxs for a Green cause?
I'm impressed....too bad it's also to put more money in the hands of Capitalist businessmen.
Tax break on appliances
A provincial tax holiday for energy efficient appliances went into effect yesterday, giving consumers a break on the cost of many major home purchases.
Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara said yesterday that he expects the year-long program will cost the treasury about $51 million in tax revenues. The Retail Sales Tax exemption, which applies to the purchase of Energy Star household products, was announced as part of the government's climate change initiative.
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FULL STORY HERE
Votes up for grabs
(The ABC's of Ontario Election 2007 -- An ongoing series examining the issues in the countdown to the Oct. 10th vote, with a look today at the "ballot box" question.)
One in 10 voters in the last federal election made up their minds while in front of the ballot box.
Another 21% made up their minds in the last weekend of the campaign.
SES Research President Nik Nanos, whose polling firm conducted the federal election research, said this kind of information should send a chill down the spine of political strategists whose job it is to craft the campaign's key messages long before it's time to vote.
"In the last 72 hours, three out of 10 made their decision," he said.
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The NDP have been repeating the mantra, "fairness for working families," saying the other two parties have offered nothing for working Joes and Janes.
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FULL STORY HERE
Israel Frees 255 Palestinians from Jails
Family and friends joyously hugged 255 Palestinians freed by Israel yesterday, hoisting them on their shoulders for a boisterous heroes' welcome meant to give Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a political boost in his power struggle with Hamas.
FULL STORY
Anti-Semitic Jihad Propaganda on VisionTV
VisionTV picked up a lot of static yesterday.
A news report in the National Post revealed that the non-profit broadcaster aired an hour-long talk by Muslim preacher Israr Ahmad.
"Jihad in the way of Allah, for the cause of Allah, can be pursued either with your financial resources or your bodily strength when you go to fight the enemy in the battlefield," urged Ahmad in the broadcast. "So jihad, the highest form, is fighting in the cause of Allah."
Who is the enemy? All non-Muslims, but Jews in particular. According to the Post, Ahmad has in his books described the Holocaust as "divine punishment" and compared Jews to "parasites".
At first, VisionTV officials didn't have a problem with giving air-time to a hatemonger. All part of freedom of expression and religion, they said.
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FULL STORY HERE
Closing arguments made in case about limiting free speech
CALGARY (CP) - Closing arguments were made before an Alberta human rights tribunal Friday into a complaint about a letter published in a newspaper that suggested homosexuals are as immoral as pedophiles and drug dealers.
The letter by former pastor Stephen Boissoin was published five years ago in the Red Deer Advocate.
University of Calgary professor Darren Lund complained that it exposed homosexuals to hatred and contempt.
In his closing statement, Lund suggested the letter was clearly an expression of hatred and contempt for homosexuals.
However, another University of Calgary professor, Barry Cooper, testified that Boissoin's opinions did not constitute hate speech, even though they may have been crude and offensive.
Lawyers for Boissoin have argued that a ruling in Lund's favour would hinder his freedom of expression and religion, as well as freedom of the press.
The Alberta Human Rights Commission now has 60 days to decide whether the letter incited hatred, or was merely intended to spawn political debate.
Harper Visits Haitian Slum
Just a few weeks ago I was chatting with a man who happened to have a Mexican wife and mixed race children. His daughter, a young Mestizo about age 14, was part of some sort of Girl Guide-ish group that was going to Madagascar to fix some polluted river. The project is going to cost $150, 000 Canadian dollars, coming straight out of tax payers pockets!
So, for Canada to be handing over money to Negro 3rd world slums, giving away our earned money, is no suprise to me. Our treasonous Government gives away so much money it's no wonder there are dieing homeless people all over the larger cities.
waiting to have their children vaccinated while
visiting a hospital in the notorious Cite Soleil
slums in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, July 20, 2007.
(CP/Ryan Remiorz)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper became the first foreign leader in many years to visit the infamous Cite Soleil slum at the heart of the Haitian capital Friday - a symbolic gesture to demonstrate that the hemisphere's poorest and possibly most dangerous neighbourhood has improved along with the rest of the country.
But that image was far from clear. The prime minister's motorcade was led by an army jeep with three heavily armed UN troops, one pointing a mounted machine-gun directly at the throng of people lining the rutted roadway.
"I think all of us as fellow human beings, people who have our own families, only begin to understand the true difficulties and challenges that so many people face on a day-to-day basis, it is extraordinary," Harper said after seeing the troubled area.
"And I think Canadians should be very proud that they are offering to help, that our help is
making a difference in terms in safety of people's lives, in terms of giving them some hope and some opportunity."Preval noted that Canada's aid to his country is its second largest, next to Afghanistan, with commitments of about $100 million a year until 2011 - a large number considering Haiti's population of 8.5 million.
Harper's assessment was backed by Haitian president RenePreval , who said the Canadian leader's visit would have been ill-advised only six months ago, when gangs of thugs menaced the locals and anyone who ventured into the neighbourhood of dirt streets, open sewers and
tin-roofed shacks.
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FULL STORY
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