Maybe George Smitherman...

Could try "CHANGING DIAPERS" for a day...

Wasn't there just a big kerfuffle... over seniors in longterm care being abused by nursing home personnel?

So what's this all about, anyway... payback?

Canadians working in long-term care facilities face an "extraordinary” amount of physical violence, unwanted sexual attention and racism – far more than colleagues working in other countries with publicly funded health care systems, a new study says.

C'mon guys... make up your minds.

**********

UPDATE: Okay... now I get it

It's all about "fairness" and "equal time"...

"I will expect to be able to have a "rebuttal" column in every issue of the Canadian Islamic Congress's weekly e-mail newsletter -- not to mention a "Jew's Views" column in the half-dozen Arabic language newspapers in Canada, many of which are virulently anti-Semitic."

"I'll even demand my "equal time" when the Liberal Party publishes its newsletters -- after all, as a conservative, I'm sure I'll feel offended by what they have to say."

*

George Smitherman backs down

Says he's very, very sorry... for talkin', well... all that shit...

Ontario's health minister has apologized for suggesting he might wear an adult diaper in an effort to understand the plight of incontinent nursing-home residents.

"If people were offended or think that I shouldn't have raised those comments, I do apologize."

Perhaps Georgie was feeling a little sheepish... at the outrageous suggestion that he actually look at solving this problem... as opposed to turning it into an episode of Jerry Springer...

Conservative Opposition leader John Tory Thursday demanded an apology from Smitherman, saying the minister should come forward with an action plan on long-term care within the next two weeks in order to make up for his alleged irreverence.

Even Georgie's fearless leader couldn't get behind this one.

Premier Dalton McGuinty was quiet on the issue Thursday after saying a day earlier that the issue was a matter of "human dignity" and not a subject of jest.

Remember... friends don't let friends vote Liberal.

*

Hey, Georgie... what's next...

An in-depth investigation of internet porn?

-- TORONTO -- Health Minister George Smitherman says he's “seriously considering” wearing an adult diaper to see if it's adequate for Ontario seniors.

He was responding to complaints that Ontario seniors are wearing soiled diapers for hours on end because nursing homes in the province aren't meeting proper standards of care.

Maybe he could look into safe-injection sites while he's at it.

Remember George... only take as much as you need... not as much as you want.

**********

RELATED: Forget about Taliban prisoners...

"Dalton McGuinty is complicit in torturing your granny..."

**********

LAST WORD: I just don't get it...

Is this one of those "priorities" the Fiberals just can't figure out?

*

Hey. Dalton...

Tell me more about how you're fixing the health care system...

Jean Keegan spent one whole day last week sitting in a city medical clinic for 40 pills.

Keegan, 88, said there were other ways she could have spent her day but without a family physician and in need of prescriptions - which help her deal with an undiagnosed pain in her right side - she had no other choice.

My personal record down at Belleville General Emergency... is seven and a half hours with a sick, fevered child.

Maybe if Health Minister Smitherman can take a few moments from his campaign championing gay organ donors... he could see about getting us a few more doctors?

Pretty please.

**********

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Who does George Smitherman represent"?

And Crazymamma reminds OCAP boy... it ain't a socialist paradise just yet...

Do you care what car choice I make when buying? Do you have a right to care? Do you care where I spend my money for my holidays? Do you have a right to say where I can shop for groceries? Do you have a right to say who supplies my undergarments?

I have a right to shop Walmart or Victoria's Secret, why should Health care be any different?

It's none of your freaking business how I spend my money on any service that is LEGAL in CANADA.

**********

RELATED: I'm just glad the TDSB...

Has all that surplus cash just lying around.

The Toronto District School Board is set to spend at least $820,000 to help black students succeed -- with a plan that includes setting up an Africentric alternative school.

Less than a week before a special meeting where trustees will vote on creating the controversial school, the board released a report breaking down costs of four proposals aimed at black students.

Funny, though... seems not everybody is inside the tent here...

Trustee Josh Matlow told the Sun trustees are increasingly divided on the controversial issue and the vote will be close.

He said creating a black-focused school would lead to student segregation and tabled his own proposal as an alternative to the Africentric approach.

*

$700 million of sheer hypocrisy

-- Queen's Park Bureau -- Health Minister George Smitherman made the announcement today at a seniors' centre in Don Mills, saying money to fund the programs will start flowing next April.

"The only thing that puts it at risk is the election of John Tory," Smitherman said in reference to the Progressive Conservative leader.

**********

WAIT A MINUTE: Bernardo cruises... Granny loses

Here's how much Dalton cared about seniors, before he started his massive pre-election bribery spree...

Seniors in subsidized retirement homes — including war veterans who served their country — receive a per capita allotment of $5.46 for three meals a day.

That works out to more than $1.50 less than inmates in Ontario prisons who get $7 and it’s an irksome reality to many in the field of geriatric care.

The future is our, uh...

Any parent will tell you, here's nothing worse than having a sick child... unless it's having a critically ill child...

The Hospital for Sick Children may be one of the best in the world, but right now there are children in need of diagnoses on waiting lists because it is operating with one functional MRI machine.

Now, with all the Fiberal jibber-jabber from the McGuinty government about how they're improving healthcare for Ontarians... you'd think this one would be a no brainer...

It's the province's shame that this has created an extensive backlog of kids -- who may be critically ill and in need of fast medical intervention -- waiting in line.

Normally, Sick Kids has just two MRI machines, which is already problematic enough for the overworked staff and under-serviced patients.

It seems that, with an election looming, this just isn't on the Fiberal's radar... even at this critical juncture, at what is arguably the finest children's hospital in this part of the world.

George Smitherman and Dalton McGuinty are too busy trying to get re-elected to deal with this critical issue.

They actually need a third one. But first things first. They need to get their second one, closed for upgrading, up and running again first.

It's funny though, Dalton's apparently got plenty of cashola to spread around on the scorching hot, high profile topic of the environment.

-- OAKVILLE -- Ontario is setting an ambitious example for the rest of the world by committing $79 million to plant 50 million trees to fight climate change and create a greener landscape for future generations, Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday.

This Liberal government just doesn't care about screwing over our sick kids... now there's an "inconvenient truth."

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RELATED: More McGuinty pre-election bribery

Whaddaya know... Dalton found 300 million dollars under the cushions on the sofa.

Technorati Tags: Dalton McGuinty, Hospital for Sick Children, fiberal smoke and mirrors

So... lemme get this straight

I've lived in Hastings County for over six years now and I'm still not able to get a family physician. The last time I took my sick child to the ER, we sat for over 7 hours before we could see a doctor.

Now you're telling me that Dalton McGuinty has found so many creative ways to pound money into the perennially indigent demographic that he's saturated the market?

Hastings County is waiting to help 120 people with their rent, but so far, few tenants have taken them up on it.

“We have money. Come and get it,” said Tracey Logan, who works in community programs.

Rather than providing money for training or education, it's the all too familiar nanny-state subsidisation of the lowest expectation status quo.

Why aren't the Fiberals concerned about the community-at-large? How does McGuinty justify his crazy priorities?

The program stems from a $775,000 allotment from the province earlier this year. It serves tenants already living in one-bedroom apartments and is offered alongside a program for tenants moving into new apartments.

As for why there haven’t been more applicants, Logan suspects tenants are too busy to notice or assume it will come with too much red tape.

Remember the huge crisis at the Belleville General Hospital just this past February?

Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman, says he can't do anything because the cupboard is bare.

Strangely enough... Dalton McGuinty and his pal George found enough cash to vote themselves a big fat 25% raise just before Christmas...

Remember Dalton's multi-million dollar golden handshake to the guy who had to leave Ontario Hydro in disgrace?

While Parkinson's $3-million severance angers and outrages some, Mr. McGuinty said it was the cheapest way to get rid of Parkinson.

And for all his supposed concern about the less fortunate, what about Dalton's shameful treatment of elderly people in Ontario nursing homes?

The increase, which kicked in on Canada Day, brings the funding to $5.57 per person per day, an amount that's supposed to cover the cost of buying three squares, plus snacks, a day.

Why aren't we using this money to make sure granny gets three square meals a day?

Will somebody, for the love of sanity, please tell me what this idiot is really up to?

Because I can't begin to figure it out.

Technorati Tags: George Smitherman, Dalton McGuinty, Liberal Party

Great news for junkies...

And the implacably promiscuous.

-- TORONTO -- Ontario has become the first jurisdiction in North America to offer HIV tests that provide results in just 60 seconds and will double the number of sites across the province where anonymous tests are available, Health Minister George Smitherman announced yesterday.

Not so great... for the rest of us.

Like the old saying goes, "The squeaky hedonist gets the lubrication."

If AIDS drug regimes are covered...

Why are cancer patients left out in the cold?

-- TORONTO -- A group of cancer patients angry over the massive out-of-pocket expenses they pay for unfunded treatments stood up and turned their backs on Health Minister George Smitherman on Saturday as he spoke about his government's commitment to medicare.

The protesters wore shirts bearing the slogans “Cancer patients need a credit card” and “Where did medicare go?” at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new home for patients with terminal illnesses at Toronto's Trillium Health Centre.

Protest organizer Roman Gawur said Ontario ranks ninth out of ten provinces for the amount of funding it puts toward cancer drugs.

Or is that not a fair question to ask a homosexual Health Minister?

RELATED: Talkin' outta his ass yet again.

Technorati Tags: George Smitherman, Dalton McGuinty, same old Liberal Party

Those Liberal Health Clinics...

Aren't much use if you don't have doctors to staff them...

A deal that was made to help heal the city's chronic doctor shortage has produced little in the way of help and has left the city almost half a million dollars in debt on the scheme.

Three-and-a-half years later, the city has received no payment.

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RELATED: A pox on George Smitherman

As for George Smitherman's famous "announcements", the people of Belleville are just asking if he could simply answer the damn phone.

Technorati Tags: George Smitherman, Dalton McGuinty, Liberal Party

McGuinty Liberals obviously believe...

The immigrant vote is for sale...

A former aide to Health Minister George Smitherman is on the board of an Iranian Canadian group that got a government grant for $200,000 in what opposition parties dub a "slush fund" scandal, the Star has learned.

One-time Smitherman policy adviser Ali Samiian, who left the government in 2005, is a director of the Iranian-Canadian Community Centre that got a cheque from Citizenship and Immigration Minister Mike Colle the following year.

So another Liberal apparatchik with direct ties to the McGuinty cabinet secures another couple hundred thousand taxpayer dollars for his particular group.

Samiian maintained there was no political favouritism in the grant despite growing opposition concerns over how Colle doled out $32 million to 110 groups – including several others with Liberal ties – over the past two years.

The payout to the Chinese Professionals Association of Canada fuelled opposition anger over how money was distributed under Colle's program without formal application forms or criteria.

Other money went to Bengali and Sikh groups with Liberal ties.

But remember... it's all a sort of happy coincidence.

Who, besides gullible ole' Warren, is gonna buy that load of horsefeathers?

Sorta reminds me of, "I won't cut your taxes, but I promise I won't raise them either."

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RELATED: Dalton "You can't get there from here" McGuinty

Hey, Dalton... you were elected Premier of Ontario because you claimed you could fix problems... not run away from them.

See... if it was easy, the janitor could do it.

-- TORONTO -- The federal government is in a conflict of interest when it comes to settling aboriginal land claims and must create an independent body to clear the backlog of some 800 claims across the country, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday.

“Right now the federal government finds itself in an untenable position — it has to decide whether or not it's going to give up some of its own land. I think that puts them in a very difficult position.”

Boy, Dalt... I sure wish you'd have said something about your problem here... before pissing away a hundred million taxpayer dollars over the last fifteen months, with no tangible results.

Technorati Tags: corruption, Liberal Party, same old, same old

Just sit there and wait...

For a year.

A couple of years ago, my knee started to lock up on me. It turned out to be a torn cartilage, which required arthroscopic surgery. The operation was performed in what seemed to be an office building in Don Mills, a suburb of Toronto.

That's right... not a hospital.

When you walked, or like myself, limped into this place, it wasn't immediately evident that it was a medical facility. Turns out they had their surgical suites down the hall.

That's why this particular piece caught my attention.

Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman said the government will not consider contracting out knee-replacement operations to a private Toronto hospital.

Now I don't know if this is the same outfit I went to... but that's precisely the point.

The moneyed would not be able to jump the queue, and patients wouldn't notice any difference from the public hospital system, Brenda Rasmussen, chief executive officer of Alegro Health Corp., parent of Don Mills Surgical, has said.

It was totally transparent to me, as a patient.

If anything, this clinic was clearly a much more tightly run operation than any hospital I had ever been to. There was no sitting around for hours in a big room with very sick people and endless red tape.

More importantly, they fixed my knee.

Quickly. Completely.

The Ontario Health Minister is simply playing political games here, with, for the most part, elderly people's lives... that is to say your parents -- and some day... you.

If this company can offer faster and comparably effective surgery for joint replacements... and get some of these unfortunates back out into society in less than a year, he has an obligation to look into it.

Instead of playing games.

FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Equitable suffering is the goal of Canada's 'health care' system..."

UPDATE: More Smitherman nonsense

Instead of providing a sufficiency of doctors, the latest Liberal solution is to make up a job description and fill the positions with sorta-doctors.

What's next... medical cross training for the janitorial staff?

-- TORONTO -- The province is creating two new health care jobs to reduce surgical wait times caused by shortage of anesthesiologists, Health Minister George Smitherman said in a release Saturday.

The two new roles of anesthesia assistants and nurse practitioners-anesthesia, a role open to registered nurses who pursue this specialized degree, will be teamed with a lead anesthesiologist to make up the anesthesia care teams.

Yeah... you first Georgie.

Technorati Tags: baby boomers, Liberal Party, no whore like an old whore

Don't get sick...

If you live in Belleville, Ontario...

The Belleville hospital emergency department is full and Quinte Health Care officials have asked that people seeking medical attention find alternate care such as a clinic or family doctor.

Calling the situation serious, "three elective (non-urgent) surgeries have been cancelled, patients are being transferred to other QHC sites and more beds have been opened at Belleville", said Bruce Laughton, QHC’s president and chief executive officer.

“The bottom line is that our emergency department in Belleville is full,” he said, Thursday. “People should still come to the emergency department if they feel they need to; however, they should be prepared for a long wait if it is not a critical case.”

Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman, says he can't do anything because the cupboard is bare.

Strangely enough... Dalton McGuinty and his pal George found enough cash to vote themselves a big fat 25% raise just before Christmas...

Ontario is working toward measuring and reducing wait times for all surgeries but there's not enough money in provincial coffers right now to fund the extra nurses, anesthesiologists and operating rooms, Health Minister George Smitherman said Wednesday.

At least we now know where the OHIP Health Care "Premium" went.

Let's toss these crooks out.

Technorati Tags: George Smitherman, politics of deception, 25% pay raise

The honesty imbalance

Got cancer? You might wanna move to Quebec.

Remember Dalton McGuinty? He was the guy who wasn't going to raise your taxes. Well, except for when he did... like the OHIP "health care premium."

So what has he done with his "it's not a tax" premium. He hasn't improved diagnostic medicine... that's for sure.

As of Oct. 31, 408 Ontario patients had obtained PET scans through the registry and 926 patients had scans as part of the clinical trials.

Quebec provides the broadest access to PET machines; this year, it plans to do 21,000 scans. Patients can access PET scans in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and New Brunswick.

Never mind patient access... doctors have to be sent outside the country, just to be trained on the potentially life-saving machines.

Yesterday, Conservative health critic Elizabeth Witmer called the relocation of nuclear-medicine residents an "embarrassment." She said she is concerned they may not return to Ontario.

MEMORY LANE UPDATE: Hmmmm... sounds familiar...

So... twenty months and 2 million privately raised dollars later, the McGuinty Liberals have yet to get back to the hospital board about this lifesaving piece of equipment.

The Chief of Staff, Dr. Barry Guppy has another concern.

Guppy said the hospital needs at least two radiologists to clear a backlog of people waiting for MRI or CT scans. Non-urgent cases have had to go to hospitals like Cobourg and Kingston to have the scans done.

Technorati Tags: George Smitherman, Dalton McGuinty, Liberal Party

Lots of talk Georgie... where's the walk?

Liberal Health Minister George Smitherman, in the face of threatened Emergency Room closures because of overcrowding and a shortage of doctors, has announced more money for the failing health care system.

The reality is, you can announce 'til the cows come home', but if you're not actually doing something... it ain't gonna solve the problem.

Witness the city of Belleville, which has privately raised almost 2 million dollars for a desperately needed MRI machine.

Both QHC chairman Lloyd Churchill and chief of staff Dr. Barry Guppy have written to Health Minister George Smitherman in separate letters, urging approval for the MRI purchase.

But to date, no answer has been received, QHC board members heard at their monthly meeting Wednesday in Belleville. QHC first asked for approval to buy the MRI in January 2005.

The $1.8-million cost for the basic MRI, which provides three-dimensional scans and is a technological marvel that radiologists insist be in a hospital’s medical bag, has been raised in the community.

So... twenty months and 2 million privately raised dollars later, the McGuinty Liberals have yet to get back to the hospital board about this lifesaving piece of equipment.

The Chief of Staff, Dr. Barry Guppy has another concern.

Guppy said the hospital needs at least two radiologists to clear a backlog of people waiting for MRI or CT scans. Non-urgent cases have had to go to hospitals like Cobourg and Kingston to have the scans done.

As for George Smitherman's famous "announcements", the people of Belleville are just asking if he could simply answer the damn phone.

Technorati Tags: George Smitherman, Dalton McGuinty, Liberal Party