I put this little editorial in the Edmonton Journal years ago, and things have not changed.
Cutbacks, cutbacks. The government tells us to cut back? Maybe they had better clean their own backyard before they tell us lower types to cut back. They cut back on our education system, they cut back on our health programs, they pretty well closed all the mental health facilities. How do they expect these people to make it on the street when the average person is having a hard time making ends meet?
I myself have been in and out of the Oliver hospital for the last six weeks. (Bad news, I am going to live.)
I would like to give all the staff at the hospital a big bowl of sweet cherries for their hard work. They are so short staffed, but they do their best with what they have to work with.
I often wonder whatever happened to candy stripers? They would volunteer their time after school and they loved it. They helped pick up the dinner, mop the floors, or whatever had to be done, plus it gave them a chance at work experience and to see if this was a future job for them. This gave all the nurses more time to spend on their patients.
Tommy Douglas was the premier of Saskatchewan. He was the man who introduced our medical system to Canada. He would be rolling in his grave to what is going on today. The Americans used to come to our country for our medical; they could not afford their own medical. Now Canadians are going down there because a lot of the medical graduates go to the United States because they make more money.
There should be a law: if you get trained in Canada, stay in Canada. We need you all to stay home (in Canada). Prince George got a brand new wing to treat cancer. It is great. Now people don’t have to go to Vancouver for their treatments, but again, there are not enough doctors and nurses.
Crystal Clear, Oliver
