by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
May 28, 2004
Last week, I received an email from Pauline Lee whose parents are both physiotherapists. In the first sentence Ms. Lee acknowledges the fact that her letter might "seem transparent" and she then goes on to criticize the Ontario government’s budget that was brought down on May 18. In the Liberals' first budget, the government announced that the province would no longer cover the services of physiotherapists, optometrists and chiropractors. Using logic that could only come from Liberals, Ontario residents will be required to pay for the services of these health care professionals so that the province can save enough money to preserve health care so that these same residents will not have to pay for health care. Go figure.
In addition to making arguments about the benefits of physiotherapy in the overall health of Ontarians, Ms. Lee reveals, probably unintentionally, insight into how she and others view the Liberals. If Ms. Lee’s way of thinking is common, and it probably is, Paul Martin will return to power after the June 28 election with another majority government. and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty will never be in serious trouble.
Ms. Lee writes about her parents who immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong 24 years ago. They are both physiotherapists and worked hard at different Toronto area hospitals. They saved their money and when they established themselves, they opened a clinic in a small town just outside of the city. It is these types of physiotherapy clinics that will no longer be able to look to the government for payment.
Ms. Lee goes to great lengths to say what excellent physiotherapists her parents, how much they have helped their patients and how grateful their patients are for the treatment that they have received. No doubt this is true, but it is almost as if she is saying that her parent’s professional lives are over. We have become so socialistic in this country and so dependent upon the government that when a government service is withdrawn, it is taken by some to be the end of the world. Undoubtedly her parents will have a rough time. Fees for their services will no longer come in automatically and they will be required to spend more time being business people and less time giving therapy to patients. and they will undoubtedly treat some patients and not end up receiving compensation. But if they are willing to work hard, and they are obviously hard workers, there will be life after government.
In our well developed nanny state, people who perform work for government-paid fees are just as dependent upon the government as the users of their services are. Physicians are the worst offenders. Some of them take positions that are so far to the right that it would make Newt Gingrich blush, but if someone talks about taking away their OHIP fees, they panic. as far as Ms. Lee’s parents are concerned they can still practice their profession.
another portion of Ms. Lee’s letter is more troubling. She says that, "Those that are in health care know that more MRIs and CT scans are not the answer to bettering patient care". Without getting into the merits of her argument which I know absolutely nothing about, the question that comes to mind is what do MRIs and CT scans have to do with the delisting of the services performed by physiotherapists. Where did she get such an idea?
Well she is probably under the impression that the money that will be saved by the government from delisting physiotherapy, eye examinations and chiropractic treatment will be spent on MRIs and CT scans. That’s what Premier Dalton McGuinty and the real premier, Finance Minister Greg Sorbara said.
Now this is scary. DaLTON MCGUINTY IS a LIaR. GREG SORBaRa IS a LIaR. THE LIBERaL PaRTY OF ONTaRIO aRE LIaRS. The Ontario Liberals have broken almost every major election promise that they made including the promise that they would not raise taxes. They have no shame in lying. McGuinty feels that he never has to tell the truth as long as he can rationalize his lies by saying "it’s the right thing to do". Yet Ms. Lee accepts the Liberal’s promise that they will purchase more MRIs and CT scans at face value.
although Pauline Lee comes across as a nice person who seems to be concerned about physiotherapy patients as well her parents, the fact remains that her way of thinking is a reason why this province and this country will never be able to let their Liberals go.