Americans are divided over whether the healthcare plan President Obama and Congress is introducing is good or bad. For many people it is good; everyone will be able to be covered by insurance and no one will be denied medical treatment for the inability to pay for it.
Then there are those on the right and the left that see Obamacare for what it really is – more power and more government control over the lives of Americans. The right and the left of course disagree as to whether this control is good or bad. Those on the left who understand exactly what is involved think that control over the unwashed masses is necessary. Ordinary people, especially women and minorities, are simply unable to properly care for themselves so the state must do it for them. And this gives liberals a warm, fuzzy feeling inside because they are helping the less fortunate. The right believes that more and more government control over the lives of people is nothing more than a power grab; the taking away of more and more of the rights and liberties of the citizen.
So what is the priority in state run health care? Is it the health of the individual or more power for the government? To find an example, you need look no further than what is currently taking place in the city of Toronto.
Toronto is led by Mayor David Miller, a committed socialist who in fairness to him has never made any bones about how he stands on issues. The majority of city councillors are committed leftists that ensure Miller gets his way on just about everything. During a civic workers strike in 2002, Miller who was then just a city councillor picketed with his union brothers and sisters. He is beholden to the unions and there is no left wing issue that he won’t throw money (other peoples of course) at in order to feel good about himself. But this year, the demands of both the inside and outside city workers were so ridiculous at a time when the country is in a deep recession that Miller saw that his political future would be in trouble if he caved in to his union thug buddies as he did in the past. He refused to settle and we have now reached the one month mark of a civic workers’ strike with no end in sight.
As left wing liberal governments are prone to do, residents of Toronto are constantly warned about those things that can adversely affect their health. With the help of a compliant media we are constantly being bombarded with cold alerts, extreme cold alerts, heat alerts and extreme heat alerts. We are always told that we are going to die from either smog or the impact of global warming or as it is referred to when temperatures are cool, climate change. When Mayor Miller isn’t passing bylaws to protect Torontonians’ health such as the anti-idling bylaw he’s travelling the world to save the planet from global warming.
When the civic workers strike began, it was referred to primarily as a garbage strike as the streets became littered and mounds of garbage bags began piling up in local parks. But in the last week as health concerns became an issue in the strike and the mayor and his union hugging supporters on council, to put it bluntly, couldn’t care less. Under the collective agreement between Toronto and the city’s paramedics, during a strike only 75 per cent of the latter have to be working. On the third day of the strike 50-year-old Jim Hearst collapsed and died in the lobby of his downtown apartment building. According to witnesses it took 30 minutes and several 911 calls before the paramedics came and attended to the late Mr. Hearst. The paramedics claim that the ambulance arrived within 9 minutes, a proper time but were “staging”. Staging is where the paramedics will fear for their own health and safety and will not enter premises until the police arrive. There doesn’t seem to have been any evidence of danger and according to Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, that situation took place on two other calls that night. Although there have been calls for an investigation, none of those who purport to care about people will attribute this incident to the strike and the lower contingent of paramedics. Everything is okay; the paramedics will attend to all serious calls. In other words what happened was not the fault of the strike; it was the fault of the people around Hearst who didn’t know his exact medical condition. As far as the city government is concerned, the right to reduce the workforce of paramedics during a strike is more important than the health of Torontonians who need medical assistance.
Before the strike began, the city mothers bragged about how they city was preparing for the expected H1N1 flu epidemic. It took from June 22 until July 18 to publicize the fact that many of the people who are tasked with protecting Torontonians are on strike. On the latter date, the Toronto Star ran an interview with Dr. Allison McGreer, a recognized authority on pandemics, wherein Dr. McGreer was quoted as saying that a lot of planning for a possible pandemic is not being done because of the strike. Speaking on behalf of the city, the medical officer of health is quoted as saying that the strike has no bearing on the city’s response to H1N1.
What is happening in Toronto with regard to the health of its residents is proof positive that governments don’t really care about the health of their citizens if ensuring their good health conflicts with more important ideological goals such as the rights of unions. Americans would do well to watch Toronto if they really think that Barack Obama is bringing in healthcare legislation to help ordinary Americans.
