Health Care in Ontario

So you must be asking yourself how does health care become a political issue. Well to answer that question let me give you a bit of personal history. Back in 2002 my father had to undergo by-pass heart surgery, and at the time the Progressive Conservative party was in power in Ontario. They came to power in 1995 with a sweeping majority, and ran on a platform of cost cutting and tax cuts. Well they kept their promise about cost cutting as they started a war with our Doctors, Nurses, and Teachers. On the medical side doctors were leaving Ontario to set-up shop in the United States as the money was excellent, and the PC party was cutting back on the fees doctors were getting in Ontario. Nurses were being fired by the thousands, and as a result, major medical procedures were being delayed due to the lack of not just doctors, but nurses as well. That was the case with my father who had to wait for over 6 months before he could get his heart by-pass done.

This was one of the main reasons I joined the Provincial Liberal party and decided in 2007 to run as an MPP, in my riding of Simcoe-Grey, which by the way has been held by a Conservative since confederation. The Provincial Liberals kept their promise relating to our health care system, by hiring more nurses, and more doctors, reducing waiting times, and providing the best possible health care in Ontario. Only in the past year or so since the recession hit our Province very hard have we seen an increase in waiting times in our emergency rooms, hospitals closing, and a reduction in our front line nurses and doctors. To me it seems that history is repeating itself, and in fact it's even worse then it was back in 2002.

So today my father is back in hospital as he's been battling Cancer for the past 4 years, and now he has a tumour which is about 7cm in length and pressing on his right kidney, which has caused serious pain, and blockage of his kidney. He's been in hospital for over 2 weeks now with doctors running tests, and he's even had a bone marrow scan taken to see if the cancer has spread. When I took him to emergency because the pain was unbearable a couple of weeks ago he had to wait for 2 days in emergency for a room that he could be transferred too. Yes that's 2 days sitting on a make shift bed in a busy emergency room, getting no sleep and watching people come in and out.

So it's nearly 2 weeks and he's still in pain popping pills to help control the pain, which for the most part don't help, and how can a pill help control pain that's related to cancer. We still don't know the type of treatment he's going to receive as the doctors have still not given him, or us a proper answer.

Speaking with the doctors they told me that the hospital he's in services an area of about 700,000 people, yes one hospital that services 700,000 people. In Ontario the Provincial Liberals introduced a "Health Tax" which costs anywhere from $ 300 to $ 900 a year depending on your income level. This tax was to go and help fund the building of new hospitals, hiring more doctors and nurses, and getting state of the equipment.

So what are we as voters to do with a Provincial Election scheduled for October 2011? Do we vote in the current government who has done nothing but tax us more, do we vote in the previous government being the PC party who cut, cut and cut our medical services so they could offer tax cuts to big business. Do we vote in the NDP who nearly bankrupt the Province from 1990 to 1995. Do we take a hard look at the Green Party who have good ideas on health care, but they have not been tested as they don't have a single MPP in office. Hard choices to make, and I hope that the Green Party comes out with a solid platform that not just focuses on the environment. This could be their time to lead, as Ontario needs new ideas and fresh faces at Queens Park.