A costly conversation
The Premier’s Conversation on Health is being presented as an opportunity for British Columbian residents to talk to the government about health care. For the next year, the Liberal government will spend $10 million on this conversation; $4 million of that budget will be on advertising.
That’s a lot of money to spend, especially if the Premier has already decided what he wants to do with health care. It’s a lot of money, and it’s your money. If your government is going to spend that much on a ‘conversation’ I think it is vital that each of us makes sure we participate.
The primary contact point for this campaign is the Web site www.bcconversationhealth.ca. The Web site includes opportunities for residents to participate in an on-going Web-based discussion forum, submit questions via the “What’s on your Mind?” section, or email their comments to: conversationonhealth@victoria1.gov.bc.ca.
I’m concerned that the delivery method for this conversation is focusing on computer and Internet access.
This, in effect, limits access to many who do not have computers and Internet access. I have an opportunity to be apart of this conversation and over the next months I will be providing different venues for that to be possible.
The Conversation on Health can also be accessed by contacting my office directly with your concerns, by phone, letter or email and I would strongly encourage you to do this. My contact information is:
Norm Macdonald MLA
Box 2052
Golden BC V0A 1H0
1 (866) 870 – 4188
I know that residents of this constituency have been talking about health care for five years. You may feel that you’ve already said your piece on this topic. I want to encourage each of you to take the time to speak out again. If you have an opinion o the health care system, share it now.
The Premier needs to hear exactly what you have to say.
Speak out in the Conversation on Health
Over the next year, the Campbell government will spend $10 million of your money on a ‘Conversation on Health’. This is a conversation that the Premier will attempt to control as he pushes his own agenda for health care.
Much of that $10 million will be spent on advertising that will tell you over and over that our public system is something that we can not afford. In announcing the beginning of the conversation on health, Premier Campbell claimed that the health budget could consume 70% of the total provincial budget by 2017.
This claim has just not stood up to scrutiny. Premier Campbell and his Finance Minister Carole Taylor are trying to scare you. If you believe that we are poised on the brink of catastrophe, you are much more likely to accept a reduction in service and even the privatization of your health care system.
This conversation is intended as a sales job as the Premier will attempt to guide you to the conclusion that he wants you to reach.
The Premier already has a plan; a plan that former Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Penny Ballem referred to as unsound.
It would be tempting to ignore this cynical attempt to manipulate us but I feel that it is important for every one of us to speak out. Over the next few weeks, I will be laying out a plan for how our voices can be heard in this conversation on health.
We need to take the time to tell Gordon Campbell the truth; a publicly funded universal health care system is the most cost efficient way to provide health care to British Columbians. Don’t let Gordon Campbell tell you any different.