QUEBEC'S PROPOSED TAX ON THE UNVACCINATED...

An Update:  I was too generous in my praise of Mr. O'Toole below.  In looking more closely at what he said about Quebec's stand on the Unvaxxed - he said that while he personally opposed its stance he understood that Quebec has the independence to do that if it wishes.   Hog Wash - typical splitting hairs that O'Toole is well known for. Canadians must have the same rights from Coast to Coast and our Political Leaders need to be brave enough to stand up and say just that.    

A dumb idea but one that it appears the majority of Canadians favour.

It is interesting to note though that Conservative Columnists mostly seem to be opposed as do the Tory Premiers.  

Even Opposition Tory Leader Erin O'Toole has come out against it which is refreshing for me since up till now he has been loath to criticize the Quebec Government.   O'Toole is also against requiring our Truckers to be vaccinated in order to cross back into Canada.  Another smart move since our Supply Systems are already in terrible shape without having this added to the mess.  I was out grocery shopping today and everything...I mean everything,  continues to spike in price along with lots and lots of unstocked shelves. 

So O'Toole now has Two Issues he needs to Milk to the Hilt.  Let's see how He does. 

So we all know the case against what Quebec is proposing ...no point regurgitating that other than to point out it is a slippery slope when people get penalized for their choices medically speaking and for their health choices in general.

I will though deal with my own case...I am a Diabetic and for the most part have kept it under control.  It often goes hand in hand with weight gain and again I am guilty as charged though several heart attacks have worked wonders in bringing those numbers down.  That said, you could say 'Keith it is your own fault you contracting diabetes so if you get ill because of it...you will be on your own when it comes to paying the medical bills'.    I already pay a price in that I am not insurable but if you apply Quebec's Premier's logic to my case...it would be tough luck for me.

I could say...but would not ...that their Premier too is a bit on the heavy side.

Our Health System is faulty and not because of the unvaxxed.  It needs to be reformed to include the best from both the Public and Private Sectors all under the one Umbrella of Universal Care.  The United States has just the opposite problem ...It is all Private and its users get the quickest and best treatment but those users must be rich ...they need to incorporate the Public Sector in their Care.  Many countries in Europe have better Health Care than either of use because their care is a combination of both.

I often speak of the poor young woman in Florida who told me that she had a temperature of 105 (F) but could not afford the $6,000 deduction payment required by her Insurance Company so she spend days on end in a cold water bath to help keep her temperature under control.

So let's stop the nonsense and get on with real reform of our Health Care before the next Pandemic raises its ugly head. 

As I See It...

'K.D. Bell'

IS DEMOCRACY DYING ? PLUS ONE MORE...

 I have written of late of the decline of Democracy ...all across the World and even here in Canada.

This past week an article appeared in the National Post by columnist Tom Blackwell which backs my assertion.  His article begins by documenting the perils faced by Rwanda Canadian David Himbara who believes he is being targeted by authorities residing in his country of birth...Rwanda.  He fears for his life and Blackwell documents well his concerns. We have heard other accounts of Chinese Canadians too being harassed by their former homeland. 

The article goes on to cite a number of of democracies around the world that appear to be crumbling in this time of growing autocracies and left wing politics.  He states: the 2,000s were billed as the century of democracy...they have become almost the opposite.

He specifically names several including: Latin America...especially Nicaragua and Venezuela, Europe, Africa, East Asia, Philippines and Hungary.   Even with India he finds that it is suppressing freedoms as our own Priest told me not that long ago.  He hails from India and told me the number of assaults on Christians by the Hindus has risen dramatically in recent years and the Hindus control the national government. And then you have China stealing the last vestiges of freedom from Hong Kong and is now looking wantonly at Taiwan.  

Accordingly the World is becoming quickly less and less free and safe. 

Freedom House is quoted as stating that the number of not-free countries is the highest it has been since it started doing its report some 15 years ago and that but 20% of the world's population lives in a free nation.

In regard to this 20% I have said that Democracy is an inch thick and a mile wide...I have revised that of late to a centimeter thick and a kilometer wide.  

In short the olde saying if you don't use it you are going to lose it and I fear that that is happening here in the West before our very eyes. 

THERE WAS ANOTHER INTERESTING ARTICLE IN THAT VERY SAME EDITION:

Barbara Kay wrote about Electoral Reform being Key to America's Healing. 

She points out that from the day Donald Trump was elected President the Democrats pulled out all stops to discredit him.  

My words - 4 years earlier and even dear Hilary regularly and often complained that she too was robbed in her election defeat but again that is her and Trump is he and one is treated worse than the other by the Progressive Left. 

Kay rightfully points out too that the Insurrection on Capital Hill last January was anything but...there was no chance of America's government falling at the hands of a bunch of keystone cop type Trump followers.  

This 'attempted Coup' lasted but hours should be contrasted with the summer of 2020 when Anarchists seized control of Seattle Washington - wrecking havoc and mayhem and not a word of criticism from America's Left.  

Today I hear Democrats complain about Donald Trump and his plan to run again for President in 2024 ...they complain bitterly how divisive the guy is...and they are right...but so are they.  America has become divided right down the centre - on one side the Right and on the other the Left with very little in the middle for use in compromise.

With 'Demagogues' on both sides claiming voting irregularities Kay sees the place to start to fix things is to establish a 'bipartisan commission on electoral integrity".  She believes this will 'de-weaponize regulatory measures that will restore across the board faith in the electoral process'.

Bless the woman's heart ... I do think that he suggestion is most worthwhile but I fear it will not achieve the peace and goodwill between these opposite and divisive two factions.  

 Good article though...as was the one by Blackwell.  Both worth the read.

As I See It...

'K.D. Galagher'

NATO...

 IT IS TIME FOR EUROPE TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE.

To this point, NATO has been all about the United States and as recent history shows its power is in decline.  

The Other NATO Countries have gone along for far too long with with a free ride our own Country Canada included. 

I say that because as we all well know - the World is becoming more and more dangerous and the old ways of doing business...that is to say Democracies ability to protect the world is in desperate need of fixing. 

China, Russia, and Iran have made it known that they are out to cause trouble and they have a number of other lackey countries at their beck and call... their names we are also quite conversant with.  

So let's deal with Russia and Iran first:

Russia has taken over parts of the Ukraine and is threatening an all out invasion as I write this Blog. It has also just sent troops into neighbouring Kazakhstan to put down a resurrection by its common folk who are tired of their existing dictator and autocratic government.  This Dictator has recently ordered that these folks to be shot on sight.  

In the face of Putin's threats against Ukraine, the United States threatens 'sanctions' ...you can just imagine Putin quaking in his boots. Not.   And Germany - the Green Leader of Europe, has no gas to heat their homes or run their industries and as such is totally reliant upon Russia for supply.  In other words - Putin is being given a free ride.

This despite the fact that NATO consists of 30 nations...12 of which came from the former USSR.  The Ukraine should be part of it but NATO dragged its feet too long and with 100,000 Russian Troops on Ukraine's doorstep... now is not the time to grant it membership.  Rather, NATO should flood Ukraine with troops until this standoff... stands-down. Will they do that ...unlikely. So the chances of Russia following through on its threat are all the greater. 

And let's look at some other numbers ...the population of Russia is 146 Million - the population of Europe is over 5 x as large at 750 million.   Russia's GDP is a mere 1,483 Billion in US Dollars while Europe has a staggering GDP of 21,500 Billion (USD).   You have a mouse going up against an Elephant. And yet the mouse seems to be winning.  This must stop if Europe and the Middle East are to be safe.

Before going on about China - a brief word about Iran.  Another Dictatorship with a stated goal to blow Israel off the face of the Earth.  And they mean it.  For years Iran has motored on with its Nuclear Program - in secret, and by now must be at its end goal.  It needs to be totally dismantled / abolished.  Do you think Joe Biden and the other Progressives will do the job?  Not likely ...it will be left to Israel but they need to have a united and powerful Europe covering its back.  Again Doubtful but sorely needed.

So NATO needs to step up to rogue states like Russia, Iran and other bad actors in the Middle East.  It can no longer depend on the United States to do its bidding.  Will it - I honestly do not know - I think given time it will be inevitable but I am not sure that time is on their side.

Now China.

The other even more evil presence is Communist China.  It has used a corrupted form of Capitalism to vault itself into the 21 st Century with a booming economy and flourishing military.  Europe is more or less out of the line of fire but not the United States, not Japan, nor India, nor South Korea...nor the many other countries trying to survive in South East Asia.  Here is where even a weaker United States continues to have an important role to keep the peace and keep China under control. Will it do so...I believe even Biden and company realize the danger that exists if they do not actively involve themselves in the affairs of this region which is ever growing in importance.  Economists predict the Asia region will surprise the West in GDP within many of our lifetimes. 

But here again the United States cannot do it alone.  The one thing China loves even more than its military might is money.  They only recently acquired it and would be loath to lose it.  Countries of the World must stop trading with the Devil - not even to buy tooth paste from it.  What is a million souls lost to China in war compared to Trillions lost in trade.  That is the final answer and again I am skeptical that it will come about ...but that is the only thing that will work unless the ordinary Chinese rise up and replace their government with true democracy which too is more of a dream than a reality.

As I See It...

'K.D. Galagher'

IT IS TIME TO DITCH SOME GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES...

 For example the Department of Veterans Affairs is long past its Best Before Date and so is Canada Post. 

DVA  for another time save for saying the Volunteer Veterans from WW II are fewer by the day and today are mostly no longer with us.

With regard to the Post Office though ...no one sends mail anymore.

When Justin Trudeau came to power in 2015 he promised faithfully ...as he did for several other things...to restore door to door mail delivery.  Seven Years later we are still waiting but this is one area where his inaction has proven to be a blessing.  As I said ...no one mails anything, anymore.  Computers / Internet have mostly replaced it.

We go to the local drop off box every other day ...sometimes longer and often there is zip there...not even a flyer.  And speaking of flyers ...if we did not receive them there would be virtually nothing left to get.  In fact, I just got in from checking out the box and there was not even a flyer waiting for me and I of course I had gone there yesterday. 

But the Post Office knows full well that no one is mailing letters any more.  In fact it was not that many years back when it started to cry the poors for that very reason.  It then went headlong into the parcel business buying controlling interest in Purolator in 1993.  Prior to that, Canada Post claimed that it had to be a Crown Corporation since no private body could be trusted with the delivery of Canadian's Mail from Coast to Coast to the USA Border.

With internet and the many modern ways of communication this argument no longer holds water. And to make this same claim for parcel delivery is utter hogwash.  In fact the parcel delivery business is full of private companies delivering here and there and everywhere....Fedex, UPS, Old Dominion to name but a few.  And that does not even take into account the delivery prowess of the Amazon Behemoth.

But despite this parcel pivot of Canada Post ...it still loses money - big bucks actually,  In 1918 it lost $270 million, in 1919 a further $153 million and for 1920 the Conference Board of Canada predicted a lose of a Billion Dollars.  I tried to find what the actual amount was online but was unsuccessful but tend to think the Conference Board knows a thing or two about profit and loss.

In addition according to Wikipedia, Canada Post employs a staggering 64,000 Employees.

Would it not be great for the hard-pressed Taxpayer to get back into their own hands some of that dough?

If a political party was astute enough to call for its end I believe that one promise alone would go a long way to getting it elected or re-elected whatever the case may be.

As I See It...

'K.D. Galagher'

 

ARE THE DAYS OF THE FAMILY DOCTOR OVER ?

 Well yes they are and they have been for some time now.

I drove past our Family Medical Clinic the other day and it looked like it was part of a ghost town.  In the past, the place would have been packed...but not since Covid.

It got me to thinking...if we the patient can get by without an MD's help for 2 years + maybe it is time to consider doing so permanently.

That said, I have thought for the past many years that MDs are no longer needed...better they go into Specialties which with advances in Medicine there are more and more of. 

I have not heard from my GP for sometime now even though I have several serious health conditions. One day I called for some advice and was told that my Doctor was working from home.  Begs the question does it not...how can a Doctor work from home.  Anyway that is what I was told.

Friends of ours with serious health issues do not even have a Family Doctor but have been assigned a Nurse Practitioner and they appear to be getting by okay...medically speaking.

And when I was attending at my Doctor's office...it would usually end in being given a requisition for some test or other or in a referral to a specialist.  Nurse Practitioners can do that as well at much less cost.

The other thing we use our GP for is for prescriptions but I would argue that Pharmacists could do that and in fact are better placed to do it. 

And as we all know, for more serious complaints the GP is by-passed in favour of going directly to Emerg. 

Canadians used to bragg about how great our Health Care System is and many still do despite international studies which show our system is the pits.  Covid has exposed this reality even more. 

We need to radically reform our Health Care System as Canadians collectively grow older.  We are in big trouble now ...just wait til us Boomers get into our late 70s and 80s.  

You ain't seen nothing yet !!

As I See It...

'K.D. Galagher'

INDIAN IN THE CABINET

 By, Jody Wilson-Raybould

Your Mother got this book for me for Christmas...I know she too reminded me that I am on the Right side of things so to speak as the name of my Blog attests.  So why would I ask Santa to bring me a book written by a former Liberal Cabinet Minister?

Good Question which I will try to answer and do not worry ...the following is not a Book Review:

You may likely think the Reason that I would request this book is to get the down and dirty on the Lavalin Affair which led to her ouster from Cabinet. But no you'd be wrong since I know as well as you do what transpired with respect to this Scandal.  And the same goes with the issue of learning the inner workings of Government since I am quite familiar with that too.  Trudeau Senior got it right when he said the ordinary MP was a nobody 50 feet off Parliament Hill.  Since then this can be said of Ministers of the Crown.

So why did I want to read Ms. Wilson-Raybould's Book?

It goes back to when I was but 11 or 12 years old when I first got interested in Politics ... I was well and truly bitten at a very young age.  It was then that friend Allan Armit and I began putting up Election Signs (sometimes taking a few down) and hanging out in Election Rooms and their in Back Offices.  The old pros did not seem to mind and even seem to get a kick out of it.

So I have been steeped in politics - Riding President for the Conservatives, In Organization for the National PC Party and then working for my Member of Parliament - George Hees when he was Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister of State for Seniors.  But the one thing I lacked was to explore the insight of someone who came to power from the outside of Canada's Political Milieu.  Jody Wilson-Raybould possessed that something.  

She was not new to politics per se - since politics is everywhere but the politics she well knew was due to her active involvement and participation in Affairs of the Assembly of First Nations. She explains in her book how it was like Night and Day different from the way things are handled here in Ottawa.

She explains the difference as follows: 

The Liberal Party and indeed All Federal Parties focus is on keeping and holding onto power ...which causes them to move away from core values and principles they profess earlier on.

Indigenous Politics, in contrast, is focused on the collective way of doing things better - seeking consensus not division and one up-man-ship.  Securing the best outcome for their people. 

The former Justice Minister does not say so specifically but her analysis applies equally to any and all Parties throughout the world that labour in our ever-becoming more delicate Democracies.  The bottom-line here is that it would be far better we adopted the Indigenous Way of Conciliatory Politics. Sadly, it will not happen at least in my time.

To better illustrate what I mean here is to reproduce the following passage from her Book which deals with the time after she had left Cabinet and was sitting in the House of Commons as an Independent Member of Parliament:

Looking around at the empty posturing and game playing that is unfortunately all too dominant, I feel like I am in an environment that has lost its soul.  The sense of purpose that many hard-working and well-meaning members bring to Ottawa when first elected is obscured in an environment that feels more like the worst reality show than a place where people are truly trying to effect the best change for Canadians.

Amen to that.

Though I share Ms. Wilson-Raybould's opinion on this I do not though share her Progressive Views on many and numerous other topics.  For instance she states in her book that one of her proudest moments was in seeing the MAID Legislation pass into law.  MAID of course stands for  Medical Assistance in Dying which is anathema to me.  As a Christian I view life as Sacred and would think that given her Aboriginal Background that she too would be of that belief.

So I would never vote for her but do respect that when the time came to Protect the Rule of Law here in Canada she stood up to the Powers That Be and paid the price for having done so.  It also makes me wonder that had she come from the common background for politicians would she have made that same decision.

I fear not.

In closing it brings to mind an exchange I had with another at a Seniors' Discussion Group.  He had often razed me for being Christian while he professed to be an Athiest.  I could handle the razing and often the issue of MAID came up - he was a big proponent because he said no one needs to suffer pain as part of dying.  I said I agreed with part of what he said - in that no one needed to suffer pain and that medications have advanced to the point where that is not necessary.  He would shrug that off.

Move ahead a few weeks and he led of the day's discussion bemoaning the fact that his mother-in-lay in a nursing home had been cut off her pain medication because our Province made it very hard to prescribe due to its misuse in the streets.  "She was suffering" according to my friend and that it "was not right nor fair".

I shot up my hand and said to Him - 'you have the solution...it is called MAID'.

The colour drained from his face and he never raised the issue with me thereafter.

As I See It...

'K.D. Galagher'

LET THE REBELLION BEGIN...

 As in protesting Governments' recent shut-downs and closures.

With the great number of Omicron Viruses, the Experts are besides themselves with new suggestions on how to tighten things down even more than they currently are.

These 'Experts',  as I pointed out in a recent Blog have yet to be right and with their recent fearful announcements they are keeping to true form.

Parents expecting to send their kids back to school on Monday here in Ontario were told just yesterday that this will be delayed until Wednesday.  Some notice.

But worse than that - the reason given is to ensure Schools have the time to install air filtration.  First off - 2 days extra time will not accomplish this and Secondly, they won't work even when installed due to the high contagion of this new variant.  It will only amount to a colossal waste of money and will only give parents and their kids a false sense of protection. 

In Quebec, it is even worse.  New Year's Eve Partiers were given but 1 day's notice that there will be no partying even in their own homes.  I'd tell the could Premier (President?) of Quebec what he can do with His directive.  Worse - restaurants are to be shuttered - food to be wasted and another nail in the coffin of private enterprise.  Talk about Scrooge even he wasn't that mean. 

When the Experts look at the growing numbers with horror on their faces...they are doing so from the wrong end of the looking glass.  Granted, Omicron is more contagious but it is far less severe...so less severe that it actually is of benefit for those of us who have received their prescribed vaccines.  I cannot wait to catch it. 

Every hour it seems another business reports it is being crippled by lack of staff who have to isolate due to the sniffles.  It cannot go on like this...Air Lines need to operate, Police need to Police, Firemen fight fires, Nurses / Doctors need to keep Hospitals open and Home Support Workers need to help the frail and elderly..  Simply stated we are shooting ourselves in the foot - both feet actually and have the Experts to blame for it. 

You know that I am the last Person to call for a Rebellion but as for the Nonsense taking place before our very eyes - I say ...To The Ramparts.  Are you with me?

As I See It...

'K.D. Bell'