Is the public aware of the amount of their tax dollars being spent on monthly meetings of the district health boards? The board consists of 10 members who are paid $30 per hour and the average meeting lasts five to six hours. Mileage is also paid at the rate of 27 cents per kilometre.
Besides the monthly board meetings, there are also numerous committee meetings, i.e. financial and planning. Those in attendance are paid a flat rate of $50 plus mileage. Accommodations are also paid.
A recent article in the Southwest Booster indicated a new “Quality care co-ordinator” for each district. Are we to believe that another co-ordinator position is to be created? How many co-ordinators does one district need to function?
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At a time when health care costs need to be reduced, I would wonder at the amount of money being spent on meetings and the creation of middle management positions. If the information on the radio is to be believed, the starting wage for nurses is $17 per hour. A bitter pill to swallow when board members make $30 per hour and haven’t spent several years in training.
Also, the provincial auditor uncovered in the province’s books the fact that the health district boards are running a total accumulated deficit of $30 million. Perhaps we have our priorities a little mixed up.
– Mary Howard
and Kathleen East
Eastend, Sask.
Gun folly
To the Editor:
The current controversy about gun registration prompts me to add my observations. The positions and rationalizations the government and Mr. Rock have taken on this issue are ludicrous and completely defy logic. This bill appears to be about controlling people and has nothing to do with reducing or controlling crime.
If the government is serious about crime control it should focus on penalties for the criminal use of firearms.
Gun registration seems like a good idea to most people when they first hear about it, but a little rational examination makes it clear that even if all legal guns were registered it would be an expensive waste of time and funds.
Further examination of the gun registry bill turns up the really scary “people control” aspects of Bill C-68. One of the most odious is the search and seizure aspect of this bill, this takes away fundamental rights that people fought and died for centuries ago. …
This brings me to the really scary part of the bill, the part where the cabinet may, by order in council, make any changes it wishes to this bill if they judge them to be “insubstantial, immaterial, or for urgent reason.”
Some of you may recall how democracy goes out the window when order in council presides. The metric system is a prime example. A bunch of partisan hacks making legal decisions, without debate, behind closed doors is not the Canada I envision and it is time we stopped this practice.
It has become obvious that this piece of legislation is going to be unworkable and ineffective and will undoubtedly be repealed, yet the government presses blindly on with another multi-billion dollar boondoggle that will be a monument to Mr. Rock’s folly. The hard-nosed arrogance with which he is pursuing gun registration would do justice to someone named Pierre.
– Delon Bleakney,
Turtleford, Sask.
Creditor check
To the Editor:
It is good for Saskatchewan that a fiscally responsible government has been re-elected. This province has always fared well under CCF and NDP governments. Still, I think the premier is too optimistic to talk about future surpluses. Cuts to the provinces as indicated by Paul Martin’s budget have not yet been applied and there is more coming in subsequent federal budgets.
At any rate, the $16 billion debt and the almost $2 billion deficit inherited from the Devine government will not leave overnight. It will take two decades under the best of circumstances to erase this Tory record. We also owe at least $16 billion on the federal debt and that is still piling up.
Meanwhile, the G7 big shots were dining and wining in Halifax at taxpayers’ expense to accomplish absolutely nothing. They did not talk about the national debt crisis of almost every nation. Not one word as to who are these creditors reaping trillions and trillions of dollars in interest. By sheer amounts this is usury out of control. This is the factor which is reducing our living standard and our lifestyle. At least another $50 million was wasted in Halifax and added to the national debt. When will the feds start counting their expenses other than that which goes to social programs?
– Ernest J. Weser, Laird, Sask.
Bird pests
To the Editor:
Most people would be pleased if wildlife like rats, mice, hanti virus, wild oats, AIDs and Canada thistle became extinct. An increasing number of farmers and recreationalists would add wild ducks and geese to that list.
Organizations like Ducks Unlimited work to serve “sport” hunters. They don’t realize that an ideal wild waterfowl environment hurts the economy and the environment.
Wild ducks and geese desecrate recreational beaches, destroy golf courses and field crops. Some still feel wild ducks and geese must be protected because they are beautiful birds. Others are reminded of the Russian proverb: “The beautiful becomes repulsive when it causes stress or loss.”
It is only fair that those who admire such waterfowl be fully responsible for all economic and environmental problems caused by their pets.
A responsible impartial democratic government will ensure that organizations protecting destructive wildlife be held fully responsible for all related losses.
The June 15 issue of The Western Producer describes how geese wantonly destroyed Jermain’s pea crop. In such cases crop insurance evaluates and administers such situations, but to pay compensation relating to “man made” activities is going beyond the call of duty.
The large proliferation of wild ducks and geese is the result of projects by organizations like Ducks Unlimited, therefore it is their moral responsibility to fully compensate Mr. Dauk (and others suffering similar losses) the full value of actual and potential crop yield losses. Inadequate compensation in effect is an abusive hit and run operation.
If organizations like Ducks Unlimited manage to legally evade fully compensating their victims, then this will be another example illustrating that our legal justice system has been replaced with a “just us” legal system.
– Stuart Makaroff,
Saskatoon, Sask.
