Michel Gagnon -- Montréal (Québec, Canada)
mailto:[log in to unmask] -- http://mgagnon.net

"Meir Weiss" a écrit :


> Story is now unfolding
>
> Parents are in shock
>
> Puts ALL canadian medicare in q.
>
> Gov'ts will INVEST in casinos .....................
>
> To reap money and distroy lives and wont help those w autism
>


There are a few problems with our Canadian medical system. The name itself
probably explains most of the problem: it offers *medical* aid. As such, it
is designed to cover *medical* expenses in the strictest sense: not the
pills, not long-term treatments, not alternative treatments, etc. Part of
the problem relies in the fact it was implemented in the late 1960s out of
the Saskatchewan's CCF platform of the late 1950s, so what's covered and
what's not covered is defined by 1960-1970s standards. Another problem with
our bi-level (federal-provincial) implementation is that it's easy for both
provinces and the federal government to blame eachother for whatever
problems there are. In that regard, I think that the only difference
between Québec and other provinces is that Québec is better at vocalising
the "pass the buck" phenomenon, but B.C. and Alberta (amongst others) are
good for doing the same in the medical field.

Another question may arise : whether treatments for autism should indeed be
included under medicare or should be classified under another category. I'm
not sure of all the details -- and I am neither a constitutionalist nor a
medical expert -- but programmes like, for example, those that supply
(poorly) support workers so handicapped people and elder people may stay at
home don't fall into the Medicare system but under other categories.

As for "Governments invest in casinos"... try to design a programme that
train autists or (put your own category here) to be wealthy consumers and
taxpayers within 1-2 years, and I bet you that governments will throw money
there. I say that not as an excuse to avoid doing anything, but rather as a
sad fact of our current system in Canada, U.S. and probably a good part of
the Western world where we think in terms of "consumers" and "economy",
rather than in terms of "citizens" and "citizenship".

Michel Gagnon