On Friday September 23, 2011, Amir Attaran, the Canada Reasearch Chair in Law , Population Health and Global Development Policy in the Faculties of Law and Medicine of the University of Ottawa, wrote an article in the Ottawa Citizen titled "Still Waiting for better Care". In it, he says that the McGuinty government has failed to meet its most basic goals for improving the health system, but wonders if the other parties can do better. He states that "no party has developed an adult discussion on health care, and that is a shame because it makes choosing between parties hard".
That certainly is at the heart of my voting dilemma as I try to gauge who will best take care of the health care mess and in particular foot health.
Several weeks ago a patient who has been working for the re-election of Bob Chiarelli suggested I write to Bob since she was certain that he would see the importance of improving foot health. I have a great deal of respect for Bob, having worked with him to raise funds for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation while he was mayor. Reluctantly, since Dalton McGuinty had not responded to me when I attempted to gather his attention, I did write to Bob, explaining the plight of podiatry in Ontario. I did receive a reply telling me that my letter had been forwarded to the member in my riding, Madelaine Meilleur. I received a letter from Ms Meilleur's office saying that my concerns were forwarded to the Ministry of Health who notified me that there are procedures in place and the matter of foot health would be dealt with somewhere in the future. Does that mean that the Ministry of Health has taken the lead?
So much for being able to raise the level of consciousness of the government and the MPP's in my immediate area. One would hope that our elected officials, especially during an election campaign would show some concern.
The above is no surprise to me, but it still leaves me the question of who can best provide a clear vision and guidance when it comes to health care in Ontario. Where do the Conservatives stand? Tthey and the NDP were instrumental in creating the situation we find ourselves in today (see previous blogs). I am unaware of their position now, or if they actually have one.
Does anyone really care to fix the problem?