Monday April 26

Things actually got off to a balanced and rational start in QP today. Wish I could say the same about the end..............

Surgical Services in Fraser Health Authority

Adrian Dix began with "Will the minister tell this House and the residents of the fastest growing health authority in the province what surgeries will be canceled, which hospitals will be affected, and what operating rooms will be closed?" Dix was of course talking about an internal document released to staff in the Fraser Health Authority on a reduction in the medically necessary scheduled surgery budget by 14% in 2010-2011. This question was specific, relevant, and for that reason an uncommon beast. Kevin responded to this query by mitigating the threat presented in Dix's request. Kevin spoke of much smaller reduction (1-2 not 14%) and also made sure to mention that there have been 15% budget increases in the ministry of Health. Sure, sure, sure. Didn't answer the question Kevin.

Dix followed this up by repeating his initial question, and even commented on the reasonable nature of his own question. Kevin didn't like this though, claiming that the NDP only measures the success of a the health care system by what goes in, not by what comes out. Um, Kevin, if this was true, Dix wouldn't have just been asking you the questions he's been asking you....... Kevin went on to mention statistics compiled by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, statistics which supposedly identify BC as #1 when it comes to the delivery of elective surgery procedures. Hmmm.... too bad Dix was actually talking about medically necessary procedures there Kevin.

I'm not sure where to find Kevin's statistics concerning the 1-2 % but I did locate the document on which he is basing his claim that BC leads the entire country in wait times for surgical procedures. Looking at Table one on page 4 of the document in question, you will see that yes indeed, BC is the only province to have achieved the legislated benchmarks for 75% of the cases of Hip replacements, knee replacements, cataract surgery, hip fracture repair, and cancer radiation treatment. No information is given mind you, on where this 75% is drawn from, and what the experience of the other 25% may have been.

Dix went on to identify for Kevin's sake that BC is 10th in the country in diagnostics procedures, MRIs and such. I'll take Dix's word on this one b/c statistics on MRI and CAT scans performed by BC were not reported to the individuals who compiled the report by the CIHI that Kevin was so readily touting. Dix then changed it up a bit in his question by asking "why is the minister laying off sterilization staff right now, and why people in Fraser Health should expect longer wait times when their own minister is from their region is not protecting their interests?" Kevin didn't quite hear Dix on this one, he focused again on the CIHI results instead. I can tell you though, that Kevin's assertions of BC being #1, are not correct. Check it out for yourselves.

Staffing of Sterilization Units in Fraser Health Authority

Sue Hammell then picked up on Dix's previous attempt by asking: "Will the minister reconsider these cuts to the sterilization departments?" Interestingly, Kevin actually acknowledged the cuts, and of course he also downplayed them. For Sue's next question she became a little more unclear when she asked "Will the minister apply the lessons from these recent incidents and reject cuts to sterilization departments in the Fraser Valley?" The ambiguity allowed Kevin to jump right in to identify the merits of the Faser Valley. He also spoke of the NDP having had no cleanliness audit procedures for hospitals, and he said it like this was a bad thing. I'm inclined to think it was b/c cleaning staff used to be well-paid, and #2 there were not as many crazy diseases 10 years ago.

Questions Sue should have asked

1) How will the staff who are being laid off affect the surgery budget?

Acute Care Beds at St. Joseph's Hospital

Scott Fraser then picked up on a hot topic from last week, that of the acute care beds in the northern part of the island being used for residential care for old folks. Scotty asked " Will the minister finally agree to meet with the Comox Valley residents and physicians and hospital staff to consult with them about how to keep these essential acute care beds open?" Apparently there was a meeting and Kevin did not show up. It was essentially a rehash of last week though, so I'm skipping through.

Comments By Former Finance Minister on Harmonized Sales Tax

John Horgan thought he'd be all smart and sassy but ended up getting played by Mr. Hansen. He tried to rub the "defection" of Carole Taylor in his face by reading a series of quotes from a recent interview she gave on the topic of the HST. Johnny's first Q was "Will he agree with his former colleague, Carole Talyor, the former Finance Minister, that this government was elected based on misinformation?" Duh, of course he will not agree with you.

Mr. Hansen got Johnny good. Thanks to the structure of QP, whereby the opposition has to submit their Qs a few days in advance giving the governing party time to prepare, Mr. Hansen went digging through Hansard for what he considered a goody, a quote from Mr. Horgan in finance committee meeting expressing his wife's support for the possible harmonization of PST and GST. If however one goes and reads the quote in its entirety, they see that Johnny was simply trying to draw out the presenter, never was he actually presenting his own opinion as Mr. Hansen tried to allude. Check it for yourself, the part where Johnny speaks is down near the bottom of the page, just below the [2000] mark.

Johnny never admitted nor denied the quote, preferring to joke instead about an all powerful wife. He then missed the mark in his next question by asking "Does he agree with his predecessor, the Minister of Finance, that this tax was misinformation and deception before the election and a tax shift from business to consumers after the election?" This allowed Mr. Hansen to play up the "benefits" of the HST.

Questions Johnny should have asked

1) Can you provide us with a graph detailing the benefits for small businesses vs. big business under the HST
2) Will the minister acknowledge the HST will shift the tax burden from big business to consumers?
3) Will the minister provide a detailed breakdown of just how exactly he expects the trickle down effect to work?

Doug Donaldson and Mr. Hansen then has some further exchange on the topic of the HST, I couldn't be bothered to understand it though, so let's move along.

Funding for School Band Programs

Again Robin was given the go-ahead on school questions, this time posing a doubled barreled super whammy "Can the Minister of Education tell this House why she's forcing the closure of band and string programs in Vancouver and taking apart the quality educations system that this province has enjoyed?"

Let me pretend to be Margie: "Well, Robin, first off, where is your batman? Second off, I hate music. Hate it hate it hate it with a passion. I especially hate classical music. My mother always pined about how my father would serenade her with string concertos and man, I just hated her for having such love in her life. As for why I am single-handedly destroying BC's quality education system, well, can't you see that I am an elitist snob? Private schools are like so totally the way to go."

Wouldn't it be fun if Margie actually answered like this?

Questions Robin Should have Asked

First off Robin needs to recognize in his questions that the Vancouver school board is not being targeted. All schools are being forced to make cuts. Vancouver has been lucky to have held on to their strings program for so long. He needs to recognize the Margie probably couldn't care less about the strings program, and that she sure as heck did not single-handedly seek its demise. If anything, all this exchange was missing was a honest faced comment by Rich Coleman speaking so earnestly about those poor kids who need free lunches. Who wins in that equation Robin, middle/upper class kids who take cello lessons, or malnourished street kids?

1) Is the minister aware of the scientifically established correlation between early music involvement and later economic and social success? Does she recognize that music lessons contribute to intellectual development?
2) Will there be any money is future budgets for the purposes of funding school music programs?
3) What does the minister suggest parents and students do to raise funds for their strings program? Might the liberal caucus be willing to attend a concert?

Meeting Between School Trustees and Education Minister

Nasty old Diane then kept true to form when she closed off the festivities today by demanding of Margie " How is she going to fix the crisis in BC schools when she won't talk to parents, she won't talk to students, and now she won't talk to school boards?" Crikey Diane, if you want to rub someone's face in the mud, you'll never accomplish it by advertising the mud as a deluxe spa treatment. Your silly question to Margie first required Margie to acknowledge a crisis in our school system, and then, required her to accept that she hasn't been talking to parents, students, or school boards? How silly are you Diane. Of course she has been talking to them. She just doesn't seem to have been listening.

Questions grumpy old Diane should have asked

1) Is it true that the minister left the Trustee's meeting early (FYI the trustees were actually streaming this meeting of their live and I watched a bit of it).
2) What did the minister dislike about the meeting/ the questions they asked
3) Does the rain in Spain fall mainly on the plain?