Category Archives: Politics (MC Archive)

Politics columns that appeared on Jason Menard’s previous Web site, Menard Communications.

Private Care Can Cure Public Woes

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By Jason Menard

Not to slaughter any sacred Canadian cows here, but perhaps it’s time to take a good, hard look at Private Health Care in this country. And there’s a good chance we’ll find that, rather than being a disease that threatens to kill off our socialized medical system, it may actually end up being part of the system’s cure.

Wow, did that ever feel good. I mean, as a good, solid Canadian, I think I was born with the same ingrained notion that our socialized health care system was the be all and end all. As dedicated Canucks, we’re subconsciously sworn to protect the system against all corporate comers. Verily, with Tommy Douglas’ visage emblazoned on our shields and with a rallying cry of “Medicare” we traditionally go charging into the fray against the oncoming tide of private interests.

Yet, while we all have our hand at the hilt, ready for battle, we have been known to take the occasional furlough into the enemy’s territory. Whether it’s someone taking a trip south of the 49 th for a replacement hip or cancer treatment, or perhaps we’ve gone to a private clinic to take a pre-natal test to determine the health of our unborn child. We happily fork over our hard-earned cash for the privilege of doing so.

Heck, even the leader of Canada’s left-leaners, Jack Layton, has availed himself of the services of a private clinic for a hernia operation. But instead of being vilified, he should be lauded by those who need the private system the most. Because when Jack headed off to the private clinic, he took himself off the waiting list and bumped everyone else up one spot.

So maybe one guy spent one less day waiting to have the agony of a hernia relieved. Maybe the trickle down effect meant that someone else got to have an operation on a Friday afternoon instead of enduring yet another weekend with that torturous bulge.

And, considering the vehement hand-wringing about wait times in our country, it’s time to lay down our swords and negotiate a truce – for the good of all.

As it stands now, hospitals are working under a system where there are funding caps for various procedures. When the quota has been met, the operating rooms are shut down, or the beds are closed, or specialists are transitioned into a lesser role because the funding and facility is not there to support their ability to perform their chosen job.

In the end, the lines get longer while the facilities remain dark, until the next quota period starts up. These underused facilities represent an underutilized resource and a lost opportunity to earn welcome ancillary funds.

The only danger private health care poses to our system is if it runs outside of the existing health care system. If it is controlled and facilities are provided and administered through the hospital, then some of the funds that are earned from the charges for private procedures can be diverted back into the public system. Not only will those who choose to pay for their services be taking themselves out of the queue for the public system, the funds their procedures generate will be able to improve the quality and level of service available to those using the public system exclusively.

This does not create a two-tier system when it comes to access. In this country, when you go to a hospital you receive the required care, regardless of whether or not you have the means to pay for anything. However, for elective procedures, or those that require advance scheduling, people who choose to elect for private services are, in fact, only paying for quicker access to the services. This does not mean that people relying on the public system will ever be denied access to a procedure – it just means they’ll have to wait their turn.

We live in a system where doctors have to restrict patients to a specified time frame, or to only one issue per billable visit. Our medical system needs an infusion of cash to help it heal. However, few of us are willing to pay more in taxes. So where does that money come from?

The private system, if administered by our existing health care providers, offers an opportunity to pump money into the public system. As long as the priority is placed on public access and the administrators can balance that mandate with the potential provided by the private care opportunity, we can reap a benefit for all. Our social medical system is sick, but if we remain steadfast in our opposition to anything even with the hint of privatization, then we have only ourselves to blame when the patient dies.

2006© Menard Communications – Jason Menard All Rights Reserved

Latest Poll a Test of Lefty Faith

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By Jason Menard

While some may look at the latest Decima Research poll as the final nail in a long-delayed Liberal coffin, it may in fact be the defibrillating jolt that the Grits need to breathe new life into their campaign.

It’s serious now for many Canadians. The debates are out of the way, the holidays are past, and the dull grey January weather is the perfect background for playing out this political drama. And with the latest poll results showing the resurgent Conservative Party enjoying a nine-point lead amongst decided voters and those who are leaning in one direction, we’ve come to the time when the left-leaning voters have to make their choice.

It’s a test of faith that will decide the outcome of the next election.

Nine points is nothing to laugh about. At 39 per cent of the decided voters, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are sniffing a majority government. Alone on the right, they’re not only enjoying voters’ lack of trust in the Liberals, but also their apparent belief in the power of Jack Layton’s New Democratic Party. Even in Quebec, the Conservatives appear to be working their way back from the brink of extinction to become an actual viable alternative, as evidenced by their six point increase of support that comes courtesy of the Bloc’s precipitous drop of 11 per cent support.

So the path of the current election is clear. If voters hold true to their stated intentions, the Conservatives will ride to a majority and the Liberals will be swept from power. But in this majority scenario, so too does the left-of-centre influence find itself on the outside looking in.

That’s where those left-leaning voters have to do a gut check and see where their priorities lie. And it’s the only hope the Liberals have to retain any semblance of power.

As Layton has expressed repeatedly through the campaign, he feels the Conservatives are just wrong on the issue and he appears to be angling for a stronger role for his NDP candidates in the next House of Commons. This campaign strategy is all fine and dandy when we’re looking at a minority government because, as he’s shown, a smaller party can have a disproportionate impact on the fortunes of the government. But in a Conservative majority, how much influence will those powerless MPs really have? In essence, Layton could find himself with more NDPs in the House of Commons, but with less power than he enjoyed in the last House with fewer representatives.

In last year’s election, polls pointed to a dead heat between the Conservatives and Liberals as voting day approached. Apparently, once voters got to the polls, they chose to vote strategically and not with their heart as NDP support migrated to the Liberal camp in order to keep the Tories and their alleged right-wing agenda out of power.

If lefties were scared last year when the polls showed a neck-in-neck race, they must be quaking in their boots now at the prospect of a Conservative majority.

Best of all, for the Liberals, is that the numbers are so striking the average Canadian can easily do the math and draw their own conclusions. There’s no need for the Grits to unleash the smear-and-fear strategy – the writing’s already on the wall and the voters don’t need anyone to spell it out.

Unfortunately for Layton, it appears that most Canadians view the NDP as a wonderful party to act as the country’s conscience, but not one to actually take Canada’s reigns and guide it in the next House in a leadership role. So that leaves the tried-and-tested Liberals.

Those soft-NDP voters, and even those disgruntled right-wing Liberals who have drifted to the Conservatives, have to take a look at the strength of their convictions. The reality of a government dominated by a right-of-centre party is upon us and they have to choose what they want their Canada to look like.

Much like Quebec, where elections are less about parties than ideologies, this federal election is shaping up to be a battle not between individual candidates, but rather a contest pitting right versus left. The battle is at hand and the right has their champion. The leftist camp has to decide whether to continue to split its forces, or consolidate their power into one front.

Voting with their hearts or their minds – it’s a test of faith for the left in which the country’s future rests.

2006© Menard Communications – Jason Menard All Rights Reserved

Where the Smart Money Lies

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By Jason Menard

As anyone who has experienced debt knows, it’s not getting the money that’s the biggest problem – it’s paying it back. And while the latest Liberal campaign promise of more money to students hasn’t missed the boat totally, it is standing on the wrong dock, and runs the risk of more students drowning in debt.

The Liberal platform is designed to make more money available for all, but be weighted so those students most in need will have access to a greater share of the funds. Sounds good in principle, but when it comes time to pay the piper what happens? It’s not enough to promise students money without giving them a clear way to repay the loans once they’ve completed their education.

What you end up with is defaulted loans, destroyed credit ratings, undue stress, and countless dollars lost on a noble cause.

So what’s the right solution? Increasing student loan accessibility is a good start, but it needs to be complemented with an income-contingent loan repayment program. ICLRPs have been a mantra for years for certain student groups and governance organizations because they simply make sense.

It’s not just important to gauge the need of the student before they start school – we also need to assess their situations once they’ve graduated and entered the work force. Let’s face it, a university degree is simply not a guarantee of a higher-paying job. Yes, it may open more doors and it may broaden the spectrum of opportunity, but the fact of the matter is that there are people with university degrees working low-paying jobs – or who find themselves out of work.

By adjusting the rate of repayment to their level of income you allow students the security of pursuing higher education without the fear of being strangled by the threat of debt repayment. And, with a repayment schedule developed around your income at any given point in your career, there is less chance of default. A loan payment geared towards your actual income is much more realistic and tolerable than a set payment regardless of income. For some that may work, but for others it can be an obstacle that prevents them from attending post-secondary education in the first place.

Obviously a switch to income-contingent loans would require an increase in the overhead costs due to the fact that there would be more management. But loan issuers would be able to recoup those extra expenditures with the fact that there would be fewer defaults on existing loans. Much of the money that goes to collection agents could be reassigned to staff that works with the student to match their loan repayments to their after-school income.

The goal of any student loan program is to offer the opportunity to pursue higher education to those whose educational dreams and potential may exceed their financial means. However, there are those who have the desire, ability, and inclination to pursue post-secondary education, but are reluctant to do so due to the financial considerations. An income-contingent program eliminates that roadblock because the potential student is aware before the fact that their after-graduation financial commitment will not be overly onerous – it will simply be a result of paying what they can afford.

There are those who will argue that education is an investment, one for which a person must be willing to pay and sacrifice. However, what gets lost in that argument is that investing in education is not a venture that will only reap dividends for the individual, but that also has residual benefits for the community around the person and the country as a whole. We all benefit from a well-educated populace that’s capable of critical thought and intelligent discourse. And while those benefits are not specifically the domain of colleges and universities, they are concepts and ideas that are afforded the room to flourish in the proper environment.

Society as a whole benefits from education. As such, we should therefore bear some of the burden in subsidizing education for all Canadians who show the talent, intelligence, and inclination to pursue it. In the end, by instituting an income-contingent loan repayment program we allow ourselves the opportunity to reap the rewards from our initial investment, while assuming a low default risk due to the fact that the repayment schedule is not overly onerous and a deterrent to prospective students.

In the end, that’s where the smart money lies – it’s just up to the government to make it reality.

2006© Menard Communications – Jason Menard All Rights Reserved

Hunting for the Elusive Quebec Conservative

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By Jason Menard

In la belle province for a vacation, I decided to take the opportunity to go hunting for an almost-extinct breed of political animal, of which I had heard was making a stunning resurgence with this federal election.

Yes, in the best spirit of Marlon Perkins I am in hunt of the Quebec Conservative.

With Bloc fever raging and disenchantment over the sponsorship scandal sending Liberal support plummeting to new depths, the popular idea is that the Conservative party may be the option of choice when it’s time for federalist Quebecers to head to the polls.

Since the rise of the Bloc, Quebec’s federal and provincial political worlds have been polarized into two distinct camps, not separated by parties but rather by ideologies. One’s answer to the question of Quebec’s place in Canada is the deciding factor as to whom you choose to vote. Separatists find a haven with the Bloc and Parti Quebecois parties respectively, while those of a federalist mindset have chosen the Liberal Party exclusively.

While the federal elections are ostensibly a four-party race – the fact of the matter is that there have been only two horses worth putting your money behind. Nervous federalists, regardless of which side of the political spectrum they fall on, have found refuge in the Liberal Party of Canada. Choosing to avoid vote splitting, the Liberals have remained a solid foil to the separatist forces of Quebec, to the point where federalist forces have elected a Liberal provincial party.

Yet with so much displeasure over the ruling Liberal Party, have Quebec Conservatives stepped back from the brink? If they are, they’re doing a good job of hiding. Perhaps they’re preparing for an electoral sneak attack, but in the game of politics visibility is the key.

Traversing the island of Montreal and making forays onto the neighbouring shores, there is a definite trend towards a Blue/Red political mosaic. Unfortunately for Stephen Harper’s troops, that shade of blue belongs to the Bloc. A simple search of signs reveals that Conservative supporters appear to either be continuing to hedge their bets with the Liberals, or remaining in hiding.

Oh sure, there is some Conservative signage here and there – but only on public lands, where everybody’s free to put their placards. Private property, where the signs actually matter and indicate someone’s personal preference, remains remarkably devoid of Tory support.

Of course, some of the difficulty in finding signs of the elusive Conservative may be due to their ability to blend in with the competition. While camouflage may be an acceptable way to survive in the wild, it ’s a questionable tactic when trying to stand out from the crowd. Yet, one would be hard pressed, from a distance, to differentiate between Bloc signage and Conservative signage. And at the speed that Montreal drivers travel, there’s no way to tell which blur belongs to which party. Politics is a game of visibility, and blending in with the opposition may not be the best way to get the name out.

No, it appears the federal race is still being run by two horses — despite the best efforts of the politicos and the pundits alike. In Quebec politics is a serious sport and there’s no time to back a lame horse when there are proven stallions willing to charge to the finish line. And it appears that even if one of those stallions has been rolling around in the mud and still reeks of dirty play, Quebecers feel that it’s better to back the steed that knows how to run instead of the horse that’s still looking for its footing.

So the hunt goes on and I will continue my search. While the Quebec Conservative may actually no longer be on the endangered species list, until they leave the safety of their refuges and spread among the population, they’ll continue to suffer a political fate worse than extinction – they’ll continue to simply be irrelevant.

And in the game of federal politics, that’s truly a fate worse than death.

2005 © Menard Communications – Jason Menard All Rights Reserved

Time for Greens to Think Big!

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By Jason Menard

Many of out there would dream of supporting a political party that’s fiscally conservative, socially progressive, and committed to improving our environment. Yet, even though one party professes to have those issues at the forefront of its platform, they are no more than an afterthought for Canadian voters.

And while the Green Party of Canada can blame voter apathy and the tendency to fall back to the tried and tested when push comes to shove, the fact remains that they have only themselves to blame. In the words of the immortal Elvis Gratton, it’s time for the party – and prospective voters – to “Think Big, ‘sti!”

For many Canadian voters, the Green Party is thought of as nothing more than a novelty act – akin to the old Rhino Party. And, while they’re not advocating the concept of flying naked to reduce the risk of terrorism or turning Montreal’s Rue Ste-Catherine into the world’s longest bowling alley, they get lumped into the same fringe candidate stew as the Marxist-Leninist, Marijuana, and Communist Parties of Canada.

Yet, last election, over four per cent of Canadians cast a ballot for this party’s candidates. Despite being lumped in with the so-called fringe, they did, in fact, receive over three times as many votes as the seven other registered fringe parties, independents, and non-affiliated candidates combined!

In fact, the New Democratic Party of Canada received just 3.7 times as many votes, and the Bloc only garnered 2.9 times as many votes, yet they’re recognized as legitimate contenders, earning 19 and 54 seats in the House of Commons respectively. Yet, this is not intended to be an argument for a more representative democracy – that’s another argument for another day. But it does bring up the question as to why are some parties regarded as legitimate contenders to the throne, while others are amusing afterthoughts.

The answer? Credibility, and the Green Party to date has blown it. In fact, one could suggest that their one true chance to make a mark on the Canadian political landscape is in serious danger of being wasted.

In the last federal election, the Green Party of Canada was able to win the votes of over four per cent of the Canadian population, which entitled them to federal funding as a party. They received $1.1 million from the feds but what have they done with it?

I’m sure they’ve put the money to good use, but they’ve failed to penetrate into the social conscious. Forget being in the leaders’ debates, how about having a significant number of Canadians knowing who your party leader is?

In a recent e-mail conversation with a local Green representative, this person apologized for their lack of polish, as they are a volunteer-driven, grass roots organization. But the time is now to reach for the sky. As they say, one must strike while the iron is hot, and with the funding received from their impressive showing, the Green Party needs to get the message out to the voters.

The perception remains that the Green Party is a one-issue party. Even worse, there is still the perception that these people are nothing more than raving tree-huggers chucking their fair-trade hats into the political ring only to further their own far-left-wing causes.

Yet, when you look at the platform, you realize that, despite an overriding goal of social and environmental responsibility, there is no clear definition of “sides.” They are neither left-wing nor right-wing, but rather searching for the right answers to each and every topic as it arises.

While other parties, such as the Marijuana and Christian Heritage parties, are defined and motivated by one issue, one would be hard-pressed to look at today’s Greens and think the same thing. Perhaps in the past the accusations were fair, but the party appears to have grown up and may, in fact, be a legitimate voice for a number of Canadians. The only problem is that they don’t seem to be getting their message heard.

And that’s a pity, because it’s a message that many Canadians would take to heart. Unfortunately, the game of politics isn’t won on ideas alone – reputation, consistency, and proven ability to lead all factor into the decision, and the Green Party has yet to prove that it’s ready to make the jump from the minor leagues.

So should anybody vote Green? Well, that’s a decision we all have to make based upon policy, the local candidate, and your personal beliefs. But at least they should be in consideration as a legitimate option – not just left on the fringe, stuck on the outside looking in.

2005 © Menard Communications – Jason Menard All Rights Reserved