Alberta closing hospital helipads...

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by underGRADFlame

Wow. I thank god you are not running our provincial heath care. I can not imagine the strain on the health care system if we only relied on major centers for urgent medical care.
Besides that, the number of people that would die everyday if it wasn't for these small hospitals would be staggering!
Your statement screams of someone that has only lived in a city and has never been to a small town. That you are some how better and get healthcare because you choose to live in a city, where as the farmer and his family who's wheat and cattle feed you, doesn't deserve the privilege of easy access to medical care so in his time of need when every second counts, he has to wait for a freaking helicopter!

I lived in one of those affected cities for 6 years (also had a great ice cream revel factory at the time) and a 12k town for the rest before moving to Edmonton for school and Calgary for work.

A 500 person town having a hospital is complete and utter farsical joke and if the political map in this provicne wasnt so completely and unfarily skewed towards rural ridings then those locations would be closed in a Taliban minute.

I dont think that only Edmonton Calgary Red Deer Lethbridge should ahve hospitals. There are plenty of cities over 8k in population. There are 26 with over 10K.

The facts are the taxes received by these locations dont justrify the costs. We dont live in the USSR where every little dying town needs a hospital. Air ambulance them to the larger centres (shouldnt be more than 150k max away from 95% of the population. The 5% that dont, they need to make a decision on where to live.

If you are living in one of those dying towns and dont realize it yet. Then so be it, live in your world where your 3k town with no grain elevator needs a hospital. There would be no health care worker shortage in this province if they properly allocated resources. The Canada Health Act doesnt entitle anyone to have a hospital no matter where they live - just simply access.

Its all a mute point because no party in this province will win in the next 50 yars without rural support (until they redraw the electoral map) and so none of these hospitals will be closed. What should be done, wont and we will go on for another 50 years listening to health care unions bitch about wage and doctors basically making up there own salary.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I'm just a two-party kinda guy.

I figure if some of the best people from the fringe parties were to join the two main parties, they might actually be able to get something done. The way it is now all they're really accomplishing is vote splitting... at best.

It's a shame, really.

Take the Green Party, for instance. Why doesn't some of these people just join the Libs or PCs so they can actually be elected and allowed to effect some real progress? Campaigning as a party that will never get elected sounds like they're just going through the motions and making a bit of noise along the way (once every election).

Maybe I'm just politically naive, but if I was someone who really wanted to change the way this province looks at the environment, I wouldn't look to join the Green Party and wind up tossed aside by the voters. I would join the Conservatives or Liberals (based on my other beliefs) and try to work within in order to effect real change.

As for the Wild Rose party (which someone else mentioned), it's even more baffling. I can understand the Green Party, since their focus is on something that no other party really stands for (as a primary platform at least)... but what's the deal with Wild Rose? They seem like they're just another version of spend/don't spend, abort/don't abort.

Why don't these guys just get in the game? This is a real question. I've put a lot of thought into this over the years (not specifically the Wild Rose, just fringe parties in general). The only answer I can come up with is they just want to do things their own way. The thing is, I'm going to vote for people who want to do things my way... and I think I'm a pretty typical voter.

Change from within is not a new concept. Many have tried and unfortunately failed. One person is just that one voice; it takes many to make a significant difference.

As for the PC's they have changed over time, it happens and is natural; even good in some cases. I have voted for them many times. Unfortunately they have moved too far to the left when it comes to their spending habits and it is no longer in sync with the stance of the majority of Albertans.

As for what's the deal with the WAP. We are fiscally conservative; we believe in smaller government, less taxation and less government intervention. We are pro-business (regardless of what your business may be). We support entrepreneurship and promoting a healthy economy.

We are socially moderate; we do not believe in government interfering with the personal lives of Albertans. In this regard we are quite libertarian. Again, very much in line with the majority of Albertans.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by First Lady

That far???

Which is it, we are too fiscally conservative for you or too socially moderate?

Take this for what it's worth...

Move the party to the Liberal's position and rename it something less regionalistic and you might have a chance. As it is, Wild Rose comes across as a very right wing Alberta separtist party. And I'm really beginning to doubt the right wing extent of most Albertans (at least in urban centers). We just seem to have electoral blinders on.

Whether or not that's actually true, that's how most people I talk to percieve your party.

[Azure]

You doubt the idea of most Albertans being fiscally responsible and socially moderate?

Because I don't.

There is a reason this province has been voting conservative for years now. The Conservatives could be running away with every election in the next 50 years if they wouldn't screw things up so badly.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by llama64

Take this for what it's worth...

Move the party to the Liberal's position

Which position would that be?

and rename it something less regionalistic and you might have a chance.

How is it regionlistic? Wildrose is the provincial flower; we are a provincial party.

As it is, Wild Rose comes across as a very right wing Alberta separtist party.

Every party faces the "separtist" motion at their AGM's; in fact the PC's have had it at their's more times than we have.

And ours was resoundingly shot down by our members.

And I'm really beginning to doubt the right wing extent of most Albertans (at least in urban centers). We just seem to have electoral blinders on.

I would agree with that, I would go further and say the ring wing position on social issues is also diminishing in rural Alberta.

Whether or not that's actually true, that's how most people I talk to percieve your party.

We understand that. It is always an uphill battle for yound parties to convey what they stand for.

Thus, I challenge people to tell me what is so scary or right wing. In fact I put out the challenge on my blog, the comments I received were hardly stellar.
http://janemorgan.blogspot.com/2009/...ate-begin.html