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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-09-03, Page 4Page Times -Advocate, September3; 1997 Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager Deb Lord Advertising; garb Consitt, Chad Eedy Nom Heather Mir, Craig Bradford Brenda Burke, Kate Monk, Ross Haugh Production; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner 'Transportation: AI Flynn, Al Hodgert • Front Office & Accounting: Elalne•Pinder, Sue killings, Ruth Slaght Ruthanne NegriJn, Anita McDonald,•Cassle Dalrymple, Carol Windsor -The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers . providing news, advertising and Information leadership • •• g Publications Mail Registration Number 038 - SUBSCRIPTION _RATE • OM year ratty lot Canada subscrlben • $35.00 + 0ST _two year rote icor Canada subscribers -114,100 • 0ST outside Canada - $10.2.00 4lidi tES Published Each Wednesday Morning M 424 Main St., Exeter. Ontario, NOM 1S6 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519-235-1331 • Fax: 519-235-0768 G.S.T. *R105210836 1)1 1 O1:i \I We know. you're there and we thank you Where did the summer go? • Qnl . yesterday it stretched before us, an -eternity of long, sunny days, mos- quito -filled evenings. and ice cream. In - the Klink of an eye, the school doors have re -opened. beach towels. have been laundered and put away, and ice skates have been checked for size. The. littleboy who screamed in terror at the thought of.starting school in now racing out the door, eager to meet his new friends. The little• girl who:ago- nizecl over what to wear on that all- important first day of class has set aside -the hair ribbons and ruffled -dress and • ' looks herself again in jeans and T-shirL Ands for parents.:,, few of us greeted the bus driver the first.,day of class with abottle sett• champagne in hand (which is what cine mother of hyperactive twins -did a couple -of years hack) but we. were not, unhappy to -sec our little.., ones -go back to class: This is a salute .to you.- the bus -drivers. who get our kids to and from school safefy, and cope with all •sorts cif emer- gencies. from thequiet little kid at the , back of -the-bus who-g€ts-,motion-siek-if' --_ he forgets tohave breakfast. to the three kids who refuse to.sit with a , .. fourth member of the group because She's wearing. stinky. perfume. to the idi-, of dtivcrs.who,still haven't figured out the law requires them •to stay back - when'that red stop sign is up and mite lights ar'e:"flas'hing. You can; and do, get our children's day off to a good start and are high on the list of unsung he- 'roes Of the education system.- - And this is a vote of thanks to the school custodians who do so much More- than keep the floors free of debris . and the washrooms non-toxic. There 'are stories of a certain custodian whose desk by the furnace room was a place wherea troubled kid could always get a sympathetic smile, a Kleenex and a quiet word- of advice. Is she coming • hack for another year? We truly hope so. • School custodians come into work at odd hours to get the touchy heating sys- tem working,. then take .time to. help build scenery for the school play. ne is staff advisor to a very active student group. Another coaches a sports team. They trace weird smells, move comput- ers and desks, cope with trash and are pretty much the glue that holds the. school building together. And then there are the other support staff, like the office people. They field calls from tiny little voices who report absences of children sick with such mys- terious illnesses as "hooping cot" (yes,. that's how you spell it) or "the appendi- ces", They keep a veritable mountain of paper in good order, keep track of who is where. and.get thousands of messages. to' the right destination. And that's just the beginning. - We must never forget all the school • volunteers - the retired business woman who comes in to help little ones with their reading and listens patiently to a full morning of, "See the c -a -t cat": the • young --mother who -gets three youngsters- off to school with more or less matching . socks..edible lunches and most of their homework. then goes in to help the sec- retary put together the student hand- book: the grandfather who invites entire classes of children to his farm to find out . first-hand e our food oomes fa'-om; the police officer who conies in on her own time to conduct a one-on-one coun selling program for troubled kids. Every person who, walks in the school doors has an impact on how and what our children learn. Our wonderful teach- ers are right there inthe front lines, but there is a whole army to back them up, people who do their work behind the scenes. quietly, out of the limelight.. We know you're there, don't doubt it for moment. Saugeen Citi News What's on your mind? The Times -Advocate continues to welcome letters to the editor as a forum for open discussion of local issues, concerns, complaints and kudos. The Times Advocate reserves the right to edit letters for, brevity. Please send your letters to P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6. Sign your letter with both name and address. Anonymous letters will not be published, T Your Views Letter to the editor 1,Y7 Dowd unfair Re: Eric Dowd column of July 23, "Doctors have gone overboard" Dear Editor: I am writing on behalf of. the College 'of Physi- cians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSOI to respond to some of the erroneous allegations in Mr Dowd's re- cent column regarding the CPSd's poation on Lib- eral MPP Monte Kwinter s private member's bill. �- Mr�awrd-did-not fairly reprosern the CP-SOJs-post tion nor its legitimate concerns about this hill. Mr. Dowd_is incorrect in stating that Mr. Kwint- er's hill would "merely give doctors the choice of prescribing alternative medicine without. fear of be- ing disciplined or ruled incompetent by the. col- . lege." Physicians in Ontario already have that choice. and-many'of them exercise it. Therehc cho• ice of - prpreventing doctors who hold a certificate ofzegistration in Ontario, aad.who are thus gov- erned -by the CPSO, from doing•so. Such prescrib- • ing does not in and of itself warrant -a charge of professional misconduct nor incompetence as Mr. - Dowd insinuates. - • Mr. Kwinter's bill. in short. will not grant physis cians an option'that they already have. It will. how-. ever. because attic way it is worded. allow unscru• - pulous practitioners to escape prosecution merely by claiming that a "treatment" is non-traditional. Here :is the exact wording of Mr. Kwinter's-hill:: - "A -member (i.e. doctor) shall not he foundguilty of professional misconduct or of incompetence un- der section 51 or 52 of the Health Professions Pro- cedural Code on the basis that the member practis- es a therapy that is non-traditional or that departs . from the prevailing medical practice unless there is evidence that proves that the therapy poses a great- . cr risk to a patient's health than the traditional or - prevailing practice. " Under Mr. Kwinter's hill. a doctor need only de- clare that his 'treatment' was 'non-traditional', per • - haps after harm had been done. and thus escape ac-- coutitability to the College. - 'The CPSO. and other health regulatory colleges. have been established by the Ontario legislature to - set andmaintain standards of practice' and behavior • under the principles of responsihle•self-regulation. • - Thc purpose of the CPSO is u) -.prated the puthlic and guide the (medical) profession". in other words., to provide some assurance to the public that those who are licensed to practice medicine in Ontario are A View from Queen's Park . TORONTO --Premier Mike Harris is down. • but not -even his enemies are suggesting he is out. • A succession of polls has confirmed the Pro- gressive Conservative premier's low standing :with the electorate. Harris had an average 33 per cent support, compared to the Liberals' 46 per cent and New Democrats' 17 per cent. The causes include his reductions in services in order to cut Mixes. particularly once they ex- panded to health, and threats to jobs of Dem- ployees throughout the public sector as he be- gan cutting payrolls.- Harris ayrolls:Harris has offended also by weakening rent controls and unions' power and by amalgamat- ing school boards and municipalities to provide less opportunity for local control. and more re- cently by pushing new responsibilities on mu- nicipalities that are likely to cost them more and push up their taxes. Much of this was promised in Harris's Com- mon Sense Revolution platform and it was cal- culated that the Tones would lose some popu- larity in the hope of regaining it when voters By Eric Dowd saw benefits from lower provincial taxes and unfettered business. But Harris has added new programs not fully thought out. Criticism has been fiercer than ex- pected and even many Tories are disgruntled, particularly over his interference in. municipali- ties, school boards and hospitals. In addition to concern at.specific policies. there is now a wide belief that, although Harris was elected because of an overwhelming desire for change. he is changing too much too quick- ly. One reason Harris will not be preparing to . clear out his office is that he has a lot of time on his side. Normally he would not be expected to hold an election until 1999 and could wait until the year 2000. By the time of an election Harris will have got some hospital closings over and used savings to fortify others, and some of the initial pain will have eased. . The municipalities complain Harris's forcing them to pay for more programs will cost them accountable toga professional body for their.standard of practice. - Mr. Dowd seems prepared tp do away with this principle and let the courts decide what constitutes professional misconduct. Were this to conic to pass. irtembers of the public who had a legitimate com- plaint about a health professional would then he forced into an already over -crowded court system,( with all its attendant legal costs. - • • - Mr. Dowd objects to thc College's legitimate use _ofan-examplenf.how s�c 1. u5c-could-he.frecly__. . committed as a result of Mr. Kwinter's hill. Well, here are two non -sexual examples to consider. one hypothetical and one actual:. •The hypothetical example it this: A female patient goes to a,physician who correctly diagnoses her as having breast cancer. but instead of the standard range of•treatmen%s the doctor piescribes niassi c doses of -Vitamin C as a cure. 'Eventually. the patient realii.es that his prescripiior,, will not curs her. and - decides to complain to the College. The•College. en- der Mr. Kwinter's hill. would likely not he able to act_ assuming the drictor claims that his vitamin C treatment was "non-traditional". • •The factual example is this. talthough it did not in- volve a.licensed physician. under Mr. Kwinter's hill it Very well might):'Several years ago in Ontario an • unlicensed -'therapist' decided -that an infant with a • high fever should be wrapped in cabbage leaves in order to cure the•fever. The infant suhsequently died and this matter was. in -fact. the subject of a -court case. -Under Mr. Kwinter's hill..a physician could. • recommend the same course of treatment and not be subject to prosecution by the College. Not only would this be.a 'non-traditional.' treatment. but the College would have.to prove that 'cabbage leaf ther-. apy' was a greater risk than traditional medical' treatment. I am sure that neither Mr. Kwinter nor Mr. -Dowd would want 10 participate in any of the ' double blind or other scientific studies needed to as- . sess the efficiency of cabbage leaf therapy. The College has had a committee examining the issues. surrounding non-traditional therapies since last year. The committee held two days of well - attended public hearings in early July and plans to • make its report to the College Council within the next few weeks. The College will be pleased to - make that 'report available both to the Times= Advocate and Mr. Dowd for his consideration. Yours sincerely, Jun Maclean: Director Public Affairs and Communications= Is Mike Harris down and out? $900 million a year and compel them to raise taxes. But municipalities will look for new economies to reduce this burden and Harris has revenue from the economic boom to reduce it further temporarily. so by election time the costs to municipalities may not loom as large. Harris has kept to his timetable of steadily re- ducing provincial income tax and should be able to provide his promised 30 per cent cut by the election. It will not bring huge relief to resi- dents, but will be a weapon to flourish as he re- minds that predecessor NDP and Liberal gov- ernments kept raising taxes. Through his spending cuts and economic boom, Harris also will be on the point of elimi- nating the annual deficit, which was $11 billion when he took over. The predicted date for this is now,fiscal year 2000-01. Few used to care about eliminating deficits, but avoiding adding to debt is now the most pursued goal in politics, and the Liberal federal government even won an election saying it will not cut taxes until it eliminates its deficit. If Harris cuts taxes and eliminates his deficit, many voters will see this as worthy the incon- venience of reduced services. Harris won the 1995 election partly because he sounded firm. decisive and sure of achieving goals and, if he fulfills promises both to cut taxes and eliminate the deficit, he will. be helped to pro- ject the same image. His main opponents will likely be the Liber- als, because the NDP is handicapped by memo ries of its recent high -spending government, and the Liberals have yet to instill confidence that they can avoid mistakes like those in 1995, when they came up with a platform of cost- cutting that was too late and long-winded and voters chose the simpler, more straightforward promises of Harris. Harris also has a reputation as an effective campaigner, because he started the election with only 26 per cent -support to the Liberals' 52 per cern and still beat them comfortably. There are a lot of reasons that no one will rule him out.