Frankly Speaking

I want to say a big thank you to all who offered thoughts and prayers for me today as I underwent umbilical hernia surgery at Langley Memorial Hospital today. I was a bit nervous, having not had a general anaesthetic since 1979. I had found it challenging to come out of at that time. My experience today was simply great on all counts. My thanks to surgeon Dr. Scott Cowie, anaesthetist Dr. Colin Sinclair and the terrific nurses in the surgical daycare centre and operating room. I am pleased to say that all went well and I was able to come home five hours after surgery. My loving and supportiuve spouse Bonnie Bucholtz is now pampering me to help me heal as quickly as possible. We often complain about our health care system. and it does have problems at times with timely diagnosis, long waits at busy emergency rooms (such as LMH) and an inability of many people to obtain a family doctor. On the flip side, the treatment we get at hospitals is superb, the staff are extremely prof...

Finance Minister Mike de Jong The coming election (or “shareholders’ meeting,” as Finance Minister Mike de Jong called it in the Feb. 21 budget speech), is virtually the only factor driving provincial politics these days. After all, it is just over two months away – on Tuesday, May 9. The current session of the provincial legislature simply helps set the table for it, and the budget is by far the largest item on the table. Thus the budget must be looked at through a political prism. That’s why the biggest item in it was a significant cut in Medical Services Plan premiums. The premiums have been rising at a spectacular rate over the past five years, and have become a lightning rod for criticism of the government. Back in 2011, when Christy Clark became premier, a family of three paid $121 per month in MSP premiums, while a couple paid $109. This year, a couple or family of three or more pay $150 per month – $1,800 per year. Because many employers pay half of that cost a...