Shuffling off to Buffalo in Jim Bradley's carpool

This is from the Ontario Legislative Assembly (Dec.23, 1999):

"Mr. James J. Bradley (St Catharines): I have a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. "Whereas patients requiring eye care in Niagara are faced with a shortage of ophthalmologists and as a result, are compelled to wait several weeks to secure an appointment with an ophthalmologist; "Whereas, while the shortage of ophthalmologists is in existence, the removal of the billing cap on these medical specialists provides a temporary but essential easing of the health care crisis; "Whereas the solution of the Ontario Ministry of Health removing the exemptions from the billing cap and forcing patients from Niagara to travel along the very busy Queen Elizabeth Highway to receive treatment in Hamilton is unacceptable; "Be it resolved that the Ontario Ministry of Health remove the cap on billing for ophthalmologists in Niagara until such time as Niagara is no longer an underserviced area." I affix my signature as I'm in complete agreement with this petition."

How interesting that healthcare in Bradley’s mind can simply be rationed by government tricks and intervention with legislation, 'temporarily' favouring one region, then, arbitrarily favouring another. This kind of manipulative, last-gasp, centralist, statist market interference is Bradley and his Liberal’s hallmark.

Bradley in this single petition essentially admits that billing caps are/were a failed government construct which contributed to the shortages that the caps were originally supposedly intended to prevent! So his cure is to revert to a pre-extra-billing solution, thereby making a hypocritical mockery of his own Liberal 'rationale' (if you want to be gracious and call it that) to impose caps in the first place! That pathetic Liberal attempt to postpone reality lasted only, what, ten years, before shortages and wait times grew?

The Liberals vilified, bashed and demonized the medical profession, especially during Bradley's stint with premier David Peterson. We're still suffering now, in 2008. Bradley is not just some aw, shucks bystander in this planned assault against the medical profession - he was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government. He was part of the problem.

Why doesn't Bradley re-submit his petition again in 2008, using his own example, re-worded to include all patients for all procedures in all of Ontario?! ie:

- Whereas patients, victims of medicare's state-run monopoly, requiring medical care in Ontario, are compelled to wait months for supposedly-insured services which our Liberal government cannot deliver on a medically-timely basis;
- Whereas Ontario's ombudsman has found Liberal-delivered healthcare a "cruel game";
- Whereas shuffling patients off to Buffalo down a busy QEW to receive treatment in the States, and not in Ontario, as ostensibly promised, is unacceptable;
- Be it resolved that the OHIP single-payer health monopoly shall be opened to competition, and that presently-banned private health insurance contracts be restored as a lawful choice to all Ontario citizens.

C'mon, Jim...or are you going to wait for the courts to decide for you?

With all those Sabres games Bradley supposedly attends, maybe he should be carpooling Ontario patients, who are waiting for health-care, along with him to Buffalo.

How about another hypocritical Bradley opposition petition, from the Ontario Legislature Assembly (Jun.12, 2001) :

"Mr James J. Bradley (St. Catharines): I have a petition that is to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario: "Whereas the nurses of Ontario are seeking relief from heavy workloads, which have contributed to unsafe conditions for patients and have increased the risk of injury to nurses; and "Whereas there is a chronic nursing shortage in Ontario; and "Whereas the Ontario government has failed to live up to its commitment to provide safe, high quality care for patients; "We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly as follows: "We demand the Ontario government take positive action to ensure that our communities have enough nursing staff to provide patients with the care they need. The Ontario government must: "Ensure wages and benefits are competitive and value all nurses for their dedication and commitment; ensure there are full-time and regular part-time jobs available for nurses in hospitals, nursing homes and the community; ensure government revenues fund health care, not tax cuts; and ensure front-line nurses play a key role in health reform decisions." I affix my signature, as I'm in complete agreement with this petition."

Does Jim Bradley really mean to say at the end there: 'I affix my signature as if I'm in complete agreement with this position'? Because the Liberal thing to do is pretend as if you are solving problems?

Will Jim Bradley stand up and issue this same petition in 2008, now that he and his Liberals are the government, and the nursing problems still have not been solved? Now that his own government has funded tax cuts, not health care?

The Dec.21, 2006 National Post reported that there was a 92% increase in wait times for cataract surgery in the Niagara Health System – and this in Bradley’s backyard. McGuinty also admitted: “The fact of the matter is cancer surgery wait times are up overall by 6.2%.”

Then a year later came the shocking NHS mortality rate revelations, yet Liberal MPP Jim Bradley… is missing in action.