Repeatedly party after party has said that they will lure more doctors to this province. One thing they forgot to tell you tho is that one part of that lure is fairly simple. To work in this province doctors need a medicare billing number and there are no available ones here. This means that unless the province actually creates new billing numbers (which it has the ability to do) then they are really doing nothing more then replacing retiring doctors and since the retiring doctors probably have fewer patients then the new doctor can handle it looks like there is open spaces when that is not really the case. What truly needs to happen is the province needs to open up sufficient billing numbers so that most of the citizens of this province would have access to doctors.
My question then is does Alward promise he is actually going to open up more billing numbers or is his "clinic idea" away around the concept of opening up billing numbers by convincing doctors to go to a central clinic format without a standard patient list therefore creating the illusion that something was done to increase the number of doctors when the reality is he is really just opening the doctors up to more patients instead of offering the citizens of this province more real doctors brought in because they opened up new billing numbers so they could actually work
My other question is why Shawn graham has not actually opened up billing numbers yet either
This is not that hard a concept and i am sure that if there were open billing numbers there would be some doctors jump at the chance to practice in our province. The shortage of doctors is in reality caused by the unwillingness of past governments to open up significant billing numbers to reduce the number of patients without an actual doctor
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Special Needs Students Pulled From School
In the past week three stories have come to light regarding the fact that three special needs students have been pulled from their schools due to the treatment they received at their school
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/06/21/nb-moncton-inclusion-school-isolation-room-1113.html#socialcomments
Autistic child pulled from school over use of Isolation room
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/06/23/nb-inclusion-terry-lynn-551.html#socialcomments
8 yr old with foetal alcohol syndrome, cerebral palsy and epilepsy pulled from school because no one would help her use washroom
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/06/22/nb-isolation-room-marc-1221.html
13 yr old with aspergers and bipolar disorder pulled from school over use of isolation room
Over the last year these three students were pulled from classes due to their treatment at the hands of school staff with one case verging close to serious neglect in the case of the cerebral palsy girl and the other two clear signs of abuse as the isolation rooms in question used in those schools are 3 walls bolted to the floor and a door that is held shut while the student is inside
Isolation rooms in general are not a bad thing as it does help an autistic child calm down, however a major part of the issue involved in these cases is the size of the room. In my child's school what is used as an isolation room is a small office sized room where the TA and student sit and wait for his issues to resolve themselves.
What is of particular issue lately is the fact that autistic children due to a lack of social skills and communication skills become upset due to the inability to communicate and can become disruptive and/or aggressive. This can be fixed if the TA involved is directly involved enough to pick up the signs of an impending issue and has the child leave the classroom before he becomes disruptive.
As i have watched these discussions over the last several days i have noticed a significant trend in that a large majority of people would prefer to see all special needs students removed from the classrooms which is no more a solution then a full and complete inclusion system is. The majority of students that have special needs can manage well in a standard classroom as long as certain needs are met.
1./ no person who needs help using the washroom should be forced to not have that help. A TA appointed to help the student at prearranged times or a simple paging system to have a TA come help in that situation is all that is needed in most cases and the TA involved could also be dealing with other low risk special needs students at the same time.
2./ no student who is at risk of violent behaviour or running away due to a special needs situation should ever be without a TA present. This TA would normally monitor the child for warning signs that they need a break and remove them from the classroom before an episode, allowing them to decompress without a violent episode and would also help the student with certain training outside the classroom that would be considered part of a special needs student's special education plan.
3./ Where at all possible special needs students should be part of a regular class for at least a portion of their day under the supervision of a TA when required due to behavioural issues.
4./ Those students with intellectual difficulties would have a modified education plan that would focus on making them as independent as possible while allowing them the ability to learn as much as possible of a normal school criteria.
5./ Those students who can not handle a classroom situation (they do exist but are fewer then some would like us to believe) would be taught to the best of the student's capabilities to keep as close an education level as students in their own age group as possible and including them in things like art, gym, music and library with a standard class where the student is capable of handling this.
During the debates over this issue in the last week I have monitored not only the discussions of those completely opposed to inclusion but also parents of special needs students who were dealing with specific issues and have put together a plan that best meets the needs of as many people as possible. That plan as outlined above includes, in basic terms, integration when at all possible with special attention paid to stemming issues proactively instead of reactively and therefore avoiding violent outbursts and disturbances
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/06/21/nb-moncton-inclusion-school-isolation-room-1113.html#socialcomments
Autistic child pulled from school over use of Isolation room
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/06/23/nb-inclusion-terry-lynn-551.html#socialcomments
8 yr old with foetal alcohol syndrome, cerebral palsy and epilepsy pulled from school because no one would help her use washroom
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/06/22/nb-isolation-room-marc-1221.html
13 yr old with aspergers and bipolar disorder pulled from school over use of isolation room
Over the last year these three students were pulled from classes due to their treatment at the hands of school staff with one case verging close to serious neglect in the case of the cerebral palsy girl and the other two clear signs of abuse as the isolation rooms in question used in those schools are 3 walls bolted to the floor and a door that is held shut while the student is inside
Isolation rooms in general are not a bad thing as it does help an autistic child calm down, however a major part of the issue involved in these cases is the size of the room. In my child's school what is used as an isolation room is a small office sized room where the TA and student sit and wait for his issues to resolve themselves.
What is of particular issue lately is the fact that autistic children due to a lack of social skills and communication skills become upset due to the inability to communicate and can become disruptive and/or aggressive. This can be fixed if the TA involved is directly involved enough to pick up the signs of an impending issue and has the child leave the classroom before he becomes disruptive.
As i have watched these discussions over the last several days i have noticed a significant trend in that a large majority of people would prefer to see all special needs students removed from the classrooms which is no more a solution then a full and complete inclusion system is. The majority of students that have special needs can manage well in a standard classroom as long as certain needs are met.
1./ no person who needs help using the washroom should be forced to not have that help. A TA appointed to help the student at prearranged times or a simple paging system to have a TA come help in that situation is all that is needed in most cases and the TA involved could also be dealing with other low risk special needs students at the same time.
2./ no student who is at risk of violent behaviour or running away due to a special needs situation should ever be without a TA present. This TA would normally monitor the child for warning signs that they need a break and remove them from the classroom before an episode, allowing them to decompress without a violent episode and would also help the student with certain training outside the classroom that would be considered part of a special needs student's special education plan.
3./ Where at all possible special needs students should be part of a regular class for at least a portion of their day under the supervision of a TA when required due to behavioural issues.
4./ Those students with intellectual difficulties would have a modified education plan that would focus on making them as independent as possible while allowing them the ability to learn as much as possible of a normal school criteria.
5./ Those students who can not handle a classroom situation (they do exist but are fewer then some would like us to believe) would be taught to the best of the student's capabilities to keep as close an education level as students in their own age group as possible and including them in things like art, gym, music and library with a standard class where the student is capable of handling this.
During the debates over this issue in the last week I have monitored not only the discussions of those completely opposed to inclusion but also parents of special needs students who were dealing with specific issues and have put together a plan that best meets the needs of as many people as possible. That plan as outlined above includes, in basic terms, integration when at all possible with special attention paid to stemming issues proactively instead of reactively and therefore avoiding violent outbursts and disturbances
Friday, June 18, 2010
A Fight to the Bottom
I find as we get closer to this election that there is an interesting trend developing. That is the trend the two main parties are developing of fighting each other in a desperate bid to see who can finish lower in the standings as this election gets nearer.
We start with Graham a leader who stood tall and proud while he tried to sell this provinces utility out from underneath us, while repeatedly telling us the utility was hemorrhaging money. He has now quietly ignored the fact that for the second straight year NBpower has actually shown a profit and while the CEO of the company has admitted to lying outright about the fact to the public. Now unless he is totally incompetent he knew that this utility was not the money pig he was making it out to be and yet he ignores the fact that the details are coming out publicly.
We move to Alward who through several recent hiccups in the Con campaign has been absent leaving his MLA's (notably Jody Carr) to try to pick up the pieces and explain away the missteps or pretend they weren't missteps at all depending on the situation, while he hides and has nothing to say. While Jody defends his trip to NFLD Alward has said nothing, While Ashfield told Thompson that the Cons were not carrying the province on its back into the next election Alward has had nothing to say.
As we crawl through the bodies towards the next election do not be surprised to see the Libs and Cons even more violently fight to see who amongst them is going to end up with the least or even no seats come Sept. 27. Do not be surprised to see even the greens end up with more votes then either of these to parties come Sept. It is completely within the realms of possibility to see the libs and cons post 4 and 5 place finishes in ridings and in overall votes come the day of the election. Do not be surprised to see the best thing ever happen to this province of ours. Do not be surprised to see the people of this province stand up and say you will never take advantage of us this way again.
We start with Graham a leader who stood tall and proud while he tried to sell this provinces utility out from underneath us, while repeatedly telling us the utility was hemorrhaging money. He has now quietly ignored the fact that for the second straight year NBpower has actually shown a profit and while the CEO of the company has admitted to lying outright about the fact to the public. Now unless he is totally incompetent he knew that this utility was not the money pig he was making it out to be and yet he ignores the fact that the details are coming out publicly.
We move to Alward who through several recent hiccups in the Con campaign has been absent leaving his MLA's (notably Jody Carr) to try to pick up the pieces and explain away the missteps or pretend they weren't missteps at all depending on the situation, while he hides and has nothing to say. While Jody defends his trip to NFLD Alward has said nothing, While Ashfield told Thompson that the Cons were not carrying the province on its back into the next election Alward has had nothing to say.
As we crawl through the bodies towards the next election do not be surprised to see the Libs and Cons even more violently fight to see who amongst them is going to end up with the least or even no seats come Sept. 27. Do not be surprised to see even the greens end up with more votes then either of these to parties come Sept. It is completely within the realms of possibility to see the libs and cons post 4 and 5 place finishes in ridings and in overall votes come the day of the election. Do not be surprised to see the best thing ever happen to this province of ours. Do not be surprised to see the people of this province stand up and say you will never take advantage of us this way again.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Alwards Secret Energy Forums
Alward has decided to hold his secret energy forums and this concerns me. The aim is to develop a policy idea to take to the people sometime after the next election.
The problem with this is that his secret energy forums insiders seem to include the same people that were high on the idea of selling NBpower in the first place which means that the outcome of the meetings is likely to point to the same concept that Graham was working on which is sell at all costs and make sure that large industry gets a major rate cut in the process.
Somewhere along the lines Alward seems to have forgotten the message that was loud and clear at all the rallies held this winter and spring and that is that NBPower and any of its assets are not for sale.
This is our largest fear made real that Alward will sell out the same people that he pretended to help in a bid to get elected and will do it at the same terms or worse for the general consumer then Graham had already gotten. This cannot be allowed to happen.
If you have any intention of a real opportunity to not sell NBpower then you need to look to the PANB as they seem to be the only party that is looking at cleaning up the present mess NBpower is in and making it a viable profitable company still owned by the people of the province as it was intended to be
The problem with this is that his secret energy forums insiders seem to include the same people that were high on the idea of selling NBpower in the first place which means that the outcome of the meetings is likely to point to the same concept that Graham was working on which is sell at all costs and make sure that large industry gets a major rate cut in the process.
Somewhere along the lines Alward seems to have forgotten the message that was loud and clear at all the rallies held this winter and spring and that is that NBPower and any of its assets are not for sale.
This is our largest fear made real that Alward will sell out the same people that he pretended to help in a bid to get elected and will do it at the same terms or worse for the general consumer then Graham had already gotten. This cannot be allowed to happen.
If you have any intention of a real opportunity to not sell NBpower then you need to look to the PANB as they seem to be the only party that is looking at cleaning up the present mess NBpower is in and making it a viable profitable company still owned by the people of the province as it was intended to be
Monday, June 14, 2010
Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber
Well today Shawn Graham decided to announce a universal drug plan for all NBer's by 2012
My probem with this is that successive gov'ts both liberal and conservative and including Graham's have resisted calls for a Catastrophic Drug Plan but are now going to instead bring in a universal drug plan. This makes me suspect that it is highly unlikely that even in the far fetched chance he gets reelected that he will bother actually implementing this plan.
Alward on the other hand went one better. He in the time honoured tradition of so many previous gov'ts has promised a break to a group of individuals. This time to artists, now artists in and of themselves are unlikely to be able to swing a single seat as their are not that many artists in the province, say about 1 maybe 2 percent of the population but likely less.
My issue with this is like all previous gov'ts this break is in the form of a tax credit
Well la de da exactly what good does a tax credit do to put food on the table when most tax credits this one included are generally aimed at people who do not make enough to actually pay taxes to the gov't on an annual basis anyway.
Oh there will be a few probably less then 25% of artists will actually be able to use this credit at all and this is why gov'ts love tax credits.
It makes it look like you are doing the group a favour when in reality it usually costs you little to nothing at all.
so once again today graham promised a plan even bigger then one he had refused for the last four years as being too expensive, and alward promised a tax break to people who dont make enough money to even take advantage of it
and these are the people we pay to run our province.
My probem with this is that successive gov'ts both liberal and conservative and including Graham's have resisted calls for a Catastrophic Drug Plan but are now going to instead bring in a universal drug plan. This makes me suspect that it is highly unlikely that even in the far fetched chance he gets reelected that he will bother actually implementing this plan.
Alward on the other hand went one better. He in the time honoured tradition of so many previous gov'ts has promised a break to a group of individuals. This time to artists, now artists in and of themselves are unlikely to be able to swing a single seat as their are not that many artists in the province, say about 1 maybe 2 percent of the population but likely less.
My issue with this is like all previous gov'ts this break is in the form of a tax credit
Well la de da exactly what good does a tax credit do to put food on the table when most tax credits this one included are generally aimed at people who do not make enough to actually pay taxes to the gov't on an annual basis anyway.
Oh there will be a few probably less then 25% of artists will actually be able to use this credit at all and this is why gov'ts love tax credits.
It makes it look like you are doing the group a favour when in reality it usually costs you little to nothing at all.
so once again today graham promised a plan even bigger then one he had refused for the last four years as being too expensive, and alward promised a tax break to people who dont make enough money to even take advantage of it
and these are the people we pay to run our province.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Sometimes You Have to Wonder
So lets see in the last week both mainstream parties have really shown just what they are made of and it was both amusing and distressing at the same time
It also showed just how much alike the two parties really are. They really are no more then the same party with different names realistically
We will start with the vote buying checks that the Liberals were issuing. Well seems they had an unelected candidate involved in the scheme in one of the ridings they were hoping to take and the Conservatives screamed foul and called in the Chief Electoral officer... But oops it seems that last election the Conservatives did exactly the same thing with one of their candidates (and yes the Chief Electoral officer was called in then too if I remember correctly)
Next up was the Conservative trip to Nfld where Alward had a meeting with Danny Williams to try to work out a hydro deal of some sort (shouldn't that wait till AFTER he gets elected, if he does) and all on the taxpayers dime for travel. The Liberals screamed foul this time but last election period Graham went to the states and did the exact same thing and oh yeah the Conservatives did cry foul.
Sometimes there is such a thing as knowing when to keep your mouth shut and for those two parties realistically this is what they should have done over the last week or two because it is no wonder people no longer want to vote in this province anymore if this are the choices we have
It also showed just how much alike the two parties really are. They really are no more then the same party with different names realistically
We will start with the vote buying checks that the Liberals were issuing. Well seems they had an unelected candidate involved in the scheme in one of the ridings they were hoping to take and the Conservatives screamed foul and called in the Chief Electoral officer... But oops it seems that last election the Conservatives did exactly the same thing with one of their candidates (and yes the Chief Electoral officer was called in then too if I remember correctly)
Next up was the Conservative trip to Nfld where Alward had a meeting with Danny Williams to try to work out a hydro deal of some sort (shouldn't that wait till AFTER he gets elected, if he does) and all on the taxpayers dime for travel. The Liberals screamed foul this time but last election period Graham went to the states and did the exact same thing and oh yeah the Conservatives did cry foul.
Sometimes there is such a thing as knowing when to keep your mouth shut and for those two parties realistically this is what they should have done over the last week or two because it is no wonder people no longer want to vote in this province anymore if this are the choices we have
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
A Review of the Last Couple Days
Far be it from me to actually defend alwards decision to jet to Newfoundland while one of his party members who had won three consecutive elections decides to pack it in, instead of standing with him showing support for his decision.
Reality is the pure optics of this will bite him in the Ass in the end as it shows just another disconnect with the way Alward feels about the people in the trenches working to get him elected
The only bright spot in this is Alward went to visit the one premier with an 80%+ approval rating and a set of natural resources rivaling ours and we can only hope it was done for the purposes of getting some ideas of what to do with our precious resources. Even better perhaps he was going to get some idea of how to get our province off the recieving end of transfer payments.
But the reality of it was that it was to discuss energy and what he was discussing (an energy transmission deal) is something that realistically he does not have the right or ability to deal with as an opposition member and not till he is elected as premier which makes the optics of skipping Mr Leblanc's resignation extremely bad and leads to questions being asked of whether Mr Leblanc left willingly or was he pushed out in favour of a more vibrant (or leader friendly) person
on a final note the facebook poll started yesterday was done again today
Today's figures:
June 8
Conservatives 810 an increase of 1, at 38.9%;
PANB 696 an increares of 13, at 33.5%;
NDP 281 unchanged at 13.5%;
Liberal 225 an increase of 3 at 10.7%; and
Green Party data unavailable ( last reported 68) at 3.3 %.
and the upward trend continues
Reality is the pure optics of this will bite him in the Ass in the end as it shows just another disconnect with the way Alward feels about the people in the trenches working to get him elected
The only bright spot in this is Alward went to visit the one premier with an 80%+ approval rating and a set of natural resources rivaling ours and we can only hope it was done for the purposes of getting some ideas of what to do with our precious resources. Even better perhaps he was going to get some idea of how to get our province off the recieving end of transfer payments.
But the reality of it was that it was to discuss energy and what he was discussing (an energy transmission deal) is something that realistically he does not have the right or ability to deal with as an opposition member and not till he is elected as premier which makes the optics of skipping Mr Leblanc's resignation extremely bad and leads to questions being asked of whether Mr Leblanc left willingly or was he pushed out in favour of a more vibrant (or leader friendly) person
on a final note the facebook poll started yesterday was done again today
Today's figures:
June 8
Conservatives 810 an increase of 1, at 38.9%;
PANB 696 an increares of 13, at 33.5%;
NDP 281 unchanged at 13.5%;
Liberal 225 an increase of 3 at 10.7%; and
Green Party data unavailable ( last reported 68) at 3.3 %.
and the upward trend continues
Monday, June 7, 2010
A Different Sort of "poll"
someone decided to do a tally of facebook accounts associated with various political parties to see perhaps if there was a different result then the apparent result from the CRA poll group that was released last week
the results were interesting to say the least
Conservative party of NB - 809 or 39.1%
People's Alliance of NB - 683 or 33.1%
New Democratic Party - 281 or 13.6%
Liberal Party of NB - 222 or 10.6%
Green Party - 68 or 3.3%
this leads to a very interesting election putting the liberals behind even the NDP and the Peoples Alliance within 6 points of the conservatives
this shows a more apparent look at the disconnect between the liberal party and the population and gives a better understanding of the actual amount of following the PANB actually has
the results were interesting to say the least
Conservative party of NB - 809 or 39.1%
People's Alliance of NB - 683 or 33.1%
New Democratic Party - 281 or 13.6%
Liberal Party of NB - 222 or 10.6%
Green Party - 68 or 3.3%
this leads to a very interesting election putting the liberals behind even the NDP and the Peoples Alliance within 6 points of the conservatives
this shows a more apparent look at the disconnect between the liberal party and the population and gives a better understanding of the actual amount of following the PANB actually has
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Health Care Action Plan needed
there are two major health issues in this province one of which is just barely starting to get talked about (diabetes) and another which is fundamentally ignored (autism)
Diabetes affects 74000 people in this province of that 90 percent is preventable and controllable by diet. 7400 or are type one insulin dependant diabetes requiring constant monitoring and daily shot for life
The controllable version is largely caused by poor nutrition which is usually caused by lack of decent choices due to high cost of "healthy foods"
Autism affects 1 in 91 people worldwide or again almost 7400 people province wide and generally tho not exclusively boys
these two diseases are extremely underfunded in comparison to higher profile but less common diseases like cancer and the end results can be far more expensive
both diabetes and autism are growing exponentially and unless we first develop the ability for people to control the controllable type 2 and research proper options for type one we are going to find ourselves with an aging population that will be highly susceptible to other illnesses and disease and far increased costs of care
Autism is an even greater concern because many Autistic patients are unable to care for themselves sufficiently to live on their own
this will mean as this population ages (unlike diabetes patients who often die younger then average autistism patients live a normal life span) there will be a greater and greater need for special care facilities to deal with and properly care for autisistic patients
this is going to create a massive drain on the system unless we can find a way to alleviate the symptoms and stop the rapid growth of the disease within the population
as recently as 2000 autism was found in 1 in 110 people and in 10 years it has grown to 1 in 91 which is close to a 1% increase in 10 years
Diabetes affects 74000 people in this province of that 90 percent is preventable and controllable by diet. 7400 or are type one insulin dependant diabetes requiring constant monitoring and daily shot for life
The controllable version is largely caused by poor nutrition which is usually caused by lack of decent choices due to high cost of "healthy foods"
Autism affects 1 in 91 people worldwide or again almost 7400 people province wide and generally tho not exclusively boys
these two diseases are extremely underfunded in comparison to higher profile but less common diseases like cancer and the end results can be far more expensive
both diabetes and autism are growing exponentially and unless we first develop the ability for people to control the controllable type 2 and research proper options for type one we are going to find ourselves with an aging population that will be highly susceptible to other illnesses and disease and far increased costs of care
Autism is an even greater concern because many Autistic patients are unable to care for themselves sufficiently to live on their own
this will mean as this population ages (unlike diabetes patients who often die younger then average autistism patients live a normal life span) there will be a greater and greater need for special care facilities to deal with and properly care for autisistic patients
this is going to create a massive drain on the system unless we can find a way to alleviate the symptoms and stop the rapid growth of the disease within the population
as recently as 2000 autism was found in 1 in 110 people and in 10 years it has grown to 1 in 91 which is close to a 1% increase in 10 years
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