357,700 Can't be Wrong

Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement overturned the CRTC's decision to allow large Canadian ISPs (Bell and Rogers) to start using Usage Based Billing.

While this is good news, I'm still watching and waiting to see what actually happens. I've seen governments flip-flop on shit before.

Konrad von Finckenstein, Chair of the  CRTC, is scheduled to explain the decision Thursday before the House of Commons industry committee. I hope he gets hung out to dry. Come on: How was this NOT an obvious cash grab by a large telecom company? (Bell is responsible for the instigation of the CRTC review). Maybe the whole board should be brought out for this. Replace all of the them with business people, engineers, and others that aren't in any way beholden to the telecom industry......

Yeah, right.

Mr. Clements decision  was prompted by thousands of emails he received and a petition started by OpenMedia that had, at my last check, 357,700 people signed on.

The most impressive thing about all of this is the fact that the Conservative Government actually decided to listen to the will of the people. The NDP and the Liberals are already on board for it. So if the CRTC doesn't backtrack and try something else, this could end up with some legislation.

Now lets see if we can get them to do something about our damn cell phone bills. :)

If you haven't yet, go sign the petition. Lets make a BIG push that Mr. Clement and the CRTC will never forget.

Canadian Health care for dummies.

After having a few discussions with American friends regarding the Canadian health care system, I thought I'd write a quick synopsis (so i can stop having to explain it over and over) and rant a bit after.

Most health care in Canada (barring hospitals) is provided by private enterprises or private corporations.
This means that doctors are not in the employ of the government, but rather are private practices. Doctors are paid on a fee-per-visit/service and bill the insurer.
The Public part of our health care system is that your health insurance is provided by the government of the province in which you reside. It's funded primarily through income taxes. There are some things it doesn't cover, such as prescription drugs (although drug prices are negotiated with suppliers by the federal government to keep cost under control) and non-emergency dental care. Cosmetic surgery is not covered by provincial health insurance.

It gets a little more complicated than that, but this is a synopsis, not a full blown critique.

Basically it boils down to this: Except for hospitals, Health care in Canada is provided privately, but paid for publicly.

I like the set up the Canadian health care has. Even though health insurance is publicly funded, it still cost the government lest per capita that the US (US$3,678 for Canada, and U.S., US$6,714 for the states in 2006). Please note: This is GOVERNMENT spending. Private insurers are NOT included in this number.

I personally think the US should have adopted a similar system to Canada's. The only problem is the republican party seems to be in the private insurance companies pocket. It really doesn't have anything to do with ideology, as it is in the best interest of the people. It has everything to do with the almighty dollar.

Maybe one day they'll pull their heads out of their asses and realize its better for the government AND the people. Just once I'd like to see them say: Screw you big business, we're going to do what's right for the people, not your pockets.

This will never happen. Mostly because of guys like this:

Now i know why Bill and Ted were always like "Whoa......"
This is some good shit......

He is not a politician, but leads a large, very vocal cult of followers and like minds. They opposed the health care reform most likely because they were to busy sticking their heads in the sand to do a little research about the Scary Communist Canadian health care system. That and Capitalism is far more important than the well being of The People, apparently.

You see, the thing that's best about the Canadian health care system is this: Young, old, terminal illness, emergencies, just a check up, its always there for you. If you are live in Canada and you need health care, they will never turn you away because you have no health insurance. All you have to do is smile, present your provincial health card, and wait your turn. It's by no means perfect, it has its share of problems, but the system does work.

Oh, and one other thing: Medicinal Marijuana is legal in Canada if you have the right paperwork. Anyone in chronic pain doesn't always have to rely on pharmaceutical painkillers with high addiction rates unless necessary. It's a nice touch.

Thanks for reading, now i don't have to explain it every damn time someone asks. If you want a little more info the Wikipedia article covers a lot more.

Canadian climate change and American politics

I was reading a couple of articles about the effect the Republican Party with have on climate change legislation in the U.S. and I realized something: they are going to have a profound impact on Canadian climate legislation.

The reason for this is that the Conservative government has decided not to take a stand on climate change on its own. It has instead decided to "follow the lead of the American government". I'm not sure why this is the case. We don’t base our social or military programs around the American policies, why climate change?

Before I go any farther I will out myself: Politically I sit centre-left, so i fully support climate change legislation. Back to work, then.

The problems lies in that a large portion of the Republican Party are climate change deniers or, alternatively believe that we don’t contribute as much as most scientists (read: Ph.D. level climatologists) say we do. The recent mid-terms in the U.S. have left them with the ability to filibuster climate change legislation (or any legislation, for that matter) in the senate, and down-right kill it in the House of Representatives.

This leaves Canada in a position where we will be in one of two positions:
1) Having no meaningful climate change policy
2) Repealing any legislation (what little there is) already in place because we are "following the lead" of our southern neighbor.

I don’t think number two will actually happen (not very soon anyways), but it’s a very real possibility (in my mind) if conservatives in the states win many more seats (and the Canadian government sticks with its current policy). The Canadian Government needs to stand up and make a policy decision of its own. They shouldn’t look to others for policy decisions. They should do what democracy is supposed to have them do: Legislate according to the will of the electorate.

Feel free to disagree with me, but trolls and flamer posts will be deleted.

Edit: Here are two of the articles that got me thinking:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/885484--alberta-s-dirty-oil-image-cleaned-by-u-s-midterms
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/24/tea-party-climate-change-deniers