"What's a grit?"
Posted on 05/26/2008 4:45:05 AM PDT by Clive
Grits show second-term rot
Important issues unresolved while government debates The Lord's Prayer and gender surgery
The symptom is arrogance -- the desire to fix things that ain't broke, just because they can.
The diagnosis is second term rot.
It's a disease that afflicts governments that work hard to get re-elected and then find themselves desperately looking for something to do.
First, there was Premier Dalton McGuinty's plan to axe the Lord's Prayer in the legislature.
Several Liberal backbenchers are up in arms, and say this move came out of nowhere.
York West Liberal Mario Sergio feels very personally about this and has been inundated with signatures on petitions in his riding. He's even been asked to speak about the issue at churches.
He claims other Liberals are also opposed to the plan.
"I don't have a count, (of those opposing it) but I will tell you when we speak in the House or in the lobby, everyone says, 'why are we touching this? Where did this come from?' " he told me in a recent interview.
"Many others are shaking their heads, but not pronouncing themselves," he said.
"It has caught many Liberals by total surprise, coming from nowhere. I have to tell you I am not in support of changing it, modifying it, whatever," he said.
"We are nibbling at the few things we have left as Ontarians and Canadians here," Sergio said.
Good for him! It's a rare Grit backbencher who stands up to the leader these days. He's not alone in questioning recent policy decisions.
FUNDING FOR SEX CHANGES
Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor was quoted recently questioning the announcement by Health Minister George Smitherman that he is going to reinstate funding for sex change operations.
In an interview in the St. Catharines Standard and Niagara Falls Review last week, Craitor told reporter John Robbins he was "caught by surprise" by the announcement.
"There definitely are a lot of other priorities -- I'm going to acknowledge that," Craitor said.
"There are probably a lot of other things I'd like to see us work on. I know, because I have people in my riding (for whom) I'm trying to get things covered."
A Montreal clinic performs sex change surgery for about $17,000 a pop. Funding for it was ended by the Mike Harris government in 1998. Some advocates estimate the number of people waiting for sex change surgery as high as 200.
What all this represents, of course, is the disconnect between the McGuinty government's urban caucus with its grass roots support around the province -- and a desperate attempt by Liberal MPPs to distance themselves from the central decision-making process.
Smitherman represents Toronto Centre, a riding that is home to a large number of transgendered people. He ignores the fact you can't get an eye exam without paying, since the Grits delisted that service, along with physiotherapy and chiropractic services in their first budget.
SQUEAKY WHEELS
Look, no doubt we're all moved by the plight of people who think they're trapped in a body that's the wrong sex. Frankly, though, the part of their body that needs examination is their head, not their private bits. And you can't have health policy dictated by what is politically popular in downtown Toronto. Talk about squeaky wheels!
Fact is, it all comes down to cash. Why can we re-list sex change operations while refusing state-of-the art medication to cancer or hepatitis B patients? Easy. There are fewer people asking for it. That's the wrong way to assign health cash.
Perhaps what we should do is set up a medical savings account for everyone in the province. Everyone gets the same amount of cash every year to save for a catastrophic diagnosis. Or a sex change. If the meds or the procedure cost more than you've got stashed away, then you pay for it out of your own pocket.
What could be fairer than that? That way, everyone is entitled to the same amount of cash -- use it as you will, so long as it's for a health issue.
I'll give Sergio and Craitor the benefit of the doubt and hope they're not just saying one thing for home consumption in their ridings and doing another thing in caucus. Unlikely revolutionaries, for sure. But rebels with a cause, at least.
-
I just know the average resident of Ontario is clamoring for “gender reassignment surgery.”
Until Mike Harris is resurrected, McGuinty will not be “reassigned” to the scrap heap of politics.
I realize the NDP has had its shot at “leadership” and lets hope they never get it again.
Then we have the People’s Democratic Republic of Ontario for sure.
"What's a grit?"
Slang term for liberal, just as tory goes with conservative.
It looked like a small bowl of cream of wheat but the waitress had forgotten the milk and sugar and as she was very busy serving other customers I gave it a pass.
In the South we'll always 'forget' the milk and sugar on grits. We save that for the coffee, if for anything!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.