Re: Clement doesn't reflect Canadians' views

To the editor of the Sudbury Star

I read Dave Wiley's Letter of the Day in the April 13th edition. Mr. Wiley takes exception to the wait time guarantee announced by Stephen Harper's government April 4th and I agree with him. It is a farce and I hope Canadians don't actually believe that will actually have any effect with regard to improved health care.

What also caught my eye, though, was Mr. Wiley's criticism of Tony Clement and the perceived threat to the public health care system through privatization and for profit health care providers. He closes with "Canadians want a public health-care system that is fully funded by taxpayers. Clement's job is not to promote the Conservative health-care vision, but the vision of Canadians."

While Mr. Wiley has the presumption to speak for me, this Canadian wants a universal health care system that provides adequate and timely care while making the most cost effective use of the money we Canadians provide for it. The current system is falling short on efficient delivery and, in my opinion, Tony Clement's job is to move towards improved cost effective services without regard to dogmatic ideology. Whether the system that provides the service is public or private does not concern me nearly as much as fact that the service needs to be provided in a much better manner than it is now.

Government Funding

To the editor of the Sudbury Star

I read Denis St. Pierre's story on the city budget (Revenue up more than inflation rate, April 10th) as well as other stories, including the recent health care funding announcement by Stephen Harper. Each tier of government looks to senior levels for funding of various initiatives and programs. Those senior levels may look good by providing money or may be blamed for shortcomings in the delivery of services by withholding the cash. The implication is that the money belongs to whichever level of government, munificent or tightwad, that is making the decision.

The truth here is that any money under discussion, regardless of which level of government possesses it at the moment, belong to us, the taxpayers. The shuffling of cash between the various tiers is nothing more than a shell game that makes accountability for the delivery of services very difficult to assess.

Wouldn't it be nice if the responsibility for providing services and programs was allocated to the level of government that made the most sense, and each government was only able to collect taxes for those specific services it was obligated to provide. With the exception of equalization payments, each tier would levy the taxes and pay the entire bill for whatever its obligations were. Then all the finger pointing that goes on about transfers would be taken out of the equation and our municipal, provincial and federal governments would be totally accountable to us, the taxpayers, for how well they do their jobs.