Comments on: betraying the public trust should mean resignation

By: Kateland

Kateland — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:11:59 +0000

Very good point about the ‘maternity leave’ and I hadn’t thought of that parallel – although you are showing your age as maternity leaves are no longer 12-16 weeks duration in Canada – that’s old school. Now the leaves are about a year. What if an elected official does go on either paternal or maternity leave for the entire duration? This would seem to leave constituents in a bit of a bind. But are there any guarantees the premier will only need 12 weeks? What if he gets an infection or complications result in a longer period.

As for New England vs Montreal, well there is the whole cost issue to consider. The distance might be further than say Maine but considering the rates often charged to foreign nationals, and the high cost of high quality care in the US, I’d still see Montreal as ‘win-win’ scenario. Of course, I am a bit of a nationalist, with a decidedly ‘Canada first’ bias so I’d rather spend any ‘costs’ in Canada supporting Canadian doctors, nurses, aids and hospitals rather than foreign ones.

By: James Bow

James Bow — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:41:30 +0000

"Prudence is always good, what disturbs me is the implausibility of the procedure not being offered in anywhere else in the country" In the country? Probably very implausible. However, maybe we should consider the geography here. Where exactly has he sought treatment? Is that closer to St. John's than, say, Montreal? If a certain procedure isn't available in the Atlantic provinces, it might make more sense to ship one out to a New England hospital rather than Montreal. I also agree that if he is going to be in recovery for some time, he should resign the premiership. However, if the recovery is only going to be twelve weeks, I would have less problem with him handing the reins over to his deputy. I mean, it's not much different than maternity leave, here.

By: Kateland

Kateland — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:22:29 +0000

Prudence is always good, what disturbs me is the implausibility of the procedure not being offered in anywhere else in the country – and my understanding of medical wait lists are strictly determined by the physician overseeing your case. So if he wanted to jump the list either in Newfoundland or somewhere else in country I wouldn’t care as long as he paid for it out of his own pocket but as gatekeeper of his province’s health care and a premier of a Canadian province I have issues. Of course, if his health needs at least a 12 week recovery period, he really should be resigning his premiership in the first place.

By: James Bow

James Bow — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:51:40 +0000

Before I pass judgement on this, I want to hear exactly what medical procedure he required, and why it wasn’t immediately available in Newfoundland.

Canada and the United States do swap medical cases. Sometimes the best available hospital for a particular service is across the border. It works both ways. So, maybe he was impatient and jumped the queue, or maybe what he needed wasn’t available in Newfoundland, or maybe what he needed was available in Newfoundland, but not soon enough to meet his medical need. Until we have more details, we don’t have anything concrete to argue on.