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4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, January 14, 1986 Editorial Comments NHL Mind-Set Following a (ash of eye injuries' in recent weeks, more and more National Hockey League players have decided to wear the clear 'plastic visor that covers the eye and nose area of the face. Some observers have predicted that. over the next few years, the visors will be as common-place on NHL players as helmets are now. And why not? A puck whistling at 100 mph or an errant stick or skate blade in the eye can put a Quick end to a lucrative professional hockey career. Incredibly, as more players decide to wear the protective eye visor, there are some hockey observers who believe it will lead to more high-sticking. They argue that if players know an opponents eyes are protected, they won't think twice about using the stick around the head or face. And you know what? They're right. One need only look at what's happened in the game since the introduction of mandatory face-masks ~ at the junior and minor levels. The amount of high-sticking in some of these games is almost criminal and invariably leads to retaliation and fighting. Ee There is one way, however, that flagrant stick violations could be eliminated in both the minor and NHL ranks. Simply make it an automatic major penalty for any contact with the stick above an op- ponents waist. It make take a year with teams playing 60 minutes with two men in the penalty box, but eventually it would help curb the v 8 slashing, cross-checking, spearing and high sticking in- fractions that are ruining the sport. Will it be done? Not likely at the NHL level. it's a shame that when players finally take 'steps to protect themselves and prolong their careers, that league officials don't take corresponding steps to nip another problem in the bud. But then the NHL has a certain mind-set about how the game is played that filters down into all other levels of hockey in North America. When it comes to stick infractions, that mind-set has to be broken with some tough changes to the rules. 'Keeps on Falling Last week, former Ontario Premier William- Davis unveiled a report he co-authored which deals with the deadly problem of acid rain. Davis, and an American, Drew Lewis, were commissioned nearly a year ago by the Canadian and U.S. governments to come up with a report-on acid rain. They were paid the token sum of $1 for their efforts. With the release of the report last week, some environmentalists are wondering if the report is worth the token sum. The major recommendation in the report calls on the American government and private sector to spend $5 billion over the next five -years to reduce the pollutants that are spewing from the smoke-stacks at hundreds of coal-fired power plants and factories in the States. That sounds fine. But there's a footnote. The actual polluters must agree. to put up 50 per cent of the money. If anybody thinks that privately-owned power plants and factories the industrial heartland of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York are going to voluntarily fork over $2.5 billion to reduce acid rain, they pro- bably would be interested in buying a bridge in Brooklin. Mr. Davis at least had the candor to admit last week that the reports' recommendations were worded in soft terms to appease the Americans and especially Ronald Reagan, a man who has consistent- pid RRSN ERY! | i ~ C'MON PEOPLE LET'S NOT LITTERUP OUR NICE LAKE coo o (Turn to page 6) the (Cha tr ora = Os | 3A CERRINA! 3) N ' | J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co Ltd Port Perry Ontario J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by the Post Otfice Department. Ottawa and for cash CATHY ROBB payment of postage in cash News & Features Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate In Canada $15 00 per year Elsewhere $45 00 per year Single Copy 35° COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher N Chatterbox by John B. McClelland DOCTORS AND OHIP. Sometime in the next couple of months, the government of Ontario is going to turn my doctor into a civil servant. And I don't like it. ~~ As just about everyone knows, Ontario has in- troduced legislation that will make it a crime for physicians to extra-bill patients above the rates set out in the OHIP fee schedule. What this means is that all doctors Will be - forced to charge exactly the same for their ser- vices, regardless of expertise, experience, knowledge and so on. This new legislation is not going to directly af- fect a great number of physicians as only about 12 per cent at this time are '"'opted out" of OHIP. And quite frankly, my objections are not bas- ed on the fact that a few doctors may lose some money because they are no longer able to "extra bill' patients above the OHIP rates. Let's face it, the medical profession is not exactly at the bot- tom of the heap when it comes to earning money. But there's a principle involved here: a very important principle as far as I'm concerned. The government is intruding sharply on the rights of a group of professionals to charge what they want for services rendered. By forcing all physicians to work to the OHIP scale, the government has essentially put them on the civil service payroll. The Ontario Medical Association, which represents the 17,000 physicians in this province, is upset. The OMA is threatening a series of rotating strikes, similar to those that took place a couple of years ago. While I'm 'disturbed that the option for a physician to maintain a total relationship with a patient, which includes the fees, will be eliminated, I can't help but wonder just what the real reasons are. A ban on extra billing made a neat campaign slogan that caught the attention of people who figured it's about time somebody did something about those "greedy doctors' who were putting the screws to helpless patients, for a few more dollars. But what good is the ban on extra billing real- ly going to do for the people of Ontario? Nothing, as far as I can see, except rile the medical pro- fession. Is it going to get rid of the long wait for elective surgery at most hospitals? No way. Those long waits are the result of over-crowding, not physicians who have opted out. Is it going to make it any easier just to get an appointment with a specialist? Not likely. The reason it takes weeks, even months to get some appointments is because there are too few in cer- tain medical specialities, not because of extra- billing. I think the medical profession has every right to be upset, even those who are not out of OHIP and had no intention of ever opting out of the system. The profession has been told that this is what can be charged for a service, and if any doc- tor charges more than that, the fine can be as high as $10,000. I don't think government has the right to take that option away from any group of in- dividuals, least of all the medical profession. Over the past decade, my family has had to make extensive use of the medical health services in this province, including the services of physi- cians who were in and out of the OHIP plan. I have come to admire the fact that Ontario seemed to have a workable "mix" in health care whereby OHIP covers the cost of stays in hospitals, tests, X-rays and so on, and also covers most of the physicians fees. I didn't begrudge the fact that some physicians, for their own reasons, decided to "opt out' of the system. Ontario seemed to strike a happy medium bet- ween the system in Britain, for example, where doctors are paid a salary by the state, and that in the United States, where the patient must pay everything. The system in Ontario is far from perfect, but opted out'doctors aren't to blame for that. Rather than turn the medical profession into an arm of "the civil service, the government should be tackl- ing the problem of lack of beds, out-dated equip- ment in hospitals, and the fact that there are not enough physicians in certain medical specialties. I suspect that the OMA will eventually take this issue to court and try to have the legislation ruled invalid on the grounds that it infringes on certain fundamental rights. I hope the OMA wins. When I have to use the services of a physician, I would like to think that physician is working for me, not the government. MARRIAGE 'SHE GOES OUT WITH THE GIRLS ON TUESDAYS ANC 1 GO OUT WITH THEM ON WEDNESDAYS. WHAT'6 WRONG WITH THAT 2" Ey a COORG ONG) 0 SECA in i IRE ZN ENA Nn