www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, November 27, 2009 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 --Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of Media Group Ltd. DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager Cross-border care costs everyone Are you fed up with waiting for an appointment with a medical specialist, an MRI or a medical procedure? You're not alone. According to a three-part Metroland Media Group special investigative report -- launched in yesterday's Oakville Beaver -- an astounding number of Ontarians are being sent south of the Canada/U.S. border in order to receive medical treatment they might not get here for weeks, even months. And we're talking about thousands of Ontario patients every year. According to figures uncovered by Metroland journalists, long waits, unavailable procedures and poor physician access has the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) footing the bill for millions of dollars worth of outof-Canada medical services. Since the start of this decade, OHIP approvals for outof-country care have risen 450 per cent -- from a total of 2,110 approved procedures in 2001 to 11,775 last year. In the last five years, the cost of these out-of-country medical visits to OHIP has tripled, from $56.3 million in 2005, to an anticipated $164.3 million in 2010. There are no signs on the horizon that the desperate shortage of access to health care in this province is stabilizing. In its October economic forecast, the provincial government said it would need to increase health spending by $700 million to cover "higher than anticipated" OHIP costs, including out-of-province services. Ontario's demand for more accessible health care has become so intense that it has spawned career opportunities for medical brokers -- people who negotiate discounted rates with U.S. medical centres so that Ontarians can obtain diagnostics, second opinions and surgery far faster than in their home province. According to these brokers, for every patient that is sent south of the border for treatment -- at OHIP's expense -- there are as many as 10 others willing to pay out of their own pocket. While our government claims to be working toward improving access to health care in Ontario, the Province has become a major contractor and bulk buyer of American health services in order to ensure that Ontarians, whose health is at risk, can obtain the care they need as quickly as possible. There's something fundamentally wrong with this picture. Once considered the envy of nations around the world, the Canadian approach to health care is no longer working in Ontario. People who are ill shouldn't have to leave the familiarity of their own country -- often at their own expense -- to receive expedient health care. It is time for our leaders to admit the system isn't working, recognize it can't continue this way and then agree to sit down to find a non-partisan cure for a system that is failing -- and ailing -- all of us. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Letter to the editor Oakville MPP says HST not a tax grab Over the past couple of weeks in this paper, a number of comments have been made in reference to the Ontario Tax Plan for More Jobs and Growth Act specifically on the tax cuts and reforms and the harmonization of the provincial and federal sales tax supported by Prime Minister Harper and federal Finance Minister Flaherty. It is essential that both sides of this important issue are brought forward in order for Ontarians to make an informed decision. Much of the information to date has been one-sided and fuelled by inaccurate scaremongering via phony chain e-mails and form letters. The Ontario government has been working to lessen the impacts of the global recession on our families and businesses by making significant investments in job creation, health care and education. But as important as these measures are, I feel that our government has a responsibility to position Ontario for future prosperity and economic growth. Unlike the opposition parties, our government feels this is exactly the right time to implement tax cuts for both individuals and businesses. That is why we are cutting taxes. If passed, the new legislation would provide Ontario individuals, families and businesses with more than $15-billion in tax cuts -- $10.6-billion for Ontario individuals and families. On Jan. 1, 2010, we intend to cut the tax rate on the first income bracket you earn by 16.5 per cent which makes it the lowest rate in the country. These tax cuts would apply to 93 per cent of taxpayers and would remove 90,000 low-income Ontarians from our tax rolls altogether. Our plan also doubles the current property and sales tax credits -- particularly important to low and middleincome Ontarians including seniors. Letters to the editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via email to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. HST may cost small retailer In regards to Mike Smith's letter on HST, the facts are accurate, but incomplete. As a relatively small retailer, I'm being paid $1,500 per year for collecting and remitting the eight per cent PST, and nothing at all for collecting the 5 per cent GST. If the two are rolled together as HST, unless they decide to pay the $1,500 for collecting it (and that's not likely), that's $1,500 of lost revenue. It does not cost me $1,500 in labour annually to calculate and remit the PST, even when it's done monthly. Based on the PST component, that's the additional 8 per cent cost on $18,750 of HST taxable expenses, which means that there's no savings at all until the expenses exceed that level. If the expenses are low enough, it can actually cost a portion of that $1,500. The result is that the larger retailers will benefit more. The little guy may benefit less, and it's possible for it to even cost him. LEN NEATH BY STEVE NEASE neasecartoons@gmail.com Pud See HST page 14