Obama did it. Trump does it. Trudeau does it too. Politicians talk about values as if they know what voters think.

A politician promotes his values to normalize his vision.

Tricky politicians use familiar words and give them new meaning. They use popular support for one thing to build support for something completely different.

For example, since everyone supports motherhood, it shows we support apple pie too.

On his quest for state medicine, Tommy Douglas told a story. Young Tom needed surgery. His family was poor. A surgeon fixed Tommy for free. It was great for Tommy, but what about all the other sick kids? Is it fair that farmers must choose between losing the farm and losing a daughter’s limb?

Compassion Not Equality

Most Medicare books start the same way. The author tells a story about disease and financial ruin, before Medicare. They appeal to compassion and inflame fear of loss. People should never suffer without care or go broke from medical bills.

Canadians agree. We are moved by suffering and loss. And that is where we get tricked. Douglas and company trades compassion for “equality” and fear for “care regardless of ability to pay.”

But compassion is not the same as equality. They are as different as colour and temperature. No one knows the temperature of purple. They are different categories. Compassion and equality are different categories also. It is a category mistake to conflate the two. Continue reading “Compassion Not Equality – Canadian Values in Medicare”

Premier Ford fooled me.

People have asked what I think about this week’s arbitration fiasco.

For the first time, a Canadian government walked away from arbitration.

The Arbitration Act of 1991 defines the law that parties must follow, when they agree to a third party process to resolve disputes.

It is bad when a government overturns an arbitration ruling. It is unheard of to walk away during the middle of arbitration. It is like walking out of a court case.  No one does that.

Ford has found ways to do what no one else thought he could. He kicked out Hydro One directors, cancelled Solar and Wind contracts, and did not hesitate to whip out the notwithstanding clause.

Pundits rolled their eyes at first. Not anymore.

Regular voters want action. Most do not read political philosophy. One quarter of American adults have not even read a single book of any kind in the last 12 months.   Why would voters know or care about all the ways Ford Nation tramples good government?

What Flavour is Ford?

Premier Ford campaigned as a Progressive Conservative. But is he even progressive or conservative?

There are Birkenstocked Burkeans, paleo-cons, social-cons, neo-cons, theo-cons, crunchy-cons (my favourite),  baby-cons, and a hundred other flavours.

What flavour is Ford? Continue reading “Ford Fools Physicians on Arbitration?”

Legolas trained his ear on Caradhras, “There is a fell voice on the air.”

The entrails of lynx and the hump of hyena divine the portents. Palm readers foretell young widows, poverty and bankruptcy.

Doctors plumbed new depths this weekend. Starving sailors cast lots on whom to eat first. After six years of cuts, OMA council seems to have voted to attack colleagues. Rob Peter to pay Paul. Is the profession imploding?

When the day looks darkest, and the opposition insuperable, it is the worst possible time to cast lots on whom to throw overboard.

You might as well surrender. You have lost the ground to govern. No amount of rhetoric can justify support for even greater cuts to specific sections at the depths of the deepest cuts of all times. Continue reading “Government Wins if Doctors Win – Doctors’ Darkest Hour”