9/11

Not September 11, 2001 but November 9, 2007 which can also be written 9/11.

The day the U.S. stock market crashed from its current consumer credit crisis.

Stocks fell for a third session on Friday after a disappointing outlook from Qualcomm Inc triggered more weakness in technology shares and helped send the Nasdaq down to its biggest weekly point loss since the September 11, 2001, attacks.

I just thought the coincidence of the dates was one of those interesting occult significators that occurs as part of the psychology of the market. A market in a recession that many dare not admit is happening.

Adding to the negative tone, Fannie Mae , the largest source of mortgage financing in the United States, posted a third-quarter net loss that was double its loss from a year ago. Its shares ended the session down 1.6 percent at $49.00, after earlier dropping 10.6 percent to a fresh 52-week low at $44.54.

And Wachovia Corp , the fourth-largest U.S. bank, shook up financial markets some more by reporting a potential $1.7 billion loss on mortgage-related debt. Wachovia's stock fell more than 5 percent to a 52-week low at $38.05, but then rebounded to finish the day up 0.9 percent at $40.65.

And while Wall Street will continue its daily boom and bust cycle it is now part of global stock market, one which means that crashes occur not just on the street but around the globe as we witnessed with the bank crash last month in England.

The Economist cites various phenomena that are contributing to converging global markets. Among them: reduced controls on capital, a larger number of cross-border listings, and multinational mergers.

In just the past few months alone, some of the world's biggest stock exchanges have announced agreements or mergers to integrate trading systems. Back in April, NYSE Group merged with European market Euronext to create what is now NYSE Euronext. The European Union's internal market commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, said that the NYSE/Euronext union marks the beginning of stock market mergers and "at some point we will see moves toward a common pool of liquidity."

Furthermore, many companies are listed in multiple global markets in order to gain access to foreign capital. Just as some foreign companies appear on U.S. exchanges -- like GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), Novartis (NYSE: NVS), and CNOOC (NYSE: CEO) -- U.S. companies such as IBM (NYSE: IBM), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), and General Electric (NYSE: GE) are listed on the Frankfurt and London exchanges.

Finally, a few major international mergers have taken place in the past five years, including Alcatel-Lucent and Arcelor Mittal. The effects of such unions increase global market correlation because the newly formed companies are known in multiple countries and generate revenues in multiple markets.

CIBC joins the writedown parade
Bank will take a $463-million hit in fourth quarter on its exposure to U.S. mortgage market

The credit crunch, which has been hammering the largest U.S. financial institutions, is increasingly taking its toll on Canadian banks.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce yesterday said it will take a $463-million fourth-quarter charge on its exposure to the U.S. mortgage market, bringing its total writedowns to the market to $753-million in the past six months.

In other developments late yesterday, Bank of Montreal's shares fell almost 5 per cent - much of that decline in the final hours of trading - as that bank contends with its exposure to structured investment vehicles, or SIVs. And Royal Bank of Canada's stock closed yesterday near its 52-week low.

In the sector at large, tens of billions of dollars have already dropped off the banking system's balance sheets, and the dominoes continue to fall.

It is America's Main Street, which has kept the U.S. economy going on cheap credit and the resulting consumption, is now drowning in the quicksand of rising rates, personal bankruptcies and foreclosures. Whose impact will continue through out 2008.

And both the pro-business types and the left agree that the American financial markets have an addiction to being bailed out.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board acted "like a bartender" in lowering interest rates and its actions are contributing to a stock market bubble in the U.S., Marc Faber, the Hong Kong-based publisher of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, said.

"Each time you bail out, it becomes bigger and bigger, and the credit problems become much, much larger," said Faber, managing director of Marc Faber Ltd. The Fed "feeds its customers with booze, and when they get totally drunk and are about to fall off their chairs, the bartender gives them more booze to keep them going. One day, it will lead to the ultimate breakdown."

"The best for the system would be if a major player would go bust," Faber said. "Then there would be an example for investors and for the players, the Wall Street establishment, the banks, to be more prudent."

As most people now realize, the mortgage industry is on life-support. Many of the ways that the banks were generating profits have vanished overnight. The “securitization” of debt (mortgages, car loans, credit card debt etc) has ground to a halt. What had been a booming multi-billion dollar per-year business is now a dwindling part of the banks’ revenues. Investors are steering clear of anything even remotely associated to real estate.

Bloomberg News ran a story last week which sheds more light on the jam the banks now find themselves in:

Banks shut out of the market for short-term loans are finding salvation in a government lending program set up to revive housing during the Great Depression. Countrywide Financial Corp., Washington Mutual Inc., Hudson City Bancorp Inc. and hundreds of other lenders borrowed a record $163 billion from the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks in August and September as interest rates on asset-backed commercial paper rose as high as 5.6 percent. The government-sponsored companies were able to make loans at about 4.9 percent, saving the private banks about $1 billion in annual interest.

Is it possible that anyone with a pulse and a minimal ability to reason couldn’t see the inherent problems of building a financial edifice on the prospect that millions of first-time homeowners with bad credit history and no collateral would pay off there mortgages in a timely and responsible manner?

No. It is not possible. The real reason that the subprime swindle mushroomed into an economy-busting monster is that the markets are no longer policed by any agency that believes in intervention. The pervasive “free market” ideology rejects the notion of supervision or oversight, and as a result, the markets have become increasingly opaque and unresponsive to rules that may assure their continued credibility or even their ability to function properly.

The “supply side” avatars of deregulation have transformed the world’s most vital and prosperous markets into a huckster’s shell-game. All regulatory accountability has vanished along with trillions of dollars in foreign investment. What’s left is a flea-market for dodgy loans, dubious over-leveraged equities and “securitized” Triple A-rated garbage.

U.S. Financial business is crying for state intervention while their political cronies in the Republican party deny their citizens universal health-care, child care, pharma-care, and secure pensions because that smacks of socialism. But socialism for the rich is okay.

See:

Bank Smack Down

Purdy Crawford Rescues the Market

Sub Prime Exploitation

Canadian Banks and The Great Depression

Wall Street Deja Vu

Housing Crash the New S&L Crisis

US Housing Market Crash

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asset-backed commercial paper ,, UK
homes, mortgages, housing, housing bubble, US, economy, 9?11, sub-prime mortgage, Wall Street, crash, recession,

A Union the Conservatives Like

The 'bosses favorite union' Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) and its front group the Work Research Foundation.

Secretary of State Kenney Attends Work Research Foundation Presentation About Vimy Ridge

MOUNT HOPE, Ontario, November 8, 2007 -- The Honourable Jason Kenney, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity), will attend tomorrow the Work Research Foundation's presentation "Leadership Lessons From Vimy Ridge" at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.

As part of Veterans' Week, the presentation will deliver a message about Canada's historic role in World War I's Battle of Vimy Ridge and honour the Canadians involved in that battle.

"The Government of Canada remembers and honours the achievements of the extraordinary men and women who have served and are serving Canada," said Secretary of State Kenney. "I am pleased to attend this presentation and I commend the Work Research Foundation on its efforts to commemorate the sacrifices and achievements of our veterans and to help Canadians draw leadership lessons from the Battle of Vimy Ridge."

"Secretary of State Jason Kenney speaks and thinks with a powerful knowledge of history framing his words. He not only honours the courage and sacrifice of our Canadian soldiers, but he honours the great ideas of history that we seek to protect and for which Canadian men and women have given their lives," said Michael Van Pelt, President of the Work Research Foundation.

The Work Research Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation that was incorporated in 1974 with a mission to advance a Christian view of work, civic society, and public life. The foundation functions as a research organization and think-tank focussing on productivity and work relationships.

Their 'Christian' views are those of Calvinist protestant sect; the Christian Reformed Church in Canada for whom both organizations are front groups.

They are ideologically right wing and organizers have been active in the Reform party as well as the Conservative Party. They are avowedly anti-Social Democrat and pro right to work.




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Political Vendetta

"Mr. Speaker, in no democracy in this world," cried Van Loan as the questions persisted for days, "does a prime minister and a party use their power to conduct political vendettas against their political enemies."

Oh really what would you call this then.....

Climatologists puzzled at rationale for ending research fund
"I truly think they don't understand what research means," said Dr. Andrew Weaver, a climatologist from the University of Victoria's School of Earth

Feds cutting climate studies: Nobel winners
Nobel Prize-winning scientists from Canada say the Harper government has shut down a federal climate change research network and blocked new studies on the ...

Nobel scientists deliver stinging criticism of federal government
"I can only put it down as one of two things," said Dr. Andrew Weaver, a climatologist from the University of Victoria's School of Earth and Ocean Sciences.

Canadian scientists sharing Nobel prize
University of Victoria senior scientist Ken Denman said the prestigious award raises climate change in the public consciousness.

The Conservatives of course may be upset over their flat earth 'pals' getting short shrift on CBC's Fifth Estate, the same program that exposed the Mulroney Schrieber affair that Van Loan was actually referring to in his quote.

From basic statistics mistakes to subliminal language tricks,
The Denial Machine disgraces the CBC

Another less severe, though still significant subliminal trick used by the Fifth Estate is the way they identify scientists on each side of the debate:

Climate alarmist Dr. Andrew Weaver is identified as a “climatologist” at the University of Victoria and “one of the authors of that definitive international report.”

Climate ‘skeptics’ are ascribed lesser credentials. I (Tim Ball) am just “a retired University of Winnipeg Professor”, a “so-called expert” “who hasn’t published original research in years”.

SEE

Junque Journalism

Michael Crichton Climate Change Denier

Strange Bedfellows

Saving Capitalism From Itself

Echo Chamber

Fraser Institutes Flat Earth Report

Fraser Institute Meets Bill O'Riley

Flat Earth Society Meets In London

Capitalism Creates Global Warming

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Back To Basics

Black Holes were supposed to absorb everything around them..nothing was supposed to come out of them..now apparently they shoot out cosmic rays ....reminding us again of the truth of that old saying; for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.....

Black holes spew out cosmic rays

An artist’s portrayal of the IC 10 X-1 system shows a black hole at the upper left and its companion star is on the right. Ultra-high energy cosmic rays -- particles that pack the punch of a rifle shot -- make their way to Earth from massive black holes in nearby galaxies, scientists said on Thursday, in a finding that may solve a mystery that has puzzled physicists for decades. Photograph by : Aurore Simonnet/NASA

"This is a fundamental discovery," said Nobel laureate James Cronin, the University Professor Emeritus in Physics at the University of Chicago. "The age of cosmic-ray astronomy has arrived. In the next few years, our data will permit us to identify the exact sources of these cosmic rays and how they accelerate these particles."

British-led scientists now believe the fast-moving particles that bombard the atmosphere are blasted across space from massive black holes at the centre of active galaxies.

Cosmic rays, discovered in 1912, are fast-moving subatomic particles that include the nuclei of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and iron atoms. Evidence suggests they may increase the risk of cancer in pilots and air crews on long-haul flights.

Medium-energy cosmic rays are known to come from exploding stars, while the Sun and other stars emit lower energy cosmic rays. But the source of ultra-high energy rays, which are 100 million times more energetic than anything produced by the most powerful atom smashers, has remained unexplained.

Suggested sources have included giant black holes, noisy radio galaxies, shock waves from colliding galaxies, echoes of the "Big Bang", and bizarre theoretical objects called "cosmic strings".

SEE

Dialectics, Nature and Science

Our Electric Universe

Goldilocks Enigma

9 Minute Nobel Prize

Dark Matters


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Edmonton Journal A Liberal Rag

Brian Mason and the NDP have been complaining about lack of press coverage they get in the pages of the Edmonton Journal. When days before Farmer Ed went on TV, Liberal leader Kevin Taft finally came out, five weeks after the royalty report was issued, to say he supported the royalty review recommendations. It made front page news in the Journal, and he was given an approving pat on the head in the papers editorial.

The NDP on the other hand was given short shrift over their announcements regarding the royalties.

The NDP issued a statement to their members and supporters in their email newsletter;

Some party members have asked about the extensive coverage the Alberta Liberals have been receiving in the Edmonton Journal. This has been the case for several years, and with an election approaching, it will likely only get worse. The Journal is entitled to support the Alberta Liberals editorially, but unfortunately, its news coverage is often biased in their favour. This relates not only to the content of articles, but also to placement of stories, headlines, and photos.

Last week's coverage of the Liberal's position regarding royalties is a good example. The Liberals waited nearly 5 weeks before taking any position on the Royalty Task Force report, and then issued only the vaguest support for increasing royalties. In the Journal, this warranted a front page story and an editorial praising Kevin Taft for helping to "define the issue". In the meantime, Brian Mason and the NDP caucus have worked tirelessly to raise awareness on royalties and to fight for a better deal. Kevin Taft failed to provide leadership on this issue when it counted - but this does not deter the Edmonton Journal.

I want to be clear that this problem does not extend to other media outlets. It is unique to the Edmonton Journal. The Sun newspapers and the Calgary Herald have conservative editorial perspectives, but this doesn't usually affect their news coverage. Television and radio outlets also give generally fair coverage.

I would like to encourage our members and supporters to be aware of this problem, and to consider challenging biased coverage when they see it. The best way to do this is to write letters to the editor when you see unfair news coverage. You can write to the Journal at letters@thejournal.canwest.com. You may also wish to consult other media sources in order to get a more complete picture of politics in Alberta.

Thank you.

Sandra Houston,

Provincial Secretary

Often the pro-Liberal editorial bias of the Journal creeps into the news stories coming from the Leg.

The other day when Mason got an emergency debate over the royalty issue passed in the Legislature the Journal headline was:

Conservatives' actions regarding royalties criminal: Taft
... EDMONTON - The Conservatives' lack of accountability on oil and gas royalties verges on criminal behaviour, Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft charged.

Which was not the real news story as even Right Wing Edmonton Sun Columnist Neil Waugh noted in his column;

Then he hilariously got out stick-handled by Brian Mason's tiny NDP caucus who asked for - and got - an emergency debate on resource royalties.

The reason behind the pro-Taft position of the Journal news and editorial writers covering the Leg was made clear in Leg Reporter Graham Thompson's column on the same subject. After spending the first half of his column uncritically quoting Taft he goes on to belittle the NDP's success at getting an emergency debate on the royalties issue. A debate that does not occur often in the Tory dominated house.
And one supported by disgruntled backbenchers not Stelmachs cabinet.

In supporting the NDP motion for an emergency debate on royalties, government members were embracing the old adage that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and so were happy to see the NDP go at the Liberals like two scorpions in a bottle and leave the government relatively unmolested.

It is much easier for the NDP to take a black and white stand on royalties than the Liberals.

The NDP doesn't have any chance of forming government and therefore doesn't have to worry about implementing its policies. Its ambition begins and ends at replacing the Liberals as official opposition.

It's an understandable strategy, one leader Brian Mason has been playing for months. And it's one he'll continue to play all through the fall session.

Or compare these two stories on the Premiers charge that the NDP wanted to bring back the dreaded NEP. Of course it is a favorite tactic of the Government to cry NEP when wanting to inflame their supporters. Of course the charge didn't stick but you wouldn't know it from the Journal article.

Edmonton Journal

Premier Ed Stelmach compared an oil and gas production tax to the much maligned national energy program today in the legislature.

Such a tax was one of the key recommendations of the province's royalty task force that delivered its report in September.

In question period, NDP Leader Brian Mason pressed Stelmach as to why he didn't adopt it and panel's other recommendations. Stelmach said it would cripple the province's economy.

"He wants a production tax, which goes back to the old strategy ... that drove Albertans out of the province, created a situation that people actually couldn't pay off their mortgages, had to leave, businesses went broke," Stelmach said.

"We're not going back to that kind of model of collecting royalties."

It was the second straight day opposition leaders went after Stelmach over royalties.

The Alberta Liberals demanded to see energy department documents from previous royalty reviews. So far, the government has kept most of those documents from the public.

Stelmach didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he talked about his government's record since he became premier last year.

Taft also asked Stelmach to explain why his governments refused to raise royalties until this year, despite warnings from the energy department that they were missing their internal targets.

"We take advice, obviously, from others," Stelmach said.

"But at the end of the day in this government the decisions are made by government, not listening to advice that may come from bureaucracies."

Edmonton Sun

Premier Ed Stelmach compared a key recommendation of his own royalty task force to the dreaded national energy program yesterday.

He also said the government overruled calls from experts for higher royalties from the energy sector because it got better advice from Tory politicians.

After ignoring repeated demands from the opposition to table all documents related to proposed energy royalty increases in the house, Stelmach suggested his government couldn't have followed through on an independent panel's recommendation that it charge a surtax on products from the oilsands.

"He's supporting the panel in its entirety," Stelmach said of a question from NDP Leader Brian Mason on why Alberta receives less oil royalties than nearly every other jurisdiction on earth.

"He wants a production tax, which goes back to the old, old strategy the former party from Ottawa imposed in Alberta, that drove Albertans out of the province and created a situation where people actually couldn't pay off their mortgages, had to leave. Businesses went broke. We're not going back to that kind of model for collecting royalties."

Mason was incredulous, noting that the independent task force was appointed by Stelmach's own government.

"Mr. Speaker, I just heard the premier compare the royalty task force to the Trudeau government's national energy program.

"So my question is, if they came up with something that's equivalent to the national energy program, Mr. Premier, why did you appoint those individuals?"

Stelmach didn't answer, instead suggesting the NDP can't both support the report and criticize it.

And for those who are in the know many of the editorial staff at the Journal have been suspected of having a bias towards the Liberals. And not just because the are the 'Official Opposition'. Now we know for sure.

Another One Bites the Dust...

Edmonton Journal veteran Larry Johnsrude is leaving journalism for redder pastures -- to join the staff of the Alberta Liberals.

He's the third high profile Alberta journalist to make the jump to politics this year. In January, Paul Stanway of the Edmonton Sun and Tom Olsen of the Calgary Herald joined Premier Ed Stelmach's office as senior flacks.

Here's the letter Johnsrude wrote to his colleagues at The Journal

Hi all,
With mixed emotions I would like to announce I have accepted the position of Director of Communications for the Alberta Liberal Caucus. It wasn't something I was seeking but was an opportunity that presented itself and I felt I couldn't turn it down. Over the past 11 years with The Journal, I have enjoyed working with all of you. I admire your professionalism and journalistic integrity. Journalism has been good to me, but I feel this is an opportunity to acquire a new set of skills and embark on a new profession.
Best wishes to all.
Larry Johnsrude

Johnsrude was the web-site editor for the Journal. He used to do a political blog
until April of this year. His new online blog he launched back then is now gone. As is he.

I've got a new blog address: MY NEW BLOG ADDRESS

It uses new software that allows for posting photos, video, links and room for feedack — all the bells and whistles.

The blog address this one appears on will remain online as an archive of my pre-April 24 postings. But anything posted since then will be at my new blog address.

Not Found: Forum Not Found

The forum you requested does not exist.

So if you detect a bias in the news coverage in the Edmonton Journal when it comes to Kevin Taft and the Alberta Liberals it's part of the Journal's view that the paper is a political player, a king maker if you like.

The paper has a long history of this going back to when they covered civic politics in the city and what applies to civic politics also applies to their provincial coverage.

In Edmonton, just as the Journal pandered shamelessly to William Hawrelak's Citizens' Committee during the 1950s, it again shilled patently for the new age progressivism of the city's brie elites in the 1990s. According to Lorimer, "Given the situation in which the mass media operate, however, it is unlikely that there can be any dramatic change in the way they inform people about city politics."(f.42) With little budget for sustained investigative reportage, and with so little real, long-term news of significance to break, the press gallery appears to fear becoming as marginalized on the news pages as the councils they cover. One remedy has been to transcend "objective" reporting and to editorialize within the guise of covering the story.

The Journal quickly turned on Bill Hawrelak when he decided to run again in the Sixties after he was found to have been in a conflict of interest. They ran a concerted campaign against him ,including front page editorial telling voters not to vote for him, but he won anyways.

During the Lougheed years, when the PC's dominated the Leg and the NDP had only one seat,and the Liberals none, they viewed themselves as the 'official opposition'. This inflated view of their political importance, has continued in the editorial mindset at the paper ever since.

This of course fulfills William Burroughs dictum; "we don't report the news, we write the news."

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Worst Right Whingnut Blog

It's poll time. Seems that a couple of Progressive Bloggers have decided to run polls on who is whingnuttiest bloggers on the Right.

Buckdog has a poll on his blog. His poll includes Blogging Tories and those not associated with BT.

VOTE HERE FOR THE WORST CANADIAN 'RIGHT WING' BLOG

Red Tory has one too specifically aimed at the BT blogosphere.

“Wingnuttiest Blogging Tory”

Suzanne from Big Blue Wave has been nominated for both but so far she is not garnering many votes. Despite her obnoxious fetus fetish postings she does run the blog aggregator Opinions Canada, which covers both the right and left, so perhaps we give her the benefit of the doubt.

Unfortunately neither poll includes this rightwhingnut who comments here regularly.


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Premature Election

'Oops'. Sorry about that....now everyone just take a Valium....

Election call almost believable

In wake of drubbing they're taking over royalties, a vote may look good to some Tories

Government MLAs were baffled, opposition MLAs were startled and members of the press gallery were, for a moment, speechless.

For a few brief, panic-filled minutes Wednesday afternoon, a provincial election had been called.

Or so it appeared to the media and MLAs who had innocently logged on to the web site of the Legislative Assembly.

"Writ has been dropped," declared the site.

There was a collective shriek from journalists in the press gallery who had been convinced the election wouldn't be held until March. You could almost hear NDP Leader Brian Mason saying, "I told you so."

Turned out it was a false alarm. Unconfirmed sources said someone on the assembly's web page had made a technical mistake. Speaker Ken Kowalski promised an investigation.

For reporters and opposition MLAs, though, the "error" reaffirmed speculation the government is still toying with the idea of a snap fall election. Government officials have been strongly hinting there won't be a fall election but reporters, being skeptical souls, keep smelling something fishy.

Alta. legislature website mistakenly shows election writ dropped

November 7, 2007 - 23:48

By: THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON - The Alberta government says a glitch caused the legislative website to indicate that the election writ had been dropped.

A news release issued Wednesday evening by Bev Alenius, executive assistant to Speaker Ken Kowalski, says the error occurred "due to unknown circumstances."

The release said the website, www.assembly.ab.ca, temporarily displayed a page which indicated that the election writ had been dropped.

The release said the error caused "some" confusion and has been fixed.

The Legislative Assembly Office staff are looking into the cause.

Ron Glen, senior advisor to Premier Ed Stelmach, says there's no plans for a fall election, "unless the premier changes his mind."

He says they are investigating whether it was due to an overzealous staffer preparing for an eventual election, or whether someone hacked into the system.

SEE:

December 3 Alberta Election

Your Tax Dollars At Work

Mason Hits The Bricks



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Sask Election

It's not so much about the Saskatchewan Party winning as it is about the NDP election strategy that lost them the Election. You don't run an election based on messaging that now is not the time for change. Even the Tired Old Tories in Alberta know that. You run as the party that is for change especially when all the polling tells you that's what voters want.


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Still Waiting and waiting and.....

For all their talk about how the Harper government takes action it is just that talk.

Jim Flaherty's timelines on national securities regulator, international tax

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has repeatedly talked about plans to strike two panels: One to create draft legislation for a national securities regulator, and the other to identify ways to improve the fairness and competitiveness of Canada’s system of international taxation.

The latter panel was even suppose to produce an interim report by the end of 2007 and a final report in 2008. But the panels don’t exist yet. When will they be created?

“Soon,” Mr. Flaherty told reporters after speaking at a Rotary Club of Toronto event. Asked to clarify how soon, he said the international tax panel will show up within the next ten days. He did not elaborate on the national securities regulator panel.

Canada's health care rated poorly

Canada has the worst rating in a new study of health care in seven countries when it comes to wait times for seeing doctors and getting elective surgery.

And the Commonwealth Fund says Canadians are most likely to report going to an emergency room as an alternative to a visit to a doctor's office or clinic.

Only 22 per cent of Canadians surveyed say they could get a same-day appointment when they're sick. Thirty per cent -- by far the highest among the countries -- say they had to wait six days or more.

And 15 per cent reported waits of six months or more for non-emergency surgery.

Meantime, two-thirds reported having a lot of difficulty getting care at night, on weekends or holidays.

"The report indicates that Canadians are saying the same thing to politicians that they're saying to the Commonwealth Fund: access to physicians and access to medical services has to improve," said Health Minister Tony Clement.

"We share that concern."

SEE

Finally Some Common Sense

Still Waiting On Wait Time 2

Still Waiting On Wait Time 1

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Proletarian Doctors

Medicare reform can only occur when we break the doctors business monopoly and 'their haughty power' over health care. One of the ways is to put doctors on salary.

Another is by creating integrated community medical centers and thus the proletarianization 0f Medicare through the use of salaried Nurse Practitioners and Physician's Assistants. It's an idea Norman Bethune would approve of.

Dr. Sigurdson, who worked with a physician assistant during a fellowship in Atlanta, just completed a master of business administration degree at Saint Mary's University during which he examined the business case for physician assistants.

"We could do things much better here," he said Wednesday.
Dr. Sigurdson said in an average 10-hour day set aside for operating, he only spends about six hours in the operating room and the rest of the time waiting for patients to be moved, the room to be cleaned and so on.

But much of what he does in the operating room could easily be done by a trained physician assistant.

He said it doesn't require a surgeon to prepare and drape a patient for surgery, sew up an incision or dress a wound.

"A (physician assistant) could sew up just as good as I can," Dr. Sigurdson said.

In fact, by his calculations, a surgeon is needed for only about 37 per cent of what happens during an operation. And a physician assistant could handle 51 per cent of the patients he now sees in a clinic.

About 100 patients were booked to see Dr. Sigurdson on Thursday morning. He needs to see patients having or recovering from major procedures like breast reconstruction. But when the appointment is simply to check whether someone who's had a minor procedure is faring well, a physician assistant would do just as well.

Comparing the cost of hiring a physician assistant at about $70,000 per year to a conservative estimate of Dr. Sigurdson's increased productivity, he estimated the province would see a modest cost saving over 10 years.

But when he compared the cost of a physician assistant plus the space and staff to run two operating rooms at once to simply hiring a second surgeon to work in a second room, he found the province could save $1 million in today's dollars.

A full-time surgeon at the QEII is paid an average $432,521 a year under a contract with the province, meaning the doctor would get no extra pay for doing twice as much surgery.

"I'm a young surgeon; I like operating," Dr. Sigurdson said. "And I'd like to operate more. You don't train 14 years to do something and then you only get to do it a day or a day and a half a week. It's frustrating."

He said it's much too late now to hope that increasing the number of doctors trained in Canada can meet the mushrooming demand for care. The country is just now experiencing the leading edge of a huge group of aging baby boomers who will not accept years-long waits for health care.

"To take business concepts and bring them into the public system is a strategy that we really should be thinking very strongly about before we throw the baby out with the bathwater and bring in a parallel private-care system," Dr. Sigurdson said.

Physician assistants work well in the private American system and could easily be incorporated into the public system, he said.

And there are trained physician assistants in Nova Scotia eager to work, he said. Those employed by the military frequently take early retirement and are left with few work options save providing care on oil rigs.

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