Ford: Premier's referendum shell game opens the door for all kinds of citizen actions — like hospital parking
If Albertans need a referendum, there are many more pressing issues than separation.
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Let's not waste the premier's actions. She talks about respecting citizens' decisions, so why not take advantage of her assertions?
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Changes in the legalities required for a citizen referendum are focused on the province's place in Canada, but there is an opportunity for the rest of us to have at it as well.
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How about a referendum on hospital parking? All we need is a concerted, organized group from across Alberta willing to collect signatures from 10 per cent of those who voted, or 175,000 signatures. The premier herself said the new elections bill is designed to give 'everyday' Albertans a bigger say in the province's affairs.
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Let's do it. This has a more profound effect on individual lives than some chimera of separation.
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The premier is playing to her 'base.' She is not talking about most of us in Calgary or Edmonton. She's making demands of Ottawa because that makes her look stronger, more determined, for rural folks and urban right-wingers. One can almost hear the Ram 1500 and Ford F-Series truck owners cheering her on.
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But wait a minute. I know no Albertan who wants to be a separate nation. I do know a lot of people who believe we have been badly treated by Ottawa.
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But let's deal with more immediate problems affecting us. Don't think the 24-hour-a-day, 365-days-a-year hospital parking charges are outrageous? Let me suggest that you have never had to visit a hospital daily, not knowing how long you must do this.
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And visitors aren't the only ones. Our 'democratic' Alberta Health Services makes everybody pay — doctors, nurses, health-care aides. The only people in any hospital not paying for parking are volunteers.
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I'll bet an overwhelming number of Albertans across the province who have had to fork over a sizable chunk of change to visit a sick or injured child, parent or spouse would be the first to sign. (And this should spark other provinces to follow the example set by Nova Scotia, when it cancelled all hospital parking fees as of May 1.)
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When we left Episode 1, the aging woman complaining about her hospital experiences had been released. She was sorry to leave the kindness of so many strangers and glad to be rid of the supercilious, self-important ones. She had been infuriated by cloyingly sweet voices with which she had been addressed, as if she were a simple two-year-old. Referring to elderly patients and their families as 'my dear' should result in a firm reprimand from a supervisor.
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