A TE
LIN
Prosperity for all
DSAY
AD O C V
Thank you Ross Memorial Hospital
December 15 brought me to Ross Memorial Hospital in severe pain where I was promptly taken in and assessed. After the necessary blood work and CT scan I was told I would have to go for surgery. Not the news I was hoping for but Dr. (Mostafa) El-Beheiry assured me it would all be okay. I was lucky to have Dr. Mervyn Stone assisting as he is my family doctor. After the surgery Dr. El-Beheiry communicated with my husband and family that the surgery had gone well. He visited me daily to ensure my progress. In fact, all the staff members at the Ross were caring and compassionate. The night before I came home I witnessed nurses responding to an evacuation in the emergency department because of a broken water main. All the patients were brought to safety in a matter of minutes. I am so thankful to all the staff at Ross Memorial as they showed me how much they care about the people in our community. Keep up the great work. Mina Coons, Lindsay
Christmas Eve Light Show
On Christmas Eve we were in Lindsay finishing our shopping. As we were leaving town my family and I experienced a beautiful, peaceful setting. Coming down Cambridge Street from Colborne Street, as far as the eye could see, there were homemade lanterns made from pop bottles. Then we realized they went on for blocks, including onto the side streets. It was obvious a lot of time and effort went into this light show. I know we sure appreciated it and I am sure several others did as well. Thank you for sharing this with us. It was amazing. Peggy Fice, Kinmount
This lovely tradition started more than 20 years ago at Cambridge Street United Church, and is currently organized by John Harris. Several neighbours also set out their own candles. ~ Nancy Payne, Associate Editor
In his last Benns’ Belief, (“Conservatives and basic income”), Roderick lamented the lack of action on moving a basic income plan forward by Premier Ford’s Conservative government. I keep wondering why Roderick expects such a plan to succeed. After nearly a decade of employment with the Ontario Ministry of Education, I expect that Roderick would be well aware of powerful groups within the government whose self-interests would be sacrificed if such a plan were to be implemented.The sales pitch for basic income generally includes a claim that such a plan would be affordable because it will replace the need for several existing programs. The cost savings would be applied towards funding basic income payments. Here’s the rub. If several existing welfare programs were to be terminated, what will become of the employees who administer those programs? Would their labour union executives go along with the inevitable employee layoffs resulting from the cancellation of those programs? How about the non-union department heads within those bureaucracies — will they also be laid off (with generous severance packages) or will they simply move to another government bureaucracy thereby not realizing the expected savings? To me, the stakeholders identified above foreshadow just a few of the kinds of political obstacles regarding the basic income dream. I hope to read in a future Benns’ Belief that Roderick is also exploring non-government options to achieve the desired results rather than keeping all of his eggs in the public sector basket. “Prosperity for everyone” is a wonderful dream and it deserves to be achieved some day. Gene Balfour, Fenelon Falls
Is basic income really right-wing?
Basic income, favoured in this magazine’s January editorial, has affinities with right-wing political positions. As also pointed out, there is justified dismay at cancellation of its trial by the Ontario government. But not usually considered is that such a program is, at origin, from right-wing economists, e.g. Milton Friedman. The goal, apart from reducing the poverty reduction issue to bare quantification through straight monetization, would be elimination of minimum wage rules.
4
www.lindsayadvocate.ca
