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Page AG - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 10, 1993

_LETTERS |

TO THE TERRACE STANDARD

Health

Dear Sir;

Your editorial of Feb. 24 con-
cerning health care expendilures
(‘No More Money’’) was timely
‘and raised several interesting, is-.
sues,

Firstly is the notion, regularly
trumpeted by politicians as a
justification for squeezing the
sysicm more and more, that
health care cosis are ‘‘spiraling
out of control’...

In fact, by the government's
own stalistics” (1992/3 govern-
ment estimates) medical costs
have risen 7.8 per cent per year
over the last five years whilst in
the same period government
revenues have risen at the rate of
8.7 per cent. ,

Health care costs have remained
a constant one-third of the budget
whilst the cost of physician’s ser-
vices, including lab and x-ray,
have actually fallen from 9.2. to
8.2 per cent.

In a meeting last year held in
Prince Rupert, health minister

Grizzly
plan
criticism

Hugh Markides
Manager, B.C. Parks

Dear Mr. Markides:
When the decision came down

to set aside the Khutzeymateen .

Valley as a. grizzly bear
sanctuary, Iwas jubilant.

But I had no idea the recom- _

mended protection plan would
result, What a jokel

I have gone into the Khut-

zeymateen with my jel boat every
Juiy.sjnce 1586, for a total of ning
trips oe : au
Oly, once have 1 ever’ seen: ‘a
bear near the river and:that was
onty briefly. L have seen bears on
the estuary of the Khutzeymatecn
and the estuaries: of. Cedar: and
Larch crceks. and on-the moulhs
of other. creeks further down the
inlet. ":
During discussions [ have had
with .biologisls studying the
bears, I bave been told that the
majority of the bears are up in the
alpine. throughout. the summer
months. It:scems to me the
chance of having. a confrontation
with a bear in the summer months
is extremely remote.

Closing. the river'to. angling has
the sole purpose of: eliminating
anglers from making the effort to
venture in the area, That in itself
appears like a crude. altempt by
self-serving guides to be able to
sell to their clients a remote
wilderness experience where 10
other person. will be seen or ever
heard.

If legislation ‘is going to
prohibit angters for enjoying the
Khutzeymateen then it had better
stop the guides and Gitsces
people as well, since these groups
are even more likely to confront a
bear than anglers who remain
strictly on the river, -

I recommend. that’ the Khut-
zeymateen become a class ane
river in order to record the num-
bers of anglers going in and that
the remaining regulations be left
as they are. ...

In my opinion, the sounds of jet
boats and the accasional presence

of anglers is an asset in keeping
the bears wary of man and camp-
fires, especially when absolutely

no garbage is left behind. Adver-

sely, groups | of quiet sightseeing
tours armed with cameras would

soon be ignored by the bears, __

making them easy. prey for
hunters in adjoining. valleys.

1 recommend limiting camping
in the vallcy. toa :maximum of
two or three nights per group.

Notably, few people ' can afford. a

large enough boat 10 overnight on,

plus owning a small boat to get 7
up the river with. So a jet boat
ban seems like another :ploy: by.

those same self-scrving guides,’

Lastly, the expedience of the |

way this interim. plan is being
proposed, giving little time for
public input . let. ‘tlone public’

awareness, . points” ‘al Ugly finger; °
once agaiti, at aamall group with -:

a self-serving personal ie :

‘Kevin Seaton,
-Tenace, BG. vet

plan doomed

Elizabeth Cull, admitted to me
that the concept of health care
costs being out of contro] was un-
trie and that she promised to cor-

_ tect that misconception! .

You ask the rhetorical question
“why are government facilities
$0 expensive compared to those
developed by private business???
There are certainty many reasons
for this but the bottom line is that
this is certainly true. _

The NDP obvious agenda in
health care is to tolally control all
aspects of the system for largely
philosophical reasons regardless
of their economic merit, This is
why you will not see any objec-
tive cost/benefit analyses of the
proposed changes nor any real
commitment to reverse them
should they prove inefficient.
The idea that there will be more
emphasis placed on prevention is
laudable, but this is a very long-
term approach at best, is often ex-
pensive and not always cost ef-
fective.

Coming from government with
a past record of having to be
dragged by public opinion (often
led. by the British Columbia

.. Medical Association) into enact-

ing preventative legislation on
seat-belis, infant car seats and
hopefully soon bicycle helmets, it
should be viewed with a fair bit
of skepticism.

Finally, your editorial un-
fortunately contained one factual
error, Nowhere, repeat nowhere,
in the massive proposals is there
any cffort to ensure that ‘‘there
will be more responsibility placed
on people not to abuse health
care”’.

Because of this ‘oversight’

_ (politically too hot to handle?) the

proposed changes are doomed to
economic failure, except for the
single expedient of reducing the
public’s access to medical care at
all levels.

Yours faithfully,

G.M. Appleton,

Terrace, B.C.

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