Ai4- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Let’s talk about heal

THE PROVINCIAL govern-

» ment has launched a massive

: $10 million year-long debate

“on health care:

-* Speaking Sept. 28, Pre- mier Gordon Campbell said

the goal of the Conversation

‘on Health is to improve and

‘sustain public health care in:

the province. “This is a chance for Brit- ish Columbians-to ask tough

‘questions. People can sug- .

gest the questions we should be. asking | each ‘Campbell said. “To succeed we will have to.open to each

7 other's ideas.”

The campaign: will in-

a

experts, health care provid- ers, patients, government _ ‘and community leaders, and -ordinary. British Columbi- sans, Campbell said.

- “A Web site will include _ public. «discussion forums,

‘information, surveys, news- Jetters and streaming video... In addition, there will be» _ 16 regiomal forums-of 100 — ‘people ~ including one. in » "Prince George... 2-0 Residents: can sign up-fo

_ilake part in the regional fo- “‘rums online or by calling the

~~. toll-free number.

- “Travel costs to get to the

forums will be covered by . Campbell .

the. government,” said. . Other » regional

‘ ed.

tricky |

. i a = .

RCMP- CONTINUE. to. in- vestigate an incident which

’ ‘saw three people suffer from

gunshot wounds at the Cedar Place Apartments on Walsh Ave. this past February. Staff Sgt. Eric Stubbs of the local RCMP. detachment says investigators have now forwarded information to Jo- - cal. Crown counsel prosecu-

’ . tors. “TB. C., police investigate

crimes and pass ‘along the

results to prosecutors who — make the decision whether.

to lay a charge.

Stubbs also said.some of . what investigators have un-. covered has been sent to a.

crime:lab. - a,

. “T can tell you we are still ; working on it,”

he said last week.

lack of independent wit-

other,”

“clude local and international .

: forums : will ‘be held for. doctors,

health care workers, . First... Nations, patients and other specialized groups, hé add- ;

“There -are four babies’ ° ~ born in this province every, hour, ‘Our, goal: is to ensure |

Police keep — “probing

Stubbs did add that the

that B.C’s health care ‘sys- tem is there for them, not only now but throughout their lives,’ Campbell. said. ‘ “It isa conversation I. en- courage all British Columbi- ans to be part of.” ! Campbell.said a lot has changed in health care since |

‘the Canada Health Act was -

passed in 1984.

“Just as in the 1960s we invested millions to. meet » the education needs of the baby boomers, now the baby -

_ boomers are grandparents - 0

” and we have to invest in their. health care needs," Camp- ©

bell said: “As we age as.a society,

our care givers are aging too. |

‘We've doubled the number ‘of doctors.i in training. But it,

oy

nesses has complicated the |

- investigation. - “But that's something we just have. to work :around,” -he said. i After the incident, police

_ reported that officers went - to an apartment building af-

ler receiving a complaint of

shots being fired at 2 2:34 a.m.

F eb. 7. ‘Three people

sent to Mills Memorial Hos- pital. Two were reported t to be in stable condition and the _ third, listed as critical, was airlifted to hospital in Van- couver. All three people _ were - known to police. ‘Unconfirmed reports in-

- dicated the victims to be a ..

man. believed to be in his

60s and a younger man and _

woman.

The younger man was re- portedly shot in ihe face.

On Feb. 9, police reported the status of the individual transferred to Vancouver had been upgraded to serious but

- stable condition.

Four members of the

major crimes unit in Prince

George were assisting: with .

‘ the investigation at the very start. .

It's common practice to call in members of that unit for situations requiring a lot of investigation.

suffered gunshot wounds and were -

FACT? 4 ¢

over 44.0100 people every

takes 10 years for a medical student to become a doctor.” In 2005, 13.9 per cent of B.C.’s_ population was 65 years old or older. By 2017

that number is expected to | increase to 17.9 per cent and

21.4 per cent by 2024. - On average a person in

‘their 50s uses $2,100 of health care a year, Campbell

said.

A person in their 70s uses $5,700 a year and a person in their 90s uses $22,000 a “year.

With improvements in treatment, we expect there

will be many more peoplein

their.90s,” said Campbell.

In the last 10 years, the .

cost of providing Pharma- care has doubled = to $890

Gordon Campbell. - million, Campbell added.

“We ‘spent ‘$3.6. billion a-year more this year than - in. 2000," Campbell said.

h care

-“That’s - almost a 40 per

cent increase since, 2000. By 2017, health costs could consume 70 per cent of the

provincial budget.”

In that same period: the

population .of the province . grew. ‘by four per cent, the

premier added.

Campbell: said his gov- 7 -ernment plans to’ introduce ‘the concept of sustainability ’ to health care so that the sys-

ia

tem, “doesn’t implode:

“There is no question we - all value B.C.’s: ‘health care

system,” he said. — ““How can. we. protect

health care for our children’ . and grandchildren? It's a conversation about improv-: |

ing and protecting health

‘care for future generations.”

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ELECTRICITY

WILL HELP KEEP

~ Our electricity needs are growing with our economy.

For generationsjelectrcity Aas. ‘powered British Columbia’ s economic Prosperity and quality: of life oe

ang he.

Today, B.C. haso one of the fastest-growing economies:in ‘Canada, expanding 3.5 per cent last year, well ahead of the national average. We're building more homes, creating more jobs and more people are moving to our province.

FACT: 8 ¢

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But a growing province with an ever-increasing need for electricity m means a growing gap between

our ar electricity needs and our made-in-B.C. supply.

| We're using more » electricity t than we produce in B.C.

‘s population is expected to grow by .

year. .

than we have today.

B.C. has a plan to achieve electricity self-sufficiency. .

~. While in the’past we have enjoyed significant

electricity surpluses, British Columbia's growth has © meant we've become net importers of. electricity.

in fact, in each of the past five years, BC Hydro has | - had to buy electricity from Alberta and the U.S. in ‘order to meet the needs of British Columbians. And in 20 years, it is estimated that British Columbians could require as much as 45 per cent more electricity

Having enough made-in-B.C. electricity will help ensure we continue to enjoy the benefits of

a. strong ; and growing economy, as well as our quality of life.

That's why the Province of British Columbia, together with BC Hydro, is acting to make B.C.

electricity self-sufficient within the next decade.

\ \i

" Conservation and new sources of made-in-B.C. electricity are key. ;

made-in- B.C. electricity sources.

BC Hydro’s planning for the future is well underway. Working together, we can protect and enhance our province's advantage. of secure, reliable electricity for generations to come.

Get the facts. Visit bchydro.com

Filling our province's electricity gap means doing. even more than we are today to conserve electricity. But conservation alone is not enough. We must also find | new, sustainable

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BChudro

BAS

FOR GENERATIONS

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