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DITORIAL,

~acash transfusion for what ails it. But is " it a-cure? Not really.

‘To be sure, consultant Malcolm

Walker’s report was welcome. It pointed

- out something the hospital had been say-

ing all along — that it’s level of service to

. the city and to the region deserved more _ money from the provincial government - than it was getting.

Mr. Walker found that for its size, the hospital i is one of the busiest in terms of what is offered in the country. Physi-

cians using the hospital provide treat- |

ment and services not normally found in facilities of similar sizes.

‘These kinds of services weren't

"recognized ‘by the government and ex-

penditures outstripped what money it gave the hospital. That translated into deficits and the announcement — since

. called off asa result of Mr. Walker’s

‘report -— of ‘bed closures and layoffs

earlier this year.

“Mr. Walker’s report recommends the hospital charge the Medical Services Plan for services it now provides but for which it hasn’t been billing. And he says the province should increase the hospital’s budget. At the same time, Mr. Walker says the hospital should watch

more closely what it spends.

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_ All this is fine as far. as it goes. Mr. ‘Walker's: mandatenwas to determine-if the hospital was receiving enough moriey

‘-for what it does.

But all that money, an estimated $250,000, has to come from someplace

‘and that someplace is the taxpayers’ - pocket in some form or another. The . $100,000 Mr. Walker says should come

from the Medical Services: Plan will con-

“tribute to higher premiums paid by

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oper reer s Serene PROEPRCRI DETECT ASE ATA R ETCH ETH

‘our burden,

vented a hormone which, when ‘injected into a sheep, causes the

citizens. The $150,000 Mr.. Walker says

should come from the province means higher taxes.

Cure needed

-* Mills Memorial Hospital has received

Those additional Medical Services Plan billings are kind of ironic. Another

way of looking at this is that what the .

hospital had been doing for all these years is saving the plan that money. In- stead of being rewarded or recognized for that, the hospital was instead penalized.

The extra money to cover services the

hospital provides goes against something

‘the government has been arguing about for years. It has been saying that the more doctors there are, the more money _it costs. This in no way suggests that peo- ple shouldn’t receive services to which they are entitled. It simply points out that demand will follow supply and that the demand carries with it a price tag.

In some ways it is too bad Mr. Walker stopped short. Although he hints at it in- directly in his last recommendation — that being the need for a regional patient referral system — what is lacking up here is a regional health care system with its own budget.

What such a system would do is stop treating northwest hospitals and clinics in isolation. A bit of money here and a bit of money there only acts as a ban- daid. Does it make sense to have such a large hospital in Kitimat? Does Stewart need a new hospital or would a state of the art clinic — such as the one in New . .Aiyansh — make more sense?- at

fhe Sind ‘finally, wher will tHe ebvernttignt -

in the south, formed by the party that wins the election, recognize the recom- mendations of a northwest health care report released last year.

That report, which cost more than $60,000, said the northwest has special needs and that those needs deserve a broader structure in which to provide health care. This structure would also be more efficient and sensible —- both of which ultimately could serve to reduce overall costs.

- Sheer delight

_ Every time technology lifts

another skill

withers. Sheep shearing is the

latest trade to shrivel. Australian scientists have in-

Through Bifocais 1} by Claudette Sandecki

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wool strands to weaken. Ten

"costly “ewes tend to abort. In addition, |

days after the hormone injec- ~tion, the entire fleece can be peeled off like a’ week-old ban-

daid, leaving the disconcerited

‘ anima! naked as a Moscow meat ‘counter,

Fhecing by hormone saves 325

: per cent of the cost of raising

However, it has some drawbacks. Pregnant

‘wool.

bald animals risk sunburn and injury. " Consequently, at the time of

“injection, ‘each sheep is fitted

with a jacket to be worn for six weeks. By then, wool under the garment has grown long enough to protect ihe beast from ultraviolet rays and wounding — and. to offer a modicum of modesty.

In shearing, the lead sheep i is

pushed up.a ramp into'a long .

chute and penned there, to be

sheared last.. The rest of the -

flock naturally line up in the chute to await their turn,

From a side opening in the chute, one at a time sheep are

grabbed by the neck.and gently” twisted:on to the shearing floor, their backs propped against the -

sheaver’s knees: « - Shearing ‘is “accomplished! it

three. minutes with 38 to°45.-

strokes. of the electric clppers. a

_ shearing passe, but stimulate _ new jobs, Insensitive people can: “learn .to administer the ‘shots.

develop refinements. figure a way to add dye to the “hormone, td ‘dye sheep in the -wool./ A:sheep's: colour. won't “fade althougit it might still run.

Though shearing is traumatic, few of the docile creatures resist, unless a metal ear tag catches in‘ the shears. When the clippers jerk and pull, even the most relaxed sheep gets agitated into a frenzy.

Experienced shearers are pro- ud to do about 120 animals a day. With this high tech hor- mone procedure, a swilt stab in the rump, and the deed will be done, The sheep won’t even be invited to sit a spell. But would any needle-pusher brag ‘about

puncturing the backside of 120.

sheep in a day? He wouldn't

dare if there are kids of SPCA

representatives within earshot. Injections may make sheep

Seamstresses can sew the com-

fort jackets. Movie moguls can &

make movies about range wars where the good guy is thrown into bankruptcy when the bad

guy raids the flock at night © y stealing all jackets.

their designer

No ‘doubt selentists will: They’:

Rains while the animal is jacketed ought to produce wool that’s pre-shrunk.

Does the hormone process have applications in other tricky areas? Suppose geese and all Thanksgiving fowl could be in- jected, releasing all feathers in

one tidy cluster? Or think how |

we could protect elephants and rhinos by shooting them with a hormone dart which would loosen their tusks — Plink,

’Plink .— .like teeth in the: TV

gum disease commercial. ; Fleecing sheep by injections

“means no more school field

trips to sheep farms, na more blindfolded shearing competi- tions, nor any more inert

, shearers. Some progress,

A SUNNY. pay Ate LAST. a CAN PAINT MY sae Boat ANP GET IT IN , Tite vATER, THIS bs WEEK:

make: REE

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- ME HALA.

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one am cna

in this. election |

VICTORIA — The opening round goes to Mike Harcourt. He was cool, confident and statesman-like in his first cam- ‘paign speech in the Parliament Buildings press theatre, carried live on TY.

Rita Johnson, by com- parison, was nervous, sweating profusely, as she told British Columbians she will stand on

sree Ht alt

campaign. asad!

. inibi - "The fact that a Green Peace “isil'ihe difference tween ‘right’ and wrong. mee

_ protester, who had managed to- get past the guards, quite rude- ly interrupted her speech, also

‘didn’t help Johnston get off to

a good start. Nor did Bill. Vander Zalm's apearance-in court on a criminal breach-of- trust just a few hours before she called the election. ;

The performance of the two party leaders struck me as an almost perverse replay of the 1986 campaign opener. Only this time, the roles were revers- ed.

" In 1986, a beaming and con--

fident Bill Vander Zalm kicked off the election in the same

_ room, Minutes after he left,

then NDP leader Bob Skelly took his place at the podium. Looking like a nervous wreck, hands shaking, voice . breaking, Skelly began stumb!-

ing over his words and finally

-froze in mid-sentence asking reporters whether he could . start over again, a bit of a dif- ficult task on live television.

Johnston gave us a taste of what’s to come in terms of negative campaigning when she warned British Columbians ~ that and NDP government would “experiment with our economy,”

The chaice, she said, was "tq future of optimism and securi- ty with Social Credit or a

-future with concern and worry

with the NDP.” British Col- umbians, she said, want a government that will “manage - the economy so that it will” continue to provide good, secure jobs.”’

Harcourt, too, did some hard-ball playing. A vote for

From the Capital by Hubert Beyer

Rita Johnston and Social Credit, Harcourt said, would take a yes-vote as ‘‘a vote of confidence in the last five years and as as blank cheque. to anylhing they want in the future,”’

Johnston listed a number of issues she beleives are on the voters’ minds, including jobs, taxes, and the environment."’ She didn’t mention ethics or integrity, issues, I’m sure, Har-

court and the NDP will men-

tion with great frequency in’ the coming weeks. — ’ While speeches at personal

" appearances will probably

observe the. bounds of good taste, there’ are strong indica-

’ tions that both parties will

wage a down and dirty war on the advertising front, . In fact, you should be

- prepared for the dirtiest elec- tion campaign British Colum-

bia has ever seen. It'll be sewer city between now and voting day, Oct. 17.

The Socreds will go back as .

far as 1972, the year Dave Bar- rett took the NDF to Its only victory in British Columbia, to scare the hell out of the voters. The NDP, on the other hand, will probably dig up a few Bill

Bennett skeletons such as the Coquihalla Highway cost over- . ' runs,

The Socreds will paint Har- court as an indecisive fence- sitter, and ‘soul brother of Bob Rae who will squander the — province's fortunes with aban- don. The NDP will highlight. Johnston's enthusiastic support

. for Vander Zalm right: up to

Johnston, he said, is a-vote for-. the moment he was Forced out a ‘government | that has “abused of office, ; :

You SAID DROP

wil MARTE FISHER ! ITS BYRON! RENEMGEE THE GRAD a oy FR]

COFFEE SOME Timely

power, interfered in the per- vibgricgcorddyring theap-day, 3,80 wae

--But iv'll get a ‘lot dirtier than e. yourself for Socted wirig | long ‘lines c f

workers i in On-;

*“tario, blaming their plight on

Bob Rae's NDP government, asking British Columbians whether they really want to suffer the same fate.

Be prepared for.vicous NDP ads dredging up evey scandal the Social Credit government has been hit with these past five years. They'll do everything to paint Rita Johnston with the Vander

- Zalm brush of corruption, " patronage and incompetence.

In this campaign, the past will feature as prominently as the issues of the day, if not more so. And by the time it's all over, you may be excused for believing that it was a race .

- between Bob Rae and Bill

Vander Zalm. Patrick Kinsella, the

" Socred’s chief spin doctor, has

already warned the more -

‘squeamish Social Credit sup- a porters that they may not like :

what they will see, ‘but that. it - has to be done. And Mike

Harcourt’s NDP will have no

choice bit to retaliate.

The campaign will also be a

pollsters dream. It appears that the rather dramatic lead the NDP. had over the Socreds a °

’ few months ago has been nar-

rowed down to anywhere | from five ta 10 percentage points, which makes weekly. polling | a fascinating game. ; And lest [ be nocused of not knowing that other parties are

_/ also in. the race, let-me say. that.

Liberal Leader Gordon Wilson acquitted himself very well... - Voters, he said, had a chance, . this time, to get rid of both the

old parties and get'the govern- _ ment they deserve — a Liveral -

one.

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