An intelligent Canadian writes:

I’m getting very jaded with governments and Health boards this week. The bullshit with the Flames flu shots, the fuck up with the flu shots, and the general lack of proactive thinking. Why can’t these politicians hire the RIGHT person for the job, instead of their drinking buddies. Don’t we deserve better?

You need to tell me how all of this affects Stelmach’s re-election chances. Is it possible that he might actually lose the next election?

I’ll do my best. And don’t worry, there’s good news coming about Ed Stelmach.

You should be jaded with gov’ts at this time. They’re not doing a very good job or easing citizen fears which I believe is a very important role they must play. People get caught up in stuff they don’t understand because out media model enjoys controversy and fear. Do we deserve better? No. Not really. We deserve better when we get it together and do our part as well. You deserve better because you voted. We collectively… not so much. Only 44% of Albertans turned out last time. I’m not saying we saw this coming, but it’s hard to say that events like our gov’t’s handling of H1N1 are important to us when we can’t bother to mark an X.

Now, why can’t politicians hire the right people for the job? Well, it’s not a very good job in some ways. The pay isn’t as good as many high profile private gigs. The tenures tend to be short. It’s a challenge to transition back into the private sector. And then there’s that business of “rolling heads” which I think we’re about to see. In fairness, I don’t think the majority of these gigs are held by “drinking buddies.” I do sense that many are held by relatively inexperienced or less sophisticated candidates.

I would like Canadians to explore and question the chain of command of these health boards. Does it really make sense that the provincial health boards have to wait on the federal ministry to give them the go ahead to respond to an impending crisis? Could Alberta have tested and approved a vaccine sooner and placed an order directly from the manufacturer months and months ago? It makes little sense to me that the entity responsible for delivering health care is not the entity that decides what to offer or how to get it.

As for the Flames, I’m not going to get into that. I think they should have gotten the shots the way they did. Especially if hockey is as culturally important to Canada and Canadians as we claim it is. I think the Flames took appropriate and correct action just as I think oil companies and any other major organization with hundreds of employees should have been able to privately acquire the vaccine and administer it to their willing employees to protect their business interests. The fact is, greed is a powerful motivator. This is why I sometimes say only scientists with cancer should be working on the cure for cancer. If impotent scientists were working on Viagra, we’d have had it decades ago.

As for Stelmach… he’s done, provided Danielle Smith and the Wildrose Party can run a proper campaign. This is a debaucle right now that Albertans will have to be reminded of. Ed’s reign is one of failures coupled with a recession. Voters will turn out in stronger numbers next time to defeat the PCs just as they did when it was time to usher out the SoCreds. Alberta is a changing place. For the better? Up to you.

Tags: Fan Mail, H1N1