Minister of Health Pat Atkinson:

breaking the law and becoming a magician

Nipawin - March 5, 2000 - By: Mario deSantis
   
approved ... budgets for
the year
April 1/1999 to March 31/2000

Thursday night I checked the news releases of the Saskatchewan government and I found to my
dismay the news that the Minister of Health has all at once approved 11 (eleven) budgets for the year April 1/1999 to March 31/2000(1). I don't know what happened to the budgets of the other twenty-one districts, but think how this same government who expects its citizens to comply with the rule of law is breaking the law it makes.
   
districts report relevant financial information to the Ministe The Provincial Auditor has reported consistently throughout the years that the districts are not
complying fully with section 35(2) of The Health District Act(2). This section of the act includes
the requirements that districts report relevant financial information to the Minister, such as annual
operating plans, three year strategic plans, and ongoing operational reports to compare actual
versus budgeted figures.
   
approves the budgets in the same month when the fiscal year end Now, how in the world can those eleven districts provide operating performance measures to the
Minister if this same Minister approves the budgets in the same month when the fiscal year end?
And what happened to the other twenty-one districts? Did they have their budgets approved or
their 1999-2000 budgets are going to be approved in the fiscal year 2000-2001?
   
asking the districts to retroactively report their operational performance Pat Atkinson has driven health care to a gambling casino(3), and now she adds a touch of her
magic by asking the districts to retroactively report their operational performance for the previous
fiscal year. Pat Atkinson has no vision for health care(4), she has certainly no strategic plans for
the districts; I thought she was able to manage numbers, but no, she cannot add numbers either(5),
so she has been promoted to the level of a magician as she and our other magician, Premier Roy
Romanow(6), take the role of the Canadian saviours of Medicare and begin preaching the gospel
that health care is underfunded(7). The voice of our socialist Medicare Saviours has been heard
by CUPE members and demonstrations to save Medicare are going to take place across Canada(8).
   
-------------Endnotes:
   
  General reference: Articles by Mario deSantis published by North Central Internet News
http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/authors/desantis.html
   

1.

Government News Release, Health - 86, March 3, 2000 http://www.gov.sk.ca/newsrel/archive.html
   

2.

Report of the Provincial Auditor, 1999 Fall Report, Volume 2, pages 50-51, http://www.auditor.sk.ca
   

3.
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Pat Atkinson: raising the finger and turning healthcare to a gambling casino, by Mario deSantis, February 3, 2000
   

4.
-
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NEED OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN SASKATCHEWAN: Healthcare Reform and New Economic Policies, Part 2. What happened to the Saskatchewan Vision for Health?, by Mario deSantis, October 22, 1998
   

5.
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The closure of the Plains Health Centre: The $50 million overrun and the gimmick of saving money in health care, by Mario deSantis, December 19, 1999
   

6.
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Premier Romanow's Latest Magics: Shuffling Numbers & Mysterious Bank Account, by Mario deSantis, May 15, 1999
   

7.
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Atkinson pressing for "urgent" health meeting, CBC Saskatchewan. An excerpt: "...Pat Atkinson says the future of medicare is at stake. She says that federal spending on health is now so low, the system is becoming unsustainable..." http://sask.cbc.ca/ Web Posted | Mar 3 2000 8:42 AM EST
   

8.
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Rally for health care. The Canadian Union of Public Employees says the health care system is in critical condition. CBC Saskatchewan http://sask.cbc.ca/ Web Posted | Mar 3 2000 6:25 PM EST