Some Interesting Issues To Discuss

I am not going to give a big introduction to this Website today. Rather, I am just going to get right into telling you about some of the interesting stories that I have seen recently.

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE NEW MEDICAL SCHOOL IN WINDSOR

There is no doubt that it is advantageous to our area to have many new doctors working here. After all, in the past, we were seeing shortages all the time. Here is what is said in a recent story:

"About 90 physicians — graduates of the four-year program and others who have completed their family medicine residencies in Windsor — have remained in the area to practice since 2008…

we began to see physicians who were interested in coming down here,” said David Musyj, CEO of the Windsor Regional Hospital. “We used to post jobs and hope we’d get one candidate from elsewhere in Ontario. After the Schulich announcement, we’ve had competition for positions." (Dave Waddell, Windsor Star, February 11, 2018)

I hate to say this but a similar comment such as this was made quite a number of years ago:

"Dr. Al Kadri, the president of the Essex County Medical Society, said doctor shortages are a thing of the past…

Kadri said convincing doctors to locate here should become easier, now that young doctors are being trained in Windsor at the Shulich School of Medicine.

“We do have a good complement of physicians in the community, much better than we did a decade ago,” said Kadri. “I think from here on in, we may be able to sustain that.” (CBC News, December 1, 2011) 

If you will recall in reading stories that I wrote so long ago, dear reader, I used to be quite involved in trying to get more doctors working in Windsor.  I remember doing a presentation to some Regional medical people about an approach I thought should be taken. Fortunately, my suggestions as to how to move forward with foreign trained doctors was ultimately incorporated. Nevertheless, there was still a big shortage here in the number of doctors that were working.

I am not all that positive about the news that we saw in the Star story, although it is quite good. Regretfully, I do not believe that the number of new doctors that are working here now after graduating from the medical school as mentioned above---90---is all that significant. That number was created over a 10 year period. On average, that would be only about 9 new doctors per year added on for this region. That is hardly a big number at all unless the number of doctors who work here now, are not retiring because of older age as they did in the past. Nevertheless, 9 new ones each year, if the population is going to increase significantly in this area as the economy grows, is hardly significant.

One final word that should be disturbing to everyone, but probably more realistic, was a comment made by Mr. Musyj:

"The full impact of the medical school won’t be felt for another 10 to 15 years, he said."

WILL THE NEW NAFTA AGREEMENT BE SIGNED SOON

Are we ever tough in Canada when it comes to negotiating with other countries, especially the United States!

Why? It's because we tell them exactly what we want and expect them to immediately give into us.  I mean, dear reader, isn't that the point of view that our Federal Government seems to have been putting forward in its negotiations with the United States and Mexico with respect to NAFTA.

Of course, dear reader, you don't believe that, and neither do I. We just keep hoping that other Governments with whom we deal, take pity on us and let us have something in a negotiations that we are in with them.

Let me talk about NAFTA. Here are the introductory comments by the Canadian Ambassador to the United States in an article:

"Canada's ambassador to the United States said Monday he believes NAFTA negotiators can reach an agreement in principle by the end of March.

The upbeat assessment from envoy David MacNaughton comes in the face of the continuing threat from U.S. President Donald Trump to blow up the deal, which hangs over the final eight weeks in the current negotiating schedule.

MacNaughton refused to speculate on whether Trump is likely to pull out of NAFTA, but he said enough progress has been made on the "wiring and plumbing" of the agreement that all three countries can iron out their differences on the more substantial issues in the next two months." (Mike Blanchfield, Canadian Press, February 5, 2018) 

Wow, is someone ever sounding very scared as if no such agreement will ever be signed!

I wonder if the Government of Canada is terrified that this deal may not go through at all if President Trump loses his power as the calendar moves forward until the election in the fall.  They may believe that the Republicans in the House and Senate may be in big trouble after the next election so that Canada cannot get what it desperately needs. Accordingly, this could be why our Ambassador is giving the signal that he wants a deal completed as soon as possible.

We will have to see what happens and see if our position gets even weaker. We may just have to get the Americans to act quickly so that we could have something signed or else our economy could be in a mess.

WAS FRED FRANCIS POSSIBLY IN BIG TROUBLE POLITICALLY

I was rather surprised that this column came out from Gord Henderson in the Windsor Star:

"Park plan for Grand Marais Drain declared dead on arrival

That proposal to transform Grand Marais Drain into an attractive linear park for the benefit of South Windsor residents has been declared dead on arrival by its most enthusiastic proponent.

Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis, who made naturalization of the concrete-lined drain between Huron Church Road and Dougall Avenue a key plank in his 2014 platform, has confirmed that the plan he was pitching is off the table and it’s back to the drawing board." (Gord Henderson, Windsor Star, February 3, 2018)

That was kind of an interesting column I thought. I don't really recall something similar to that at all. What he seemed to be doing is giving an excuse to a Councillor about something he could not finish. That was rather generous of the Columnist to do that I thought. After all, do you remember other politicians telling you they could not do something and then still hoping for support notwithstanding their failure?

I just wonder if Councillor Francis was getting very nervous that if he was running for office again then someone might mention his failure to hurt him. He certainly did not want that it seems. I wonder if this could be the reason why he was so upset and concerned that it might be something negative that might be held against him if he was running again for Councillor or trying to become Windsor's next Mayor. In other words, reveal it now so that it will disappear and not be part of a mayoral election competition.

Hmmmm. I wonder if this is why Councillor Francis became so concerned. Here's what was attributed to him recently and, obviously, something that must be of concern to him:

"Now, three of the councillors whose wards were jilted — Rino Bortolin, Chris Holt and Irek Kusmierczyk — have posted their requests for their wards on social media. You could say it’s politics. Or you could say constituents deserve to know how their elected representatives are representing them. You could say it’s the first opportunity for the public to discuss the mysterious allocation of $10 million… 

Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis thinks his submission should be classified. Why? He doesn’t want his constituents to get their hopes up, he says? The voting age is 18, not eight. I live in Ward 1. What is my councillor saying I want?" (Anne Jarvis, Windsor Star, January 13, 2018) 

Amazing. The Councillor, it seems, did not want any negative information about his failure coming out. He wanted it to remain hidden. That would mean that no one could use it against him.

It seems to me that no one really would have known, or even cared much, that Councillor Francis failed in one of his projects. However, it may now be that their attitude might change. Accordingly, in my opinion, no matter how hard Gord Henderson tried to be positive about the Councillor in his column, I believe this matter can be held against him because it got so much exposure.

Here is what Henderson tried to do that can be seen by what he wrote at the end of his column:

"Will the city’s youngest councillor, now 37, pay a price in this election year for failing to deliver on one of his most prominent campaign promises?

I don’t see it. I give him full marks for being frank about this harsh new reality instead of holding out false hope or trying to skirt the issue."

Nice positive comments for the Councillor even though there was a failure.