Kell Petersen  

                                                                                 September 10, 1998

Rick Thorpe MLA

Penticton, BC

 Dear Rick:

 Thank you for you call and our chat yesterday, I appreciate our discussions in the strategic issues facing the community.  To avoid any misunderstanding in the matter of integrity and use of tax money, I will emphasize.  

I have no problem that tax money being used to assist the weakest in the community and for capital investment and operation in care facilities etc., satisfying the constituency and the political process,   as long there is accountability.  

I do have immense problem for example with our health care system. The system consumes or cost twenty five billion more than necessary, damaging the socioeconomic standard in the community.  Health care system is excluded from the pricing mechanism, and controlled and abused by interest groups. A company in Penticton -in your constituency- is carrying one thousand dollar higher heath care cost pr capita that a company in Denmark for no reason and damaging its combativeness..  The Canadian health care system is simply not sustainable and contradicts its purpose and to be said nor are the US system.  The system is terminal ill, and the government obviously has obligation to repair the system and reduce the cost, but obviously lack the courage to do so.  Resource is wasted in treatment of the trivially ill while the truly ill is suffering and the social condition in large erode.  It is management problem and not a money problem.  The pilot project we suggested to this region in 1994 would have contributed to such necessarily changes to the system in BC.    * Health Care    

I do have problem with tax being used without accountability to assist industry or for whatever reason. Regardless if that is our tax used in BC or via IMF in Thailand or Russia, and where the tax in form of loan and grant goes out the back door and end up in individuals pockets.    I have tremendous problem with any legislature and government and bureaucrats aware of this type of issues without doing anything about it.    We are talking of a very damaging, sociopsychiatric economic behavior and problem. Whatever the cause is stupidity, incompetence, greed and self-interest or plain corruption, the damages to the community is the same.   

That ties in to our discussion, what is government's role? 

Be in touch, 

Kell Petersen 

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