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Letters Policy published Sutmissions may be edired for lerigth. so please be briet Copyright in letters and ather matenals submitted to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the publisher and in licensees may freeh reproduce tem in print, electmaini or m The Waterion Chronicle welcomen letters to the Iditor: They should be signed with name. address and |vhunrluuhnanl-ihe\w|fid§' mailing address is 279 Weber & Unit 20, Waterion NB 192 @ccuracy. No unsigned letters will be w | E\ Dwayne Weidendort Lynn Bartol Gerry Mattice Retail Sales Manager. Ext. 230 wins waterioochronicle ca editorial@waterloochronicle ca sports@waterioochronicle ca sales@waterloochronicle.ca composing@waterioochronicle.ca Bob Zarzveki Advertising Nates, xt. 222 International Standard Senial Number ISSN 0832â€"3410 Norma Cvea Advertising Sates. Fxt. 223 Matt Miller WATERLOO CHRONICLE KEFâ€"3000, EoX mme The Waterloo Chronicle is pub lished every Wednesday by the Lainway Group. owned by City Media Group Inc., a subsidian ot Torstar Corp. The content of this paper is protected by copyright and may be used onl for person al nonâ€"commercial purposen. All other rights are reserved and commercial use is prohibited. To make use of this matenal you must first obtain the permission of the owner of the copyright. Phone: 886â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 ©23â€"3050, hut. 210 279 Weber St., North, Suite 20 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 3H8 Canachan Public atrony Mail Saks Product Agreement Number 40050478 Bill Pihura Andrea Bailev Bob \‘rbanae Sports Lditor Ext. 229 Rob Leuschner * Group Publisher £0000EIB EsY Assoctate Publisher Uditor, Pxt. 215 Audhtext «irculation: 31. 242 other forms. Our Otherwise, we l’lll‘!; ;;;v our hands, and the public wil Let‘s hope there are more like Coun, Jim Bolger sitting around the horseshoeâ€"who remember they‘re citizens before they‘re counciliors and acknowledge that citivens deserve the proper information. Waterloo tmied to manage communication between city staff and the media a few Veain age, telling reporters that any questions geared toward then chiet administra tive officer Tom Stockie would have to first go through his assistant. Media reps complained the oty was trying to manage its message and protect its employees from accountabilâ€" ity. It wasn‘t long after that the process was quashed Hopefully a formal system will be different this time. though one member of city council has expressed conâ€" ce that the public transparency the city has promised its citizens will be compromised if certain guidelines aren‘t enforced. e City of Waterioo is preparin I communications department to which should mean citizens informed of what‘s going on inside the City Hall In a perfect world. that will be the cas However, communications departn sent publicâ€"sector businesses. such as t loo, can run the risk of being used as a apin and, in some cases. hide major is interest to citizens Such departments can also create between senior bureaucrats. who shou tor their decisions. and the public or the after the straight goods. Will Waterloo be managing its message? iP dbnieninaiianss? fbaniiad i. the risk of being used as a amokescreer some cases, hide major issues that are Pestess aive another financial fiasco on will be the last to know. an also create a safe barrier ats, who should be answering re public or the mextia who are iment to its organization, citizens will be better be the case, departments that repreâ€" such as the City of Waterâ€" used as a smokescreen to paring to introduce hallowed halls of VIEWPOIN @ ‘M of When Douglas was 10 years old. he was hospitalâ€" His passion stemmed from a personal triumph. as Saskatchewan premier to bring free health care to his province. Often refe'l}-t:rllu as "Canada‘s _ father of Medicare®, Douglas worked Mlh-@un’mh‘nlflym rons we enjoy universal health care in Canada. sons we "«madian stage veteran. But few young people especially may know that his grandfather. lommy Douâ€" glas, is one of the main reaâ€" Better late guess You can‘t help but love Sutherland in the role, though I admit 1 d never been much of a fan of his before. Twoâ€"tier beef can stay on hoid the action is riv eting, packing so much into a oneâ€" hour timestot, unlike other programs that drag the drama on for weeks at a time. Cown terrorist plots on the Fox primeâ€"time drama known simply as 24. onday nights have Mburt- a new tradiâ€" tion in my houseâ€" hold. Everyone stops what they‘re doing at 9 p.m. to tune in to watch Canada‘s own Kiefer Sutherland take down terrortist Dlots an rha P than never &&&\Qs&'&éfi\'&&\\ «8 â€" @.@«@\L\mqg\m‘z.\\;&\q _ naA."t :«\sfi \\'&\QQ\Q.& = @Q\u@.@@&zs%&x\ a "ooug o. : &Q‘& The system still stands as one of this country‘s greatâ€" est servicesâ€"one envied by many of our neighbours to the south. And soon they did, as other provinces and the fedâ€" eral government adopted the same mentality and approved universal Medicare in the 1960s. ized as a result of a bone infection in his knee. When several operations failed. specialists told Douâ€" glas" parents they‘d have to pay a high priceâ€"otherwise lommy would either lose his leg or die. Struggling to pay the bills as it was, his parents had nowhere to turn. Fortunately a visiting surâ€" geon heard of the family‘s crisis and offered to perform the needed procedure for freeâ€" as long as his stuâ€" dents could observe. The lifeâ€"saving offer spawned Douglas‘ dream that one day all Canadians would enjoy free health care. â€" .\\xfis\ 'zm\‘zâ€"‘?\-‘lfim% C bg'%\@tk\c‘&\zfié ..-\\@Q-‘Q" J ANDREA Hopefully that‘s where will stay. _It seems the issue has been relegated to the back burner. On the other side of the fence. however, there have also been fewer murmurs promoting healthâ€"care priâ€" vatization. Other pressing medical issues, such as the ongoing doctor shortage and public wait times for special serâ€" vices have dominated recent headlines. Those without the means will have to wait their turns. Some provincial leaders, including Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, have tried to abolish the thought of privatizing a service that has put Canadians on an equal playing field for 40 years. McGuinty went as far as trying to make universal public health care law in 2003 by introducing the Future of Medicare Act. But critics, such as Leah Casselman, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, and Patty Rout, chair of the Health Care Divisional Council, believe the act has no teeth, hey could be right, since there‘s been little mention of it by the province since the fall of Yet, some would love to see it struck down in favour of a twoâ€"tier system. Such a concept would allow those with the means to basically pay their way to the front of the line for medâ€" ical care.