Health
Red Deer Festival of Trees in 30th year
Event will raise funds for hospital operating room November 24-26 at Westerner Park
The Red Deer Festival of Trees is celebrating its 30th year providing Christmas cheer to Central Albertans while raising funds for critical equipment at the Red Deer Hospital.
Organizers say they are focused on capturing the best things Central Albertans remember about
attending Festival of Trees over the last 30 years.
“We hope that people who came to festival as kids come back with their own children, and that
people who brought their children bring their grandchildren,” said Manon Therriault, Chief Executive Officer at the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation, the organization that presents Festival of Trees every year.
Each year in November, Festival of Trees is one of the Foundation’s largest fundraisers. This year’s
event supports the purchase of equipment for the Operating Room at Red Deer Hospital. Therriault said, “Having access to new and replacement equipment for the O.R. will help recruit staff and physicians, improve the patient experience, and reduce wait times.
“Families can support a great cause while creating some wonderful holiday memories by attending
the Festival from November 24th to 26th at Westerner Park in Red Deer.”
Full details can be found at reddeerfestivaloftrees.ca.
About Red Deer Regional Health Foundation
The Red Deer Regional Health Foundation is a fundraising organization for Alberta Health Services
Central Zone, with a mandate to raise and disburse funds for programs, services, and the purchase of medical equipment.
From the Fraser Institute
By Mackenzie Moir and Bacchus Barua
Canada reported far fewer physicians (ranking 28th of 30) and hospital beds (23rd of 29) per 1,000 people in 2021. And ranked low for the availability of MRI machines (25th of 29) and CT scanners (26thof 30) per million people in 2019
Earlier this year, the Trudeau government announced it will increase health-care spending to provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next decade. But patients hoping for improved access will likely be disappointed. In reality, Canada’s health-care system already ranks as one of the most expensive systems in the world, but only has mediocre results to show for it. In other words, the problem isn’t the amount of money we spend, it’s the poor value we get for our health-care dollars.
A new study compared the spending and performance of Canada’s system with 29 other universal health-care systems worldwide. According to the study (after adjusting for population age in each country), Canada was the highest spender on health care as a share of the economy (at 12.6 per cent) and ninth-highest on a per person basis in 2021, the latest year of available data.
And yet, compared to other universal countries, Canada reported far fewer physicians (ranking 28th of 30) and hospital beds (23rd of 29) per 1,000 people in 2021. And ranked low for the availability of MRI machines (25th of 29) and CT scanners (26thof 30) per million people in 2019 (the latest year of available data).
Unsurprisingly, scarce health-care resources are accompanied by long wait times. Using data collected in 2020 by the Commonwealth Fund, the study found that only 38 per cent of Canadians reported waiting less than four weeks for a specialist appointment—a much smaller percentage than countries such as Switzerland (68 per cent) and Germany (67 per cent). On this indicator, Canada ranked 10th out of 10 countries. Canada also ranked dead last (10th) on timely access to elective surgery—with 62 per cent of Canadians reporting waiting less than four months—compared to 99 per cent of Germans and 94 per cent of Swiss.
While these results were disappointing, Canada reported mixed results in other areas of performance. For example, although Canada performed poorly on safety indicators such as obstetric trauma during birth (23rd of 23 countries), it performed above the OECD average on other indicators including heart attack survival rates (9th of 25 countries). But while the Canadian system has in some areas performed in line with its high spending levels, overall it’s struggled to meet many of its basic obligations—especially timely access to care.
With its latest increase in health-care spending, the Trudeau government again ignores the fact that Canada already has one of the most expensive universal health-care systems in the world. And although some of this new spending is predicated on provinces tracking progress and demonstrating improvement on certain indicators, international data reveal a simple truth—Canadians do not receive commensurate value for their health-care dollars. Without fundamental reform, it’s unlikely the new spending promised by the Trudeau government will produce improved performance for Canadian patients and their families.
Authors:
Community
Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis condemns MAiD in Parliament as targeting nation’s most vulnerable
From LifeSiteNews
‘I call upon with government to reverse its course and instead provide help and hope for Canadians suffering with mental health conditions’
Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis condemned the Trudeau government’s treatment of Canada’s most vulnerable, revealing that 36 Canadians are euthanized every day.
On November 28, Dr. Leslyn Lewis, Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Haldimand-Norfolk, Ontario, addressed Parliament on the dangers of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), the euphemistic name for Canada’s euthanasia regime.
“The poor, homeless, the abused, veterans, seniors, youth, adults suffering with disabilities, those suffering with depressions, and mental health conditions,” Lewis said. “These are among the most vulnerable in our society that are falling through the cracks of Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying regime.”
The most vulnerable are falling through the cracks of Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying regime.
Every day 36 Canadians die by MAiD, the HIGHEST NUMBER in the world. Canadians suffering with mental illness need help and hope, not euthanasia. This gov't must reverse course. pic.twitter.com/tT8x5PBpxq
— Dr. Leslyn Lewis (@LeslynLewis) November 28, 2023
“They are the ones who will be at risk when the MAiD laws in Canada are expanded in March 2024,” the pro-life MP added. “Last year, death by euthanasia increased by 30 percent from the year before. Every day in Canada, 36 people use MAiD to end their lives, which is the highest in the world.”
“I call upon with government to reverse its course and instead provide help and hope for Canadians suffering with mental health conditions,” Lewis appealed.
On March 9, 2024, MAiD is set to expand to include those suffering solely from mental illness. This is a result of the 2021 passage of Bill C-7, which also allowed the chronically ill – not just the terminally ill – to qualify for so-called doctor-assisted death.
The mental illness expansion was originally set to take effect in March of this year. However, after massive pushback from pro-life groups, conservative politicians and others, the Liberals under Trudeau delayed the introduction of the full effect of Bill C-7 until 2024 via Bill C-39.
The expansion comes despite warnings from top Canadian psychiatrists that the country is “not ready” for the coming expansion of euthanasia to those who are mentally ill, saying expanding the procedure is not something “society should be doing” as it could lead to deaths under a “false pretense.”
Similarly, Angelina Ireland, the head of one of Canada’s few pro-life hospice societies, recently warned that euthanasia has become a national “horror” show.
“Unfortunately, there is no reprieve in sight as think Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) becomes a national horror and the ‘professionals’ sharpen up their needles,” Ireland told LifeSiteNews.
“We have reached the point where we must all protect each other from MAiD,” she noted.
Euthanasia deaths have gone through the roof in Canada since it became legal in 2016.
According to Health Canada, in 2022, 13,241 Canadians died by MAiD lethal injection, which is 4.1 percent of all deaths in the country for that year, and a 31.2 percent increase from 2021.
The number of Canadians killed by lethal injection since 2016 now stands at 44,958.
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