By Peter Gay
It’s petition time again. But this time we are not signing for the government to keep class sizes low or to keep hospitals open, or even change good old Stockwell Day’s first name to Doris.
No, this time we are petitioning for a proper standard of care in our cherished health system.
The MRI situation in Ottawa has reached a critical status. With over 7,000 people waiting for elective MRI scans (and the list is growing longer everyday), this can mean a period of up to nine months before a patient can receive an MRI appointment.
To help apply pressure to the Ontario government to invest in a new MRI unit for Ottawa, the opposition Liberals have launched www.ottawamri.com, a Web site that provides an electronic petition for residents to sign.
The site also provides background information about the MRI situation in the city and has a copy of the petition letter to print out so it can reach those people without computer access.
All of this has been done to get our provincial government to become aware of a very obvious problem. We have too many people and not enough MRI machines.
And what’s worse, Ottawa is failing by Ontario’s own standards. The ministry of heath outlines that there should be an MRI machine for every 350,000 people but in Ottawa there is one machine for every 550,000 people.
Left with no other options, patients can sign a petition and hope that Mike Harris does something. Like spend the $800,000 annually it would cost to cover the new MRI unit for Ottawa.
The Liberals believe MRIs are such a hot topic that the government could not ignore this petition. They say this is the one to make the difference.
But do petitions really work? History seems to say no.
In 1997 a public petition was organized to pressure the government for smaller class sizes in public schools. It failed. Class sizes are bigger than ever before.
In the late 1990’s several petitions were circulated to stop the government from closing the Grace Hospital. In 1999, the Grace closed its doors forever.
And in this past election Stockwell Day’s first name was the subject of a humorous petition to have his first name changed to Doris. Be assured, Day’s first name is quite secure.
If you want to apply pressure to the government, write a letter to your MPP or MP.
Do something, do anything — because one thing is for sure. Lists always grow in numbers, which means that suffering Ottawa residents will have to wait even longer for proper treatment.