Editor,

First, let me give credit to our Provincial Government for the response to restoring access for our community after the devastating flood we in southern BC, specifically in our Merrit/Nicola area.

Restoring the Highway access to the Lower Mainland was swift and effective. This access affected all of us. Our health care access is another matter. I personally have a doctor and have access, but not all share that luxury. It should not be a luxury. Our country and province concluded that health care must be accessible to all. That is not so. It is only available to those that can access a doctor and if required get scheduled into a specialist at sometime in the future. Emergency access is not the answer.

The blame game has been going on too long. The Premier is blaming the Feds for not increasing the funding to our Health Care Program. The under funding has been going on since the inception of the original agreement when the Provincial Government accepted the terms of the Canada Health Act. Every provincial government in Canada faces this challenge The time is overdue to cut out the financial arguments. The Provincial Government who is in charge of the Provincial health care system, must correct the mismanagement and take the under funding battle to another battle field. Fighting with the Feds in this matter is just an unjustified excuse to keep kicking the can down the road and not giving the public the Health Care they are entitled to.
The Premier is the head of the governing body in charge of our health system in this Province. While he may be on the way out, the time is now for him to correct the injustice which affects all British Colombians and “fix” our health care coverage, which includes reasonable access.

Make the health system available to all in a timely manner and do it now. This could be Premier Horgan’s legacy but it will take intestinal fortitude to do it. The question is, does he have it?

J. Rabbit,
Merritt, BC