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Ottawa Star www.OttawaStar.com • August 15, 2013 • Volume 1, Issue 4
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All boys club Couple welcomes 12th child into family fold and, yes, it’s a boy again! By Ed White, The Associated Press
DETROIT—A Michigan family welcomed their 12th child. And, shocker, it’s a boy—just like the other 11. Jay and Kateri Schwandt believed the latest baby might break the gender streak, especially after Kateri, known as Teri, was nine days past her due date. That was unusual for her pregnancies. But as it turned out, it was hardly a game-changer as a nurse at a Grand Rapids hospital announced delivery of another boy. Tucker was 7 pounds, 12 ounces (3.52 kilograms). “Of course. There was a chuckle in the whole room,’’ Teri, 38, said told The Associated Press. “I looked at my husband, and we exchanged a knowing smile. When they say it’s a boy, I think, OK, no problem. I’ve got this. We know what we’re doing.’’ Tyler is the oldest son at 21. When the school year starts, three Schwandt boys will be in high school, while five brothers are in lower grades. That leaves three more at home with Teri. Continued on page 12
Canada’s healthcare system anything but ‘free’
Rocky Mountain Flyboard instructor Jordan Wayment emerges from the water as he demonstrates the flyboard, on the Jordanelle Reservoir, at Jordanelle State Park, Utah. The Flyboard, which looks like a small snowboard attached to a hose, can propel you 45 feet in the air using water pumped from a personal watercraft like a Jet Ski to the base of the board. New devices that pump water fast enough to make people defy gravity are drawing thrill-seekers eager to try the next new watersport, but Hawaii fishermen, scientists and state officials are questioning their safety and how they may affect fish, coral and other fragile natural resources in the islands. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A typical Canadian family of four can expect to pay $11,320 for public healthcare insurance By Nadeem Esmail and Milagros Palacios
VANCOUVER, BC, Troy Media—Many Canadians and commentators in other countries lauding Canada’s governmentdominated approach to healthcare refer to Canadian healthcare as ‘free.’ If healthcare actually was free, the relatively poor performance of the healthcare system might not seem all that bad. But the reality is that the Canadian healthcare system is not free—in fact, Canadian families pay heavily for healthcare through the tax system. That high price paints the long wait times and lack of medical technologies in Canada in a very different light. In 2013, a typical Canadian family of four can expect to pay $11,320 for public healthcare insurance. For the average family of two parents with one child, that bill will be $10,989, and for the average family of two adults (without children) the bill comes to $11,381. As a re-
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sult of lower average incomes and differences in taxation, the bills are smaller for the average unattached individual ($3,780), for the average one-parent-one-child family ($3,905), and the average one-parent two-child family ($3,387). But no matter the family type, the bill is not small, much less free. And the bill is getting bigger over time. Before inflation, the cost of public healthcare insurance went up by 53.3 per cent over the last decade. That’s more than 1.5 times faster than the cost of shelter (34.2 per cent) and clothing (32.4 per cent), and more than twice as fast as the cost of food (23.4 per cent). It’s also nearly 1.5 times faster than the growth in average income over the decade (36.3 per cent). And what did these substantial funds buy? Despite talk of wait times reduction initiatives (backed with substantial funding), Canadians face longer wait times than their counterparts in other developed nations for emergency care, primary care, specialist consultations, and elective surgery. Access to physicians and medical technologies in Canada lags behind many other developed nations. And things have improved little since 2003. For example, the total wait time in 2012 (17.7 weeks from General Practitioner to treatment) is every bit as long it was back then. Don’t be fooled by claims that health spending isn’t high enough or that transfers for healthcare to the provinces have been insufficient. Canada’s healthcare Continued on page 11
Senator Mac Harb defends borrowing $230,000 from Ottawa businessman By Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA—Senator Mac Harb is defending his decision to borrow $230,000 from an Ottawa businessman by mortgaging several of his properties—including the house outside of Ottawa that’s tied to the Senate ethics scandal. The land record documents show Harb used mortgages against four properties in and outside the city to get loans from a numbered company owned by Brian Karam, a business-
man and lawyer who has for years done business with the government. In a letter sent to several media outlets, Harb’s attorney Paul Champ insisted the senator—formerly a member of the Liberal caucus—did nothing wrong when he borrowed money from Karam’s company. “Sen. Harb’s loans with Mr. Karam’s corporation were completely transparent, were promptly reported to the Senate in accordance with Senate rules, and were on reasonable comContinued on page 2