Thursday, January 05, 2006

Second verse, same as the first

I'm following the Canadian federal election campaign with great interest and a smattering of bemusement. It's a great three-ring circus, really.

Jack Layton caught my eye today with his promise of $200 million to train health-care workers.

Here are the specifics:

Layton made the comments in Winnipeg Thursday morning, where he announced that his party will set aside another $200 million a year to train health workers. Layton said that would fund the equivalent of another 16,000 nursing training spaces.

It's a great idea, Dr. Layton, but here's the fly in the ointment. The problem is not a shortage of trained nurses, but rather a shortage of decent jobs for new graduates in Canada. This is not a new problem. The cycle has been repeating itself for decades. "There's a shortage of nurses! Get your BScN, and you can write your own ticket to success!" A little bit of money is thrown around, nursing salaries go up - and then fatcat hospital administrators say "YIKES! Look at how much of our budget goes to nursing salaries! Lay off some nurses!" New graduates - the ones who pay union dues through the nose for the priviledge of being the first ones laid off - have a choice. They can choose to cobble together two or three casual part-time positions to pay off their student loans. Or, they can accept a full-time position at an American hospital, use that nice sign-on bonus to whittle away their student debt, and get on with their careers and their lives.

Dr. Layton, if you can address this part of the "shortage of nurses" equation, I'll be happy to exercise my democratic franchise in your favour.

2 comments:

Rose said...

I am indeed leaning in a Green direction. (See pretty sunflower photo below.) It's not merely a protest vote - the Green Party platform represents the kind of Canada that I want for my son. Do I expect my candidate to win? No, not really. But in this election - which no-one really wanted - the electorate has the opportunity to cast a vote of conscience.
Also, their leader, Jim Harris, went to my Alma Mater (Queen's).

Anonymous said...

One thing about supporting the Green Party, is that they are not in your face, every time you pick up a paper, turn on the radio or TV.
They seems to know what they are doing.

RBC