Amalgamating Grenfell cost PC's election

Dear Editor,

It's that time of year when we look back at the year just passed and wonder to ourselves, what was the biggest story to capture our attention in our area for the year just passed? And I'm sure many will agree that politics stole the attention brought about with the PC defeat in a by-election in the Straits-White Bay North. Many are still scratching their heads and asking, why? Things in the area seemed to be going along at an above normal pace. Road work, water and sewer, new schools, new sports facilities and the list goes on. 'What was the people's beef?' many would ask.

But I'm sure it didn't take long for people to know where the dissatisfaction was. It was on a topic very dear to the people of the district that was health care. It was this dissatisfaction that caused the PCs to lose the seat in the Straits-White Bay North and no other single topic. And if Danny Williams expects to re-gain this seat in the upcoming provincial election he has to fulfill the wishes of the people in the Straits-White Bay North and start doing it now and not wait until an election is called to make the announcements.

The greatest dissatisfaction of the people in this area came about when the government on the advice of a consultant group from "up along" decided to take from St. Anthony and the district. Something which it had been doing for over one hundred years, namely the administration of health services in the area. Instead, the government saw fit to go along with the report and move everything to Goose Bay "lock, stock and barrel" in a move which they said would cut health care cost although I cannot prove this is a court of law but I feel confident that stats prove that just the opposite is true. If this issue alone was given back to the people of this area that in itself would be sufficient for the PCs to regain back the seat but if they want to win it back with a land slide they have to address other issues plaguing health care in the Straits and White Bay North. And it all stems back to services at the Charles S. Curtis Memorial Hospital at St. Anthony. Many people feel that by the way things have been going it will be only a matter of time when our hospital at one time ranked as one of the greatest hospitals in Canada will be little more than a referral centre, this must never be allowed to happen. At the Charles Curtis Memorial Hospital in St. Anthony we have the greatest medical team in any hospital in Canada, the greatest administrative team before it was taken from them and the greatest workers whose main objective is to see government gets full value from their services. When I see some of the things going on it makes my gut growl. Children flown to Goose Bay and motored to Corner Brook to have braces adjusted on their teeth, flown to hospitals to have other medical services carried out which could be carried out at the St. Anthony hospital if the right equipment was there. As for the doctors and nurses and other medical staff at the St. Anthony hospital it is stacked with quality but low on quantity so it's up to the government to try and get extra medical staff and medical equipment for the hospital so it can once again rank with the best hospitals in the country. As for improvement in the in-shore fishery the solution take away from government and politicians some of the control they now have and give it to the fishermen, especially in marketing and quota. If Danny Williams can correct some of these issues, he can re-gain the seat in the Straits-White Bay North with a land slide victory.

Francis Patey,

St. Anthony