Cathy MacNeil’s Author Page

11/30/2025

11/30/2025

The privatization of health care destroys lives. We must become vigilant about keeping big insurers out of 🇨🇦 Medicare.



Lauren Shields, 60, at home in University City, Mo. Ms. Shields, a computer project manager, whose husband has lymph node cancer, chose her current job four years ago based on health insurance coverage. They have high incomes and insurance through Medicare, but have still taken on $5,000 in credit card debt.“We don’t go to the movies. We don’t go out for breakfast on Saturday morning. None of our pets are going to the vet this year for a checkup. I’m cutting back on Christmas presents this year because the money’s not there.” Credit Whitney Curtis for The New York Times

11/28/2025

Looking for the perfect Xmas gift ? If you are concerned about the demise of the 🇨🇦healthcare system or have a family member working in the healthcare system this could be the perfect Xmas gift! www.dyingtobeseen.ca
Available on Amazon.ca

11/28/2025

This is how a health system burns to the ground

PUBLISHED
November 28, 2025
AUTHOR(S)
Paul Parks
PUBLICATION
CHW Opinion

Imagine a city with one firehall. It’s the only place equipped to handle real emergencies, train new fire crews, and stop homes and neighbourhoods from burning to the ground.

Now imagine the government starts pouring money into shiny brush-fire trucks owned by a couple of companies. They’re fast and impressive-looking.

But there’s a catch. Well, a few, actually.

They only handle small grass fires.

They don’t run at night.

They don’t rescue people.

They don’t train the next generation of firefighters.

But they’re easy to manage and great for optics, so slowly but surely City Hall pulls firefighters and funding away from the main firehall to keep these trucks running.

Then comes the real catch.

The private trucks are allowed to sell “priority response packages” to anyone who’ll pay. Suddenly the richest people in town get their grass fires extinguished instantly, with white-glove service.

Meanwhile the firehall responsible for real emergencies is understaffed, overworked, and unable to respond when more than one actual house catches fire.

Neighbourhoods burn.
The government spends all month bragging about record brush-fire response numbers.

If this sounds absurd, it should.
It’s also exactly what Alberta is doing to its healthcare system.

The “brush fires” are simple, profitable procedures.
The “shiny trucks” are private clinics.

But the firefighters being siphoned away aren’t the surgeons. They’re the anesthesiologists and nurses who make cancer surgeries, trauma operations, and emergency care possible.

Pull these people out of hospitals, and the system breaks. You cannot run a fire department by funding brush-fire crews while the city burns.

Run a health system that way, and people don’t wait for care.

They die.

Dr. Paul Parks is an emergency medicine physician in Medicine Hat and the former president of the Alberta Medical Association.

09/17/2025

The behind Dying to be Seen’s rivoting book cover 📕 …


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Hi there! I am a lifelong digital creative, specializing in graphic design, photographic effects and retouching, as well as audio and video production, copywriting, and social media strategy. Follow me, Jon Nolet - Digital Artist - for the adventures of one Halifax Graphic Designer

04/24/2025

A must read for anyone interested in Canada’s health care system.

04/02/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18ssn5yrnU/?mibextid=wwXIfr

02/26/2025

https://canadahealthwatch.ca/2025/02/26/ontarios-primary-care-fix-is-pure-politics-not-problem-solving

The Fraser Institute endorses Ontario’s new primary care plan, which should tell you everything.

08/29/2024

Privatization discriminates. Access must be based on need, not ability to pay.

https://www.thestar.com/business/as-more-cataract-surgeries-move-to-private-clinics-more-low-income-ontarians-are-being-left/article_b1755b54-6163-11ef-b2f6-fffb327d50b7.html