Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

'The morale has sunk to new lows'

by Aaron Wherry on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 5:20pm - 44 Comments

Though he won’t officially depart until an election is called, Keith Martin offers a few parting words.

“The morale has sunk to new lows,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “If you want to drive innovation forward Parliament is not the place to do that any more …

“I got into this as a physician, basically to carry a larger stethoscope,” he said. “I was treating individual patients and I thought ‘I’ve got solutions that will help a lot more people.’ And I got into Parliament to implement those solutions … and unfortunately those innovations will not be able to be advanced under the current political climate.”

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  • Emily

    I particularly noticed this comment:

    'Mr. Martin believes that major changes can no longer be made by Parliament. Rather, the changes will come from outside. “Governments are going to fall behind that. They are not going to lead, they are going to be followers,” he said.'

    Exactly. I've said it myself. People will do end runs around Parliament because it's too slow, too bogged down in the past, and these days, irrelevant.

    • Patchouli

      And immobilized by constant polls. They won't do what's right or what needs to be done; they will just do what the day's poll says may help them win votes. Flip flops, broken promises, broken policies, Parliamentary procedure and committees ignored. If some of the best who have stepped up to the plate — interrupting their own already-brilliant careers — Prentice, Keith Martin, Stronach — then see the gridlock and run away, well then what hope is there? The best will leave or be run out; the jerks will stay because who else wants them?

      Seriously when I hear the likes of Jason Kenney's name bandied about as possible next leader of Conservatives, I shake my head. I'm not a Conservative but that party used to have talent, not a bunch of under-educated muted hacks.

      • Emily

        Well the first rule in politics is to get elected. You can't do anything if you don't get elected. And then you have to stay in politics to accomplish anything.

        So they do and say whatever it takes….it does lead to gridlock and our current problems, but that's a problem with democracy in general.

  • oppoguy

    Keith Martin in other words:

    "I spent most of my career in two parties trying to destroy single-payer health care. It turns out Canadians don't much care for that idea, so I'm going to blame the poltical process. Wish me and my ill-fated private clinic well."

    • Emily

      Since the govt agrees with him, he wouldn't have had any trouble promoting that.

    • Mike T.

      When he announced he was leaving a lot of people started saying he was just too good for politics.

      Turns out he agreed wholeheartedly.

      • Emily

        I think you're just ticked about his medicare views.

        I don't agree with them either, but there's no need to project like this.

  • Orson Bean

    I liked and admired Keith Martin for the most part. But his barbs and criticisms have to be regarded in their proper context — Martin was always a backbencher, especially after he crossed the floor to the Liberals. So really his kvetch is that of a backbencher, and backbenchers have always been powerless, sort of the Maytag repairmen or the Walter Mittys of Parliament. The fact that backbenchers are powerless and relatively irrelevant does not necessarily mean that Parliament doesn't work, or that Parliament can't get anything done.

    • Emily

      'ran as a Liberal in the 2004 election. He was re-elected, and served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence'

      • Orson Bean

        . . . which ain't worth a bucket of warm spit.

        • Emily

          You've confused it with being US VP

  • BGLong

    And we're paying attention to this guy ……… explain please ?

    • Emily

      Because he's leaving, after having served his country all these years, and because he's saying things we apparently don't want to hear.

      However, perhaps we NEED to hear them

      • BGLong

        When he says something I haven't been hearing for decades, let me know.

        Sorry, I used up all my Liberal angst when Warren Allmand given his Glasgow
        kiss.

        • Emily

          The correct response here is 'Thank you Dr Martin'.

  • hollinm

    We all know there is going to need to be some restructuring of the healthcare system or it will bankrupt the country and we will eventually have more 2 tier healthcare (we already have it). I hope Martin is able to work from outside the system to promote his ideas and to get the stakeholders into a room to discuss our options going forward. The babyboomers are not waiting to get older. It is happening.

    • Emily

      No, we don't know anything of the sort.

      What we DO know is that you are spouting Con ideology as usual.

      • john g

        Emily, there is almost universal acceptance that our health care system will crumble under its own weight without changes. This is not a partisan Conservative talking point; Liberal talking head Robert Silver says the same thing. See also this poll.

        • Emily

          LOL no, there are just the usual political talking points, and as long as you keep pushing American style healthcare you'll get nowhere.

          • MacCross

            How is two tiered health-care American? There are tons of countries that have two tiered health-care. Spouting any change to the health-care system that leans towards privatization as "Con ideology" and "American" certainly hasn't benefited Canadians in the last two decades. The average waiting time in a Montréal ER is 24 hours for crying out loud!

          • Emily

            Oh…is any Con pushing for the French system?

            Name one.

          • dave

            The average waiting time in a Montréal ER is 24 hours for crying out loud!

            I'd really like to know either:

            1) WTF the province with the highest taxes and social spending is getting so seriously wrong WRT patient care

            or

            2) Exactly how that's measured (ie: is it time to doctor or time to get someone shuffled to a room; one of those is important, the other… less so to be honest and more an issue of bed space)

            Because the longest I've ever waited in an emergency room in multiple Ontario cities to see a doctor is in the ballpark of 3 hours. The longest I've ever stayed in one is closer to 4 or 5, about 21 years ago, and it was strictly by choice because they essentially told my parents: "We can set the bone now but there's a specialist in surgery across the road. Would you like to wait for him?", and they said yes.

          • hollinm

            dave…all I know in my province it takes months to get an MRI and months to get to see a specialist. This can be very upsetting for those who may have a serious disease.

    • Reverend_Blair

      I'd like somebody to explain how adding two layers of profitability (private medical profits and insurance company profits) is going to save money.

      Nobody (with the exception of vanity surgery) gets health care because it's a luxury they enjoy, people go for health care because they have health problems. Martin's wishes to privatize healthcare were wishes to line his own pockets. He may have been good on other issues, but for him to complain that nobody would listen to him on health care is ridiculous.

  • TwoYen

    I've known Keith Martin for many years and respect his efforts to improve Canada's health care mess. He has never advocated "American style health care". He understood the knee-jerk reaction of many Canadians who are afraid to open a rationale debate and was still willing to speak frankly even though he is an MP. I say good for him.

    The American system does not offer many models for Canada. However, there are many useful things we can learn from experiences elsewhere such as in Europe. Even here in Japan, where I am living, all residents have access to unversal health coverage paid for by government and wait times are virtually non-existent. I even had a doctor apologize a few years ago for making my wife wait an extra 5 minutes for a CT scan that had been requested two days before. Can you imagine a situation in Canada like that?

    • Jenn_

      What does Japan do differently, TwoYen? Apart from a dangerous economy, I mean. How is their health care mechanics different from ours?

      • TwoYen

        For one thing, while proving universal coverage to all citizens, Japan allows greater choice in selecting health care providers. This creates competion in health care delivery and greatly improves efficiency. When hospitals know they have to compete for business, they are more conscious of the need to take steps to attract "customers". This practice has helped to reduce wait care times.

        In addition, most patients pay a small token fee each time they obtain a medical service (similar to what Quebec has tried to introduce). The poor are exempt and pay no fee. The fee, while it is not large, acts as a deterrent to frivolous use of the system.

        • BGLong
          • Jenn_

            Okay, this is some good information. As an employee of small business, I very much do not like the "employer-paid" insurance idea, since it means we either get bottom of the barrel insurance coverage, or insurance in lieu of a wage increase, or both lousy insurance and no raise. And please keep in mind that small business is the largest employer. I suppose this 30/70 ratio thing is inevitable, but I of course suggest we start with 10/90. We have choice of doctor and facility here in Canada, do we not? If you can find a doctor in the first place, that is. TwoYen, does Japan have any problems with non-essential surgeries being aggressively advocated? I like the idea of competition, but not if it means we are performing surgeries for the sake of the money it brings in rather than the life it is saving sort of thing.

          • TwoYen

            You are right that there is a risk that surgeries get done that may not be needed. On the other hand, rules are in place aimed at keeping the government from paying for non-essential surgeries. Japanese citizens are allowed to buy supplemental private insurance and many non-essential procedures are covered by supplemental insurance. This means the taxpayer does not pay for them.

        • Jenn_

          Please see my comment to BG long below.

          • BGLong

            This provides a very good overview of systems in several European countries, Canada
            and Japan ….
            http://www.amazon.com/Healing-America-Global-Bett…

            The author also did a documentary for PBS (Frontline, I believe) which covers the same ground.
            They usually have links on their site.

  • Katherine

    I'll be sorry to see him go; he's been a valuable member of Parliament with useful ideas that he's had some success getting implemented (the bill to improve foreign aid, for example) and a willingness to defy partisan orthodoxy. He's one of the few politicians I've seen who are willing to treat voters as intelligent people and not talk down to them.

  • Jenn_

    Thank you, Mr. Martin, for your commitment to our country.

    • Crit_Reasoning

      Hear, hear!

    • s_c_f

      Martin's one of the Liberals I like, he's taken some principled stands, such as his stand on improving health care.

      • alfanerd

        Absolutely. And he's also introduced a private members bill to decriminalize marijuana, when he was a Reform MP (when it was rejected he got pissed and touched the 'mace' in the HoC which got him into trouble).

    • sourstud

      Seconded!

  • Mike T.

    His idea was unpopular and not implemented. Happens all the time.

  • Emily

    He managed to accomplish quite a bit, so I'm not sure what you're referring to.

  • TD_

    Not Really. He's an old Reformer who switched over to the Liberals… and then the Libs lost. He's never had much influence. I say good riddance. We are not going to defeat Harper with the likes of him, or his leader.

  • Emily

    Nobody here reads articles?

    'But after 17 years – years in which he was able to work in a bipartisan fashion to get things done, such as the land-mine treaty, making inroads on private member’s bills and securing funding to send much-needed drugs to African countries – he feels he will be more useful outside of politics.'

  • sourstud

    It's always a pleasure to be able to agree with you Em. Martin is definitely a post-partisan, the fact that he ran and won under a couple different banners exemplifies this.

    The fact that the likes of TD_ would rather have another partisan empty suit in caucus than a brilliant, caring MP who represents the interests of his constituents over the interests of the Liberal Party of Canada demonstrates to a tee one of the major problems with our democratic system.

  • Crit_Reasoning

    Exactly. Canada needs more MPs like Keith Martin.

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