Quoting Tom Carson <[log in to unmask]>:

> And the NDP in Saskatchewan closed more hospitals than anybody in the west
> had the nerve to.

Sometimes hospitals need to be closed or reorganized. What was the process? Was
it as thoroughly undemocratic as in Ontario? And did they disproportionately
target hospitals that serviced already marginalized populations (like Wellesley
and Women's in Toronto)?

> And as one who worked for 31 years as a civil servant with NDP and
> Conservative governments sometimes it's brutally difficult to see the
> difference.

The Conservative Party in Saskatchewan appears to be a different creature than
the Harper or Harris Conservatives - more in the "red Tory" tradition than the
socially conservative, economically neo-liberal one. Similarly, the
Conservatives in Sweden and Norway have more in common with the Social
Democrats there than with, say, Harper or Bush conservatives. This is probably
due to the historical influence of left-wing parties, voters, and civic
associations in shaping the respective political landscapes. So it's not
surprising that the differences are more subtle in Saskatchewan.

> A deeper public understanding will help more than a focus on political
> parties.

Agreed. But my initial posting was in response to what I perceved as an attack
on a particular party (and its leader) that appears to be more committed to the
SDOH than any other (even if they don't clearly articulate it). So rather than
throw bricks at them, let's focus on fostering a deeper public understanding
and remind ourselves to think about the SDOH when casting our votes.

Quoting Michael MacDonald <[log in to unmask]>:

> I agree with the idea that the parties won't act until there's a paradigm
> shift.  However, the paradigm shift cannot be solely the responsibility of
> any one party or politician.  It needs to be a societal thing.  The voters
> themselves need to be aware of these trends that are being identified
> through the research in SDOH.  Without this awareness in the community -
> there'll be no demand for change.

I hope this happens too.

Jeff

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