Dear Editor:

The "sound principles" that the Ontario conservatives plan
to continue (Vision first, details later in Tory game plan,
Oct. 20) are consistent with recent developments in
public health. That is, increasing economic inequality
through policies that transfer resources from the less
well-off to the wealthy is associated with decreasing social
cohesion and increased societal malaise.  This malaise can
take many forms including increased death and illness rates,
violence, and as is already evident in the case of
Metropolitan Toronto, greater use of food banks and shelters
for the homeless. In the end, all members of a society, both
the disadvantaged and the well-off, experience these effects
through a process of what social epidemiologists call "the
symptoms of disintegration." And, luckily for those opposed
to the destruction of our society, these symptoms are so
clear and pervasive that they can be readily attributed by
the public to the "sound policies" of the present
government.


Dennis Raphael, PhD
Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences
University of Toronto