To be quite fair the decision was reversed in about 24 hours but was everyone in the PEI Tory government asleep when this passed by their desks?
"How many times, when you get upset or worried or concerned about things, is it in the middle of the day? It’s usually at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning when you wake up," said Joan Wright, executive director of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention based in Edmonton, Alberta. The hotline received about 1,400 calls a year and about 50 were from people contemplating suicide, health groups said. "One of the things I was hearing is the government felt there weren’t enough suicide-related calls," Wright said. Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province with a population of about 137,000 people, is trying to tame its budget deficit. The hotline cost about C$30,000 ($24,000) a year to run. "It’s a very small amount of money in our view," said Reid Burke, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association.When there is a call for one in every hundred people a year, you would think that would be enough to keep such a cheap service going let alone raise flags. According to Stats Canada, in 1996 PEI's suicide rate was at or slightly above (depending on the end of the range) the national average: 15/3,862 or 20/3,933. Given the cash-strapped government's decision to become a casino site and the highly-arguable rise in suicides that follow, the original thought to cut the line could be taken as cynical as, say, cutting auditor-general funding when faced with a scandal related to government pointlessly propping up dying private enterprise.
Comments
Alan - May 26, 2005 9:59 AM
On a related note, here is a great tip for governments shackled to their past fiscal errors - advertise the next jurisdiction's 1-800 numbers!
Jean - May 26, 2005 7:57 PM
CBC's As It Happens ran a scathing interview, Canada wide , the evening before the decision to reinstate the Suicide Helpline funding was announced. Minister Gillan would like Islanders to believe that his government had sober second thoughts on this funding cutback but I am sure the embarrassment of being shamed in front of the entire country of Canada probably had as much to do with it as anything.
Alan - May 26, 2005 8:32 PM
What chislers, eh? What else are they cutting now that the well has run dry? Is anyone keeping a running total of all the things that are being dropped to cover up the mismanaged funds?
Jean - May 26, 2005 10:08 PM
The reality of the whole mess is that the cuts our government has made hurt the most vunerable in our society while all the time not one MLA or Cabinet Minister has had to bite the bullet and take a pay cut.
On Canada Now tonight, Islanders were once more made out to be the laughing stock of Canada. CBC interviewed the Premiers barber who had been appointed to the PEI Liquor Comission and didn't know it until after the appointment had been made. At least he was brutally honest when asked how he got the job and he answered "because I am a good Conservative."
Alan - May 26, 2005 10:52 PM
Appointed as what?
Jean - May 27, 2005 8:55 AM
Appointed to the Board of Directors of the PEILC.
The reporter asked him if being Binns barber helped and he said " it probably didn't hurt." He did say it was hardly worth the time because he only got $126.00 a day to attend a meeting. Ugh.
Alan - May 27, 2005 9:01 AM
Oh. My. God.
Scott - May 27, 2005 2:43 PM
I was surprised that with one of his MLA's recent history, that the Binns government would even consider cutting the Suicide Helpline...what does that say about the Tory Gov't priorities?
Wayne - May 27, 2005 6:15 PM
FYI...This morning, Jack Cafferty on <i>American Morning</i> told Americans of the PEI decision to only hold said hotline open during regular business hours. Jack kindly noted in our defense, the number fields no more then 50 calls a year, hence enhancing the image of mental stability of Islanders.
First, the CBC focus on bootleggers, (the only negative portrayal in their whole series of canadian regional vignettes)then this patrionage. Now CNN. Geez.
Alan - May 28, 2005 8:07 AM
This is what I do not get. You say "our" defence. IF McGuinty does something stupid, it does not reflect on Ontario, only him. If John Hamm does something stupid likewise. Why in Gods name would anyone associate their collective cultural status with the decisions of politicians, let alone a bunch as dense and Binns and the boys? You would think with their track record you would be calling him the Premier from Saskachewan. That won't help with Currie, however. He <i>is</i> yours.
Alan - May 28, 2005 9:15 AM
Here is a link to the CBC PEI video of Binn's barber and his appointment to a plum patronage position. If you want to consider this sort of farce reflects on you and your neighbours, Wayne, that is up to you but I would say that is one of the most successfully planted group dillusions in political history which has three aspects:<ul><li>it is not that politicians are corrupt,</li><li>it is an Island solution,</li><li>it is the same everywhere.</li></ul>Listen as you shave. You will hear yourself mumbling those three mantras over and over. You will vote in the Tories again. You will. You will. Obey.