The day I realized I don't live in a socialist country.

Wow. I haven't blogged in a really long while. Looking back to my last one in MARCH, seems like so long ago. So much has happened since then. There has been so much that I have wanted to write about, but just haven't. As a long time blogger friend of mine has said before, I was "censoring". Things I wanted to say, but felt I couldn't because they were about people I used to be close to and knew read this. Things I am not ready yet to share with the world. So, why come back today. Well, just like any post, I feel like I need something to shake me before I will bother posting. Today was it. Today I realized I don't live in a socialist country.
I have always been proud of Saskatchewan. We are small, but we are mighty (see some of my previous posts). We are a community that is proud of each other and our accomplishments. But not today.
I work in health care. In Saskatchewan, it has always been very taboo to bring up two-tiered health care or a privatized system. No one wants to become like the US. A little of it was going on already. In Saskatchewan, though, we were trying to blend it a bit better, mix private and public (after all this IS the birthplace of healthcare). So, there is this private surgery clinic that started out private, and then decided as a way to help decrease wait times, and help the people of Saskatchewan, they would open their doors to the public sector. The clinic, including my husband, have worked very hard to make sure that this was a success, that patients, surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologists were all happy. I think they did a pretty darn good job.
Then, without warning, the district and government have decided that having a clinic in Saskatchewan wasn't good enough. It was costing too much. So, they have decided to outsource the clinic and services to ALBERTA! Great. Take our nurses and surgeons and anesthesiologists and screw them right there. Nope sorry, you get nothing. It doesn't matter that you live HERE and pay taxes HERE. We are going to just let our cowboy neighbors to the west take it all, including incomes, and our tax money. Ridiculous! I can't help thinking that if a different party were in power this would never have happened!!
Two tiered health care does exist, and it seems to be going to the highest bidder! Boo, Alberta and your big unbuilt flashy clinic!!!!