Last week the health beat was front and centre, as we uncovered insider information about planned changes by the WRHA to the way anaesthetists will be assigned to cover after-hours call. It's an attempt to alter working conditions and make those valued specialists de facto employees -- this months after (as we exclusively reported) the doctors resoundingly rejected a new contract that would have made them employees under tax law.
We also reported about cancellations of surgical slates at Children's Hospital because, despite the recruitment of anaesthetists, the critical shortage of nurses continues to impact patient care. And just wait till the call system changes, and surgeons who schedule procedures for after-office hours are forced to wait for anaesthetists to run around the city from hospital to hospital in blizzards because, well, the bureaucrats from the WRHA prefer to inconvenience patients rather than deal with staffing issues responsibly and ensure all hospitals have an on-call anaesthetist.
There was a lot of reaction to the firing of family medicine head Dr. Larry Reynolds by the WRHA and U of Manitoba, which seemed linked to an ideological battle between pro-life and pro-abortion philosophies, rooted in a 2004 flunking of a student trying to exercise their rights under the Canadian Medical Association to refuse to refer patients for procedures that violate their personal beliefs.
The U of M took the position that students studying to be doctors do not have that right; Reynolds was clearly opposed and we dug up a similar incident in 2001 in Ontario where a student was not flunked for stayign true to their beliefs. Meanwhile as this province faces a serious shortage of family doctors, 50 residents studying to enter the field are in limbo while the University scrambles to replace the well-respected Reynolds.
Another major story you heard exclusively on TGCTS was the alleged assault of a blogger who was following up on our Porkgate series. Jim Cotton tried to ask Agriculture Minister Rosann Wowchuk how the potential danger of tainted donated pork held by Free Press strikers being targeted to hampers for the poor, and if it fit into her much-ballyhoo-ed announcement about the new Food Safety Act (it doesn't by the way).
Cotton has filed a police complaint against Free Press reporter Bruce Owen in relation to the incident where, he says, Owen got in his face demanding to know who he was, pushed him, and swore loudly at Cotton in an act of pure intimidation by a mainstream media gatekeeper.
Only TGCTS brought you the audio of Jim Cottons' press conference outside Wowchuk's office in the Legislature, the ignorant questioning by a CBC French TV reporter of his right to ask the Minister how she would protect public health, and the attempt by a government spin doctor to identify who had covered Cotton's announcement, going so far as to deny she was a witness to the incident and that getting names and numbers of peopel who interview critics of the government was "what Cabinet Communications does".
As Cotton revealed, 2 cameras in the hallways captured the confrontation, and he identified the girl who admitted "eavesdropping" on his press conference, as a witness to Owen's inexcusable actions.
Listeners last week also heard our exclusive report about the funeral of Spring Taxi founder Tommy Springman; an interview with PC MLA for Springfield Ron Schuler; and Justin Johnson explained his plan to launch Global Reporter, a web-based citizen journalist project (and as the Mumbai attacks proved, MSM is increasingly being forced to share the stage with eyewitnesses using technology to get information out to the world without restrictions like expired broadcast permits from foreign governments.)
Tuesday: More on the ouster of Stephane Dion as Liberal leader after the failed federal coup;
additional information about the cab-commer who wanted so desperately to know who we are - and now we know who SHE is;
and a reminder at 4.40 PM on Friday Dec. 12th, legendary former AWA Heavyweight champion of the world, and the most hated man ever to wrestle in Winnipeg, Nick Bockwinkel, joins us for a rare interview.
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We have launched TGCTS brand merchandise, just in time for the holidays. Order your t-shirts, coffee mugs, hoodies or other items by going to our online store: http://www.cafepress.com/kicktalk
