ON THE BACKS OF ADDICTS, WE BALANCE ONTARIO'S BOOKS

So the "Sin-Tax Budget" is in and we all now know where the revenues will
be coming from to pay for health and education -- from the addicted.

I guess it is easy for them to pay and not be pitied, as they are the
"sinners." Well, I think this poor man's approach to squeezing more blood
from a stone is not the way to go, for the needs of the province.

Instead, the sin taxes should be directly funneled into addiction treatment
programs throughout this province, to actually help the people who are
paying the price through taxes -- Nicoderm-like patches for free as well!

When the Tories were first elected, they pushed not only for a freeze on
residential programs, but also the cutting of the length of stay in them
from 28 days to 21 days. This did not even help to address the current
waiting lists of three to eight months for treatment by those who actually
are trying to get treatment. In Ontario, there is not a single program to
treat the drugs of choice for youth, such as solvent sniffing, designer
drugs or even marijuana.

Not long ago, though, they did have money to test, but not to treat. And
the point was?

If the addict actually decides to get help, the K-W withdrawal management
centre may well be closed anyway, due to lack of funding.

Isn't it paradoxical, that even at hospitals that report a surplus in their
budgets over all, that services to addicts are still cut?

Why have a surplus if the need is there? So who is actually trying to help
this group, or are they just to carry us all on their backs?

After the addicts go through withdrawal, then through a treatment program,
they are then put back to where? The Tories have consistently ignored the
need for subsequent follow-up transition housing and retraining or
continued education for the newly recovered.

The Tories should have put the money to be raised by the "sin taxes" back
into the programs and supports needed by the "sinners" to help them repent,
so to speak, by being rehabilitated.

There needs to be new centres opened up to address the shortage of youth,
aboriginal and women spaces, with child-care centres nearby. Action must be
taken to continue the rehabilitation of the addicted and help them complete
missing training or education and assist with housing arrangements until
they are more gainfully employed.

By the way, how can the Tories defend the minimum wage, that even with a
40-hour work week, still keeps you thousands of dollars below the poverty
line? Time for some companies to start paying a living wage.

So where do we get the money needed for the increased spending on health
and education, especially, to even begin to address the needs in Ontario.

It is time to tax pollution. It is the real global sin, one that is not a
personal weakness, but rather, is one based on greed.

The polluters and industries that make a profit on taking in some of the
worst toxins in the world and burying them along our Great Lakes should be
paying a far greater share in carrying the high health care costs.

When it is not in their best interest to create pollution and toxins, or
handle them by hiding them, then we will see prevention really addressed.

Until then, there will never be enough money to treat illness. We are all
paying the price right now with a high death rate related to our having to
breathe dirty air.