With the Wall government choosing to amalgamate all health regions into one provincial authority, it seems only a matter of time until communities like Tisdale start to lose out. First, we’ll lose our administrative office. Then, all local decision-making power will be lost.
This’ll just be another disadvantage rural residents experience, not only in Saskatchewan, but across the country. It makes me wonder: are rural residents second-class citizens?
The Northeast is not covered by our taxpayer-funded public broadcaster unless a major crime or a natural disaster occurs here. Most of the CBC’s provincial resources are focused on Saskatoon and Regina.
Communities as large as Melfort have a hard time attracting doctors, meaning many rural residents are without a family practitioner. For access to a government-run hearing aid clinic, people in our area have to drive as far as Saskatoon. That just doesn’t seem fair.
Plus, we have no access to things that city dwellers consider to be an inherent right. Take home delivery – living in small communities for most of my life, I have never had my mail brought to my door. But urban residents take for granted a service that costs everyone millions of dollars a year.
Heck, we can’t even get Amazon Prime out here.
So are we hard done by? Should we pack it in and head to the city? Maybe not – there are still so many good reasons to stay in beautiful, rural Saskatchewan.
Nevertheless, I think rural residents have every right to be worried about how they’re treated by big, faraway governments in Regina and Ottawa. Our voices deserve to be heard, and we deserve to be treated well, regardless of how easy it is to spot us on a map.
