To the Editor:
Driving by the town of Mclean on my way to the April 16 Emerging Labour Force conference in Regina, I noticed what I describe as the billboard of solitude.
The signboard featured a picture of Tommy Douglas with his fists raised to the sky. The caption read: stop the privatization of Medicare. Minutes later at 8:45 A.M., I heard a message that seemed the opposite of Douglas's vision of universal healthcare. In a Uniting Your Workforce presentation, President Jacob Pope of Aspen Medical talked about the need for more private healthcare in Saskatchewan. I was surprised to learn this Australian-based company already had a facility in Moose Jaw and was the medical provider for the University of Regina.
Based upon a new interpretation of the Canada Health Act, Pope used a sport analogy to explain how Aspen Medical's "Transition Game" can be the tipping point for individual healthcare delivery. He stressed that private healthcare requires the right tone from Saskatchewan decision-makers, a common privatization goal, and the ability to reduce locker-room stress by having the "right people on the [corporate] bus." With this in mind, Pope introduced the American-born spokesperson to lead their company's Saskatchewan and Canadian strategy.
The name of Aspen Medical's spokesperson and "corporate athlete" was former Saskatchewan Roughrider Geroy Simon. After initially stumbling out of the blocks (another sports analogy), Geroy gave the conference crowd a testimonial and expressed the joy of transitioning from the sporting world to the business world. True to his word and faster than a speeding bullet, Geroy began earning his corporate paycheck when "Superman was in the building" (see Facebook) and introduced Brad Wall at the Premier's Dinner. Working as a lobbyist, more powerful than a locomotive, Geroy began laying the foundation between Aspen Medical and the Government of Saskatchewan. Beyond business and politics, Geroy has been able to leap tall stadiums at a single bound and become the Rider Nation ambassador.
For those still believing in universal healthcare, the vision Geroy represents seems akin to the square planet Bizarro World (BW) in the Superman comics where "Us do the opposite of Earthly things." Within this BW universe, Geroy becomes the mild mannered receiver Clark Kent, Kathy Young becomes Lois Lane, Dustin Duncan becomes Jimmy Olsen, Brad Wall becomes Perry White, and the Saskatchewan Party becomes the Daily Planet churning out privatization (liquor stores, etc.) propaganda. In BW, the superhero Gerory Simons speaks for corporate truth, two-tiered justice, and the American way. Moreover, in the BW universe the man once voted the Greatest Canadian assumes the super-villain role as Tommy "Lex Luthor" Douglas. However, in the real world, Geroy Simon's second career as a front man may be short-lived.
I believe that once Superman is exposed to the Kryptonite-like wrath of Saskatchewan voters in the next provincial election he will fold up his cape and look for a third career.
Richard J. Klyne, Indian Head, SK.
