PEOPLE , CUBA & RESEARCHERS SUCK

THE CENSUS
The census long form used to be mailed to 1 out of 5 Canadian families, chosen at random, and its completion and return were mandatory. Now, the long form is being replaced by a voluntary survey that will be mailed out to 1 in 3 Canadian families. CUE MASSIVE DRAMA, WEIGH-INS FROM EVERYONE WHO EVER TOOK A STATISTICS CLASS, AND THE RESIGNATION OF THE STATSCAN BUREAU CHIEF.
So scrapping the long form was a terrible idea, and does nothing to alleviate the alleged problem of personal (though anonymous?) collected information being used for...well, whatever bad guys do with information like how many children you have and where you went to school. But this has been in the news for two weeks now. Come on, guys.

CODY LECOMPTE
Cody LeCompte is a 19-year-old Canadian who rented a car while in Cuba. Apparently you need to be 21 to do this, but the rental agency gave him a car anyway. While he was driving, a truck sideswiped him, causing an accident. For some reason, the Cuban government has decided to a) call Cody to trial JUST IN CASE the accident was his fault, and b) keep his passport for over three months until said trial and refuse to allow him to go home...wait a minute, what? Cuba, we LIKE you! We buy your cigars! We ignored the US when they went all embargo on your ass! We have never tried to kill Castro with exploding lily-pads or itching powder in his wetsuit! So what are you doing?!
(However, as a sidebar, it is worth noting that this has NOT happened because Cuba is a "filthy corrupt Communist country" as the Globe and Mail commenters would have us believe. Idiots.)

POOR PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM CANCER
In some stunning break-through research, a study published in Cancer earlier this week found that family income and 5-year survival rate are correlated in Canadian cancer patients. But how is this possible?! they query. We have universal health care! Everybody should be receiving identical treatment!

Simply put, universal health care only goes so far:
1. Lower-income families have trouble dealing with catastrophic drug costs. Newer, more effective medications are inevitably not covered by the government and inevitably cost hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, per dose.
2. Fighting cancer, especially after chemo when your immune system is in the toilet, takes a lot of things - lots of sleep, good food, and not too much stress. Lower-income families, especially single-parent ones, often do not have this luxury.
3. Higher-income patients have a wealth of options available to them - cue-jumping by heading Stateside for treatment, paying for experimental, non-OHIP procedures, and attending private Canadian clinics. For a lower-income patient, the only choice is to accept standard, OHIP-sanctioned treatment at a Canadian hospital, even if a more effective treatment is available elsewhere.
My point? This study's results are not a surprise, and gradual privatization and a lack of a comprehensive single-payer drug plan are turning universal health care into "universal" health care.