Some background reading for the conversations today on the Daily Brief: Airing 6 pm ET/3 pm PT and again at 11 pm ET/8 pm PT on Sun News Network. (Find it in your dial by clicking here)
Canada's Healthcare system
- Fraser Institute: Canada's Medicare Bubble: Is Government Health Spending Sustainable without User-based Funding?
- Fraser Institute: Mark Rovere
- Keith Martin: “A Prescription for Emergency Room Overcrowding”
- Keith Martin: “Election 2011 Needs a Serious Debate on Health Care Reform”
- Wiki: Comparison of the health care systems in Canada and the United States
Insite
B.C. Politics
- Dix elected as B.C. NDP Leader
- Vaughn Palmer: Who is the most electable of the NDP candidates? Odds favour Farnworth
The U.S. Budget Battle
- 'Gang of Six' in Senate Seeking a Plan on Debt
- Doug Saunders: Abolishing Corporate Tax is a Progessive Cause
- Walter Mondale: As in 1984, we need the courage to raise taxes
- BMO Capital Markets Economics: S&P Warning Could Be a Good Thing [PDF]
- David Frum is the publisher of FrumForum
Libya
- NATO Operational Update for April 17, 2011
- Spokesman: Horris in Misrata grows with fresh shelling, little aid
- Libyan Forces Pounds Misrata: 1,000 Evacuated by Sea
Brief Word
Thank you for the link to the Lancet study of drug injection sites. It is nice to hear from a credible source on the impact of safe injection sites on public health. I was surprised at just how many people did NOT die because of the existence of a 'safe site'. I also wonder how many visits to the emergency room were avoided. It is not just mortality that is of public interest, but also wise stewardship of public funds. I wonder how much health care money was actually saved by funding the injection site. Problem is, there isn't anybody with the same level of credibility to study the economic impact. Certainly I cannot trust any politicians to spout any truth on this issue.