Canadian E-Petition to Reduce

[Ieuan ab Arthur]

Hi All:

Another of those e-petitions that seem to be all the rage at the moment.

If you have never forwarded any e-mails, I ask that you forward this one because the only way that we will ever get the Governments of Canada to listen to our concerns is to show them that we are "All for one and one for all," What affects one of us could affect any of us or our families. Thanks, after reading please follow the instructions below....

PLEASE PRESS 'FORWARD' - add YOUR NAME & PROVINCE - then send to all the people you would like helped if this happened to them.

HELP IS NEEDED! Please sign this no matter what Province you are in - it affects us all! How many people, diagnosed with some form of cancer, are awaiting an appointment with an oncologist (a doctor that treats cancer patients), of whom there are few in Saskatchewan, while the finance minister spends a half a million dollars on an advertising campaign, wasting our money which could be better used to fund at least 2 or 3 more oncologist's for us?

I have already waited 2 months and am told that it will be at least 8 weeks more before I can get in to see an oncologist for my spreading cancer. I'm sure that there are others for whom the situation is worse.

How long do we wait, dying, while the government plays God with our lives? We need to do something drastic! The more noise we make, the better our chances of being heard! Every province in Canada needs more access to diagnostic procedures and physicians!!! Please sign my petition. If you are the last person to sign this (#500), please email it back ... e-mail address removed to keep confidentiality ...

My life may not be saved, but you might be saving someone else's.

Thank you,
Emily Morley

PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME ON THE NEXT EMPTY NUMBER, THEN FORWARD TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY. Include your city so that we can show the government how many people are concerned about the health care system in Canada ! Please also remove the email addresse(s) from the top of the email, to protect everyone's privacy.

It's followed by 377 names

Ta ra 'wan,

Ieuan "sign of the times" ab Arthur

So what exactly do they want done? The petition gives no demands or suggestion, it just says "I don't like how things are." More pointless than usual...


"I made up a petition. I didn't have any specific demands, so I just wrote 'Duh'."

[Canuckistan]

wasting our money which could be better used to fund at least 2 or 3 more oncologist's

2 or 3 more oncologist's what?

What, I demand to know! What!?!

[Jenn]

Originally Posted by evilrabbit

So what exactly do they want done? The petition gives no demands or suggestion, it just says "I don't like how things are."

It's very clearly suggested that money be spent on more oncologists and providing greater access to diagnose procedures.

Originally Posted by Jenn

It's very clearly suggested that money be spent on more oncologists and providing greater access to diagnose procedures.

Ok, I'll revise, no specific demands. "We don't have enough doctors, they should give us more" is not really a detailed plan. I guess I just think that, as useless as the average Internet petition is, this one isn't even trying. They don't say how many doctors, they don't even specifically say where...do they want nation-wide change, or just in Saskatchewan? How do you want to get more doctors? Buy them from the doctor factory? It's just not very well thought out, or clearly written.

[queen of the caramels]

Originally Posted by Ieuan ab Arthur

Hi All:

Another of those e-petitions that seem to be all the rage at the moment.



It's followed by 377 names

Ta ra 'wan,

Ieuan "sign of the times" ab Arthur

I'd sign but where's the French version????

Why do you hate Quebec?????

[Jenn]

Originally Posted by evilrabbit

Ok, I'll revise, no specific demands. "We don't have enough doctors, they should give us more" is not really a detailed plan.

Do most petitions give detailed plans? Or do most simply give the idea and then pass it off to the politicians to work out the details? I think most of them are more this vein of "Something needs to be done about this, but the details are the government's problem to work out" than "This is exactly what needs to be done and here's how it has to happen."

I do agree it's not well thought out (this is "something drastic"?) or very detailed, but I don't think that petitions are commonly used as the place for detailed plans. This one is identifying perceived misuse of funds (money on advertising campaigns), identifying areas in which the writer thinks it could be better spent (more doctors and diagnostic equipment, though half a million dollars is an insignificant amount given what those things cost), and is trying to rally people to put up a united voice in telling the government they're unhappy with how healthcare is being handled.

No, it's not a very good petition or the best way to go about it, but I don't agree that it's quite as bad or wishy-washy as you believe. It looks like it was written by someone who is dying and thinks the government should have done more, who believes that it is the government's job to look after these kinds of problems and that constituents have a responsibility to tell the government what they think is most important right now. This was the only way the writer, a cancer patient, could think of to do something.

I rather think the silliest part is "Please also remove the email addresse(s) from the top of the email, to protect everyone's privacy." Every paper petition I've seen asks for signature and printed phone number at the very least (sometimes address) so the recipient has a method of verifying that it really was X different people signing rather than the list being padded with fake names/forged signatures.

[Jenn]

Here is an article about Emily Morley's petition:

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpo...9-04213bacdfec

And you know, this did succeed in getting the politicians talking. Her petition and the publicity she and her family raised surrounding it saw this brought to the Legislative Assembly (pdf, pp1439-40).

Emily Morley passed away last October and the politicians kept talking.