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Spoke to my Dad last night, he is coming back from a vacation in Spain he took with my brother and his wife. They had a great time. Upon his return he went to visit Mom at the home where she lives now in Montreal. She entered this facility in January after the Alzheimer had progressed to the point where my father could no longer take care of her at home. When she first arrived at the facility she was given a test to measure her intellectual capacities and see how far the disease had progressed. They (social workers) retested her again a few days ago and her capacities have really diminished. She can still tell what objects are but she cannot tell time or read a newspaper. She can't watch the news but likes to watch programs with animals and flowers.

The result of the test shows that the disease continues to progress and has greatly diminished her capacities, conclusion the help my father got to pay part of the medication prescribed to her monthly is now cancelled, according to Quebec Government Health Department guidelines after a certain point, assistance is terminated because it is judged to be no longer required or of no value. So he is on his own to cover all costs. Just a few weeks ago the Minister of Health of Quebec admitted at a press conference that his government had no strategy and no policy on how to deal with the growing numbers of people suffering from Alzheimer in Quebec. The government already knows that 10 years from now about 5% of the population over the age of 60 will suffer from Alzheimer and most of them will be women.

Every government makes a calculation of what we are worth as individual citizens, remember a few years ago the CIA had made a study of what human beings were worth in terms of parts, tissue, organs, etc... I can't remember the figure exactly but it came down to something like $49.72 cents US. Not a lot, this is the approach of governments, hard nose and pragmatic, you have to govern so you give what you think you should give to keep most of the people happy, most of the time.

So social workers make a decision based on what they are told they have to do and the citizen pays the price. It will make a big difference for my father but he is determined to keep up with the medication my Mom needs because he knows what will happen if it is stopped.
My Mom would decline very rapidly and her life expectancy would be reduced. The social workers did not say anything of course but the message is clear, the State has decided that you are of diminished value to society, based on a series of calculations and policy decisions on what the State is willing to do for you, despite the fact you pay all your life into the tax system. What is more strange in all this is that if my parents lived in Ontario, the province next door to Quebec this would not happen, there would be no cut and more assistance.

Unfortunately this is just one other example of how Quebec short changed its citizens. Always has, it is part of the fabric of governance in Quebec. What is also interesting and is not widely known, is the fact that the political class in Quebec and the Police has given itself privileges, like special medical care and priority access to the medical system not available to the general population, I suppose some people are more equal than others in La belle Province.

The whole thing makes me sad and angry for the inadequate or lack of clear policies to assist an aging population. You can just imagine what happens to those who cannot afford to pay outside the system or who have to make due with what the system offers. It's pretty horrible and I am surprised how thoughtless our politicians can be or should I say calculating because I am sure the day the numbers of cases of Alzheimer become unmanageable in Quebec that day some bright light will present a plan to save us all.