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One of the biggest issues with me in the health care debate (and actually with a lot of public sector workers) is the fact that they say there is often no money for new hires; "We can't afford to bring in any more [doctors/nurses/cops/what-have-you]."
But then you wait until the end of the fiscal year and you look at the ridiculous amount of money that was both budgeted for and the money that was actually spent on overtime.
I'm sorry. If you are planning to have your staff working beyond what is normally expected of them (that's overtime, right?) and that makes up a significant chunk of your overall budget...then why not divert those resources to new hires? If you spend $5m on overtime, that means you're paying time-and-a-half and double-time to these people for doing what another nurse could do for straight time.
One thing occurred to me, though: I wonder if the NDP is possibly planning on recommending a return to the HST (possibly at 10%?) after the election. I mean, they'd get a cash payment from the feds which would definitely help alleviate the deficit. My guess is they'd be a bit smarter about it.
...Though they're politicians. So maybe not.
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