They’re known as the re-gifters.
They take something that is yours, hold onto it for a year, re-package it, give it back to you and expect a hearty thank you. Re-gifting is possibly the ‘Grinchy-est’ move in the cheapo Christmas playbook. Typically, when someone is caught re-gifting, they hang their head in shame.
But there is one group of people that has made re-gifting a regular mode of operation. In fact, these people have taken re-gifting and elevated it to an art form. We’re speaking of the provincial government, of course.
Alberta Health Services announced last week that it will increase the number of surgeries funded in 2011 by 5,000 at a cost of $16.7 million. It was a wonderful Christmas present wrapped up in the finest press releases with a shiny new bow on top.
Of course, once the paper was removed, we learned that these were not really “new” surgeries. The government added 3,367 surgeries as part of pilot projects launched in 2010. In 2011 it will add the remaining 1,300 surgeries, for a total of 5,000 more surgeries than in 2009. That’s the kind of math we’ve come to expect from Premier Stelmach’s health system.
Make no mistake, the people who have cancer, heart problems or any of the other conditions requiring surgery will be appreciative of the care.
Of course, being taxpaying Alberta citizens, they have a right to the care they’ve been paying for even before this ‘gift’ was left under the tree for them.
So, to Premier Stelmach, we have this special Christmas message, “5,000 ‘new’ surgeries? Ummm, thanks, I guess.”
