From: genius@warp.nfld.net   
      
   Man enters a building with a rifle and holds nine people hostage. The fact   
   he did it is indisputable. The reasons why are. Was Mr. Clayton doing what   
   he normally would have done in any circumstance, or was he driven to seek   
   justice on his own because there was absolutely no help for him in society?   
      
   If the former, then Mr. Clayton is definitely guilty and should bear the   
   brunt of whatever sentence he gets.   
      
   If the latter, then we, as Canadians, lawyers, medical personnel, WCB   
   employees, news media, government, friends, and family, are all to blame.   
      
   It is my contention that is we who are to blame.   
      
   To prove my argument I have to point you first to the Canada Health Act in   
   place in Canada. This Act removes the medical rights from a created class of   
   people named "Injured Workers". These people are specifically excluded from   
   the Canada Health Act. In other words the patient is not allowed to have a   
   say in His/her own rehabilitation. It is completely up to the WCB's in   
   Canada to approve or deny health care. This automatically disadvantages a   
   patient, especially when the government run insurance company denies there   
   is even a medical problem with the patient. A patient not receiving proper   
   and timely treatment because of these appeals often becomes sicker both   
   physically and emotionally.   
      
   My next stop is the WCB's Acts. These Acts remove the legal rights from a   
   patient. This leaves them defenceless and the patient has to go through a   
   series of frivolous and vexatious appeals before they even begin to get   
   well. Because there is obvious fraud in a case committed by the WCB's, and   
   because the patient is fully aware a fraud is being committed against   
   Him/her, it frustrates and angers the patient. Normally in a fair and just   
   society as soon as fraud is detected the victim would be able to seek legal   
   help and remedy. Not so with injured workers because of the clause in the   
   WCB Act removing this right.   
      
   So now we have a medical patient being denied proper and timely medical   
   care, and an adversarial Board delaying other remedies that would enable the   
   patient to get well and back to work. The patient is trapped in the WCB   
   system with no way out because his/her legal remedies have been taken.   
   Surely this must be a source of great frustration and dismay to any normal   
   person.   
      
   There is another component to this scenario that most people do not   
   understand. That is the social stigma of being off work and on welfare. The   
   patient is constantly forced to rely on friends and families for support and   
   also forced to avail of other government programs that will at least provide   
   food and shelter. While fighting the WCB's to get fair compensation the   
   patient is subjected to every manner of stress from bill collectors, banks,   
   and friends and family who reject the patient because they are always   
   financially needy. The patient soon enough finds themselves alone in this   
   battle with no one to turn too.   
   We now have a sick medical patient that is most often in some degree of   
   pain, who is also being denied proper and timely health care, who is also   
   denied proper legal representation, who is also becoming impoverished more   
   and more each day, and each day becomes a torment to Him/her. A living Hell   
   on Earth.   
      
   All any injured worker wants to do is get well and return to work so He/she   
   can enjoy the fruits of their labour and be independent in society. Able to   
   make their own decisions and pursue their hopes and dreams. This is   
   impossible once caught up in the WCB system.   
      
   All disability is based on clear and irrefutable medical evidence. There can   
   be no doubt Mr. Clayton's knee injury and subsequent disability would   
   preclude him from ever returning to his carpenter trade.   
      
   So why is WCB in Alberta denying this and forcing him to appeal? Why aren't   
   they immediately providing therapy and retraining, or a pension that   
   approximates his lost earnings, or a combination of both, so Mr. Clayton can   
   return to function and independence? That is a monster of a question and   
   must be addressed. It is the reason Mr. Clayton finds himself in front of   
   the Court's today.   
      
   It is also the reason many others in the past have found themselves in   
   court. I contend it is the reason even more have been driven to their grave.   
   No one in Canadian society can function normally when the most important   
   rights they have are taken from them and given to an insurance company. Any   
   insurance company. We open the door to all manner of abuse and fraud against   
   the patient when we do this. And these laws that remove the rights of an   
   individual is taken advantage of by the WCB's in Canada. All of them.   
      
   Instead of being the social program that enables injured workers to get well   
   and back to function in society, we have a Board that uses every illegal and   
   dirty trick in the book to deny claims. This is the direct cause of   
   outbursts such as Mr. Clayton's. The patient not only is physically damaged,   
   they now become emotionally damaged and mentally unstable. Through no fault   
   of their own but rather because we have abandoned them to misery.   
      
   We subject the patient to untreated pain, poverty, and stress. Any one of   
   these factors can kill a person or make them unstable and we inflict all   
   three at once.   
      
   If anyone should be ashamed of themselves it is the court's and government   
   for not seeing how the removal of rights is a discriminatory act that leaves   
   a person defenceless, impoverishes them, and subjects them to medical abuse.   
   It is also the fault of a society who has a duty to report any sort of   
   discrimination that harms our friends, families, and neighbours.   
      
   In my opinion Mr. Clayton was discriminated against, denied services, and   
   this is what ultimately drove him over the edge. It happens every day in   
   Canada, in every Province.   
      
   I am sure the victims of the hostage taking will get proper counselling to   
   help them deal with the emotional effects of their ordeal. Who will provide   
   the counselling for Mr. Clayton who has been robbed and cheated and   
   mistreated and put through an ordeal for years with absolutely no relief?   
      
   I beg the court's to have mercy on Mr. Clayton and ask them to realize he is   
   just another victim and suffered great injustice that led to his poor   
   judgment and criminal activity. The man was traumatized, impoverished, in   
   pain, unable to work, and was losing all he held dear. His act was one of   
   despair and desperation because we failed him as a society. Have mercy   
   please.   
      
   Frederick Palmer   
   Founder - V.O.C.A.L.   
   (Victims Of Compensation Abuse League)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)