The mayors of Port Colborne and Fort Erie, along with many of their colleagues such as Port Colborne Councillor Bob Saracino, are very apprehensive concerning the health and safety of their citizens "if" this NHS scheme is ratified and are voicing their concern by conducting town hall meetings and putting forth petitions calling for public input into decisions that might and will affect their future and the future of their city.

There are doctors who support this scheme put forth by the NHS and then there are those who are vehemently opposed to it. It truly makes one wonder whose interests they, the supporters, are really concerned about. We, the taxpayers, are aware that if this made-in-St.-Catharines scheme is implemented then the biggest losers are the citizens of all areas -- that is, except St. Catharines. We look to a revised proposal that sees this new proposed Taj Mahal built at the intersection of Highways 20 and 406, the centre of our Niagara universe where it is more accessible to all.

Are the chairman of board of directors and the NHS CEO truly aware of the minefield they could be creating if they go forward against the wishes of the citizens of Niagara? There is much to be learned from the early 2000s -- remember Mike Harris and his pre-election promises that he would protect health care and no hospitals would be affected, but soon into his mandate the boom was lowered and numerous hospitals in Toronto and throughout the province were closed, causing undue grief and heartache as people actually died in ambulances forced to travel from hospital to hospital in search of emergency services.

Joseph A. Somers

Welland