Is this a democracy?

Those of us who have been blessed to live a long life in this country, enjoying the benefits of a democracy, must all be asking this question.

The citizens of Port Colborne and the surrounding areas worked hard, and in some cases, donated money they really couldn't afford so we could have our own hospital. The fact that hurts most is that the hospital was dedicated in memory of service men of the area who gave their lives in the Second World War so we could continue to live in a democracy. Now we are getting closer and closer to living in a dictatorship.

The hospital that always operated debt free is being taken from us bit by bit. There are many elderly people in the area who try our driver's test every two years so we can drive to our hospital, the doctor's office, to church and to the grocery store. We do not battle the traffic to drive to the north end of St. Catharines when we are well. How are we going to drive there when we are ill?

The administrators that are forcing these things onto us are paid salaries that no one on this earth is worth. It seems necessary to close the small hospitals so they can continue to collect those salaries. We are being robbed of our savings to pay taxes so these people can become wealthy and we are also being robbed of the privileges we worked hard to get.

My last question is in regards to the shorter hours for emergency care in Port Colborne. Do these overpaid administrators feel that their outrageous salaries are more important than the lives of five per cent of Port Colborne and surrounding area's population that they claim would be the small number needing immediate attention to save their lives?

I could make a very long list of people whose lives have been saved by the immediate and excellent care they received at the Port Colborne hospital at the time of their emergency.

Irene Lindsay, Port Colborne