[Eric]

The earnings of Canadians are not the property of the state. But the majority of us agree, and we express this agreement consistently at the polls, that there should be a "social safety net." What we sometimes disagree on is the size of the mesh. I support Kingston General Hospital in their funding drives, I give to the United Way, and to the Kingston Humane Society, and the Hotel Dieu Hospital food bank blitzes. But, there has to be something more than personal charity. The Sisters of Providence of the Hotel Dieu spend lavishly on programs to help those in need in Kingston, but they also publically argue for government supported health care. They hold weekly vigils for the poor, urging the government by their example to spend more tax dollars on welfare, disability allowances, free prescriptions for all low income Canadians, subsidized daycare for single mothers etc. I don't however, see the good sisters as a radical vanguard for the socialist state. They are just good people who realized that private charity is not enough.