Cancer Treatment, CF Medication Unaffordable For Kathleen Wynne, But Hosting An NBA Game Is Worth $500,000

Cancer drug crusader Kimm Fletcher, the Milton, Ont., mom came to Queen's Park seeking funding for the drug Avastin, She was denied. This woman was a wife, mother, daughter. She was a friend to many. Avastin would not cure Kimm's cancer, but it would have extended her life. Fletcher got a one-on-one meeting with the provincial health minister Deb Matthews who could not offer her any help, saying only that the drug is funded for other cancers and that decisions such as these are made on the best medical evidence.

 Madi Vanstone is a12 year old girl with a rare form of cystic fibrosis who travelled to Queen's Park for the Ontario government to pay for the expensive drug to treat her disease The drug, Kalydeco, costs $350,000 per year. Madi's fathers benefit plan covers half, and the drug company pays 20%, leaving Madi's family to find a way to pay the difference.Then Madi got to meet Premier Kathleen Wynne in person. But Madi was turned away empty handed. Wynne gave some vague answer about wanting to pay for the drug, but wasn't going to. She states the province is in negotiations. Sorry Kathleen, that's been going on for more than a year. The drug has been approved in 15 other countries. So Madi and her family have to hope and rely on family, friends, and the good-hearted public to help pay for the drug, which by the way, has shown incredible results not just in Madi, but in others around the world suffering from the same affliction.

 Despite pleading poor for medications and treatments, not just for Kimm and Madi, but others across the province, Wynne still finds a way to waste those taxpayer dollars. The Wynne Liberal government gave MLSE $500,000 to host the NBA All-Star game. Oddly enough, the minister in charge never sent out a press release announcing the $500,000, which is strange because he attended the event announcing the game.MLSE by the way is valued at $2.5 billion.  And how does Kathleen Wynne explain this away?

"This is part of what we do as a government to enhance tourism and bring people to the province,” Wynne said at an unrelated event in Ajax, Ont. “There are other large events that we support, hockey events, soccer events, that bring tourism to the province, and the (NBA) all-star game is part of that.”

  When questioned in the legislature about denying Madi's drug costs, Wynne responded with "of course we don't put a price on a human beings life". The sad part is Wynne was wrong. She did exactly that. Kimm Fletcher passed away April 27th. Had she received the treatment she couldn't afford herself, the one the province should have covered, she would have survived longer, giving her daughter and husband more time with their wife and daughter. So it goes With Kathleen Wynne. She gets to pick the winners and losers, regardless of whose needs should come first.