Letter to the editor: Shona Holmes is lying.

[velvetpage]

In the testimonial from the Mayo Clinic she went to in Arizona, her
condition is not a life-threatening cancerous brain tumour; it's a
vision-threatening benign cyst on her pituitary gland. She was not
going to be dead to wait six months, if in fact she'd even had to wait
six months - she didn't wait to find out.

Furthermore, she's not suing the government to get her money back;
she's suing the government to dismantle the health care system we
have, and she's funded by a registered charity called the Canadian
Constitution Foundation. Registered charity - that means our tax
dollars are paying for it via tax deductible contributions.

Holmes is misrepresenting herself, and our system, to Americans.
She's a fraud. I wonder if her circuit of talk shows and that
commercial have paid off the new mortgage yet?

Comments

[paka.livejournal.com]

Grrr. She sounds like someone who should be barred from returning to Canada, since her innate character is obviously better suited to the USA.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I'd be quite happy to see her leave and never return. She crossed a line when she went on talk shows and made a commercial, and she crossed another, even bigger one when she lied in them.

[stripedsocks.livejournal.com]

Hey now, we're not ALL money-grubbing, lying, government-program-dismantling sacks of shit!

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

That's a good description of her. :)

[paka.livejournal.com]

Let's just say that growing up in Georgia, and then living through the last nine years, really put a significant divot in my opinion of my fellow citizens.

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

It looks like the Mayo Clinic took down her testimonial that mentions she has a cyst. Google still has it cached, but the link now goes to the testimonial of Ella Schultz. Holmes isn't even listed on the website anymore.

Rather interesting timing. I wonder who was behind that.

(icon not aimed at you, but my general RAGE at this woman)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I sent the letter to the Spectator, then realized I should have included links. Hopefully this is worthy of a front-page article, and hopefully they'll do the follow-up and check out what I said.

[starry-midnight.livejournal.com]

This is a totally unrelated comment, but I definitely read the title as "Sherlock Holmes is lying" at least 5 times. I will blame the allergy medicine and move on.

I hate people who take advantage of things like this. One rotten apple. Bleh.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

You know, the letters in the paper were mostly supportive of her seeking care elsewhere. If she felt she needed to do that, fine, but don't expect us to reimburse you for it later. But you start acting as a mouthpiece for right-wing interest groups, and lying about your experience? Be prepared to decide you need to change your name in order to remain in this city. In the entire health care debate in Canada, practically everybody agrees that some form of socialized medicare is essential in Canada. The debate is over how to improve it, not whether it should exist. She shot the sacred cow and I'd be surprised if her business didn't suffer for it later.

[starry-midnight.livejournal.com]

That's really really sad that she is doing that. I am not as analytical as you or have a knack for details and exact facts (this is a total compliment :)). I just go with my gut a lot and what she is doing absolutely sucks.

Like you said, great! She found help elsewhere and now she's better. So, why isn't she just living her life, joyful that she's alive (ya know since her benign cyst was soooo life threatening) and maybe putting her efforts into donating her time to a good cause in Canada...something to help her fellow countrymen. Instead she seems to be a selfish, money grubbing, fame whore. She should be happy that she was able to have what she needed done and leave it at that. Also, come on...she went to America and had something done in a super safe clinic. People who are truly in desperate and dire straits have to go to much much worse extremes to get little help...and some get none at all and I am so just rambling now but seriously...it makes me sick. Also, as the child of a health care professional and a soon to be one myself, I'd like to offer an f-you to her. All she's doing is mudslinging and hurting people and yeah.

(sorry, I do have to blame the allergy medicine for my lack of um...coherence? (I sort of accidentally took it twice...I forgot I'd already taken it...sooo yeah)

(oh random but I saw this today http://community.livejournal.com/fatshionista/4850054.html)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Wow. And it lasts until December? I'll be checking that out, thanks. (Canada isn't quite that bad of a plus-size fashion wasteland, btw - I find lots of nice clothing - but it could always use a boost.)

[starry-midnight.livejournal.com]

I didn't quite buy the 'plus size wasteland' either but those ladies can be more than a bit dramatic. Actually, if I were to say 'ladies' in a post there I would be reprimanded & asked to change it....but anyway! :)

[lyricmaniac.livejournal.com]

What's the backstory behind this? Can you provide a link with it?

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

There are links further down in my journal. She's local to me - in fact the information that she lives in Toronto is expressly for the Americans who don't know much Canadian geography - and my mom hired her a few years ago.

She's attempting to have the health care act declared unconstitutional, which would effectivley dismantle our entire system of health care. The shitstorm this is causing in the local media is unreal. Most of the letters are saying that is she wants to queue-jump and pay for it herself, she's welcome - but stop trashing the system for everyone else.