For complete text of summary of Wednesday Night #1215 see: http://www.wednesday-night.com/Wed1215page2.aspe for – privacy has changed since the days when we left our doors and cars unlocked, knew all our neighbours, dropped in unbidden for a visit, and the postman knew from whom we received mail, if not what was in it (not to mention an earlier time when the local switchboard operator knew where everyone was). We were comfortable in that open society because we knew everyone within the community. With social changes resulting from the move away from long-established communities to suburbs without the same cultural anchors, the high degree of mobility of the nuclear family, the demise of the local services such as Post Office, pharmacy, grocery store, library and police force all staffed by residents, the sense of community has all but disappeared and with it the sense of security, leading to 'gated communities' and a siege mentality in many large cities. Today, without national security, there can be little or no personal security. In times of crisis, one must sometimes sacrifice the latter to enhance the former. However, the invasion of personal privacy can sometimes be addictive to those whose responsibility it is to maintain the integrity of the state. Monitoring telephone conversations has long been a productive means of identifying individuals and groups constituting a threat to national security, but the sheer volume of such conversations has, on occasion, failed to trigger a timely intervention. Had the process been more efficient, the threat to the twin towers might have been identified and thwarted. Is the Internet the greatest threat to privacy? Corporations have been monitoring employees' e-mail and Internet use for some time. Now, the State proposes to identify persons who are a threat to national security by conducting the same type of surveillance. Apparently, industrial psychologists have ascertained that individuals attempting to hide something give themselves away in their use of language. It is feared that for this to be of value as a statistical tool, its use on a broad scale is essential, but when used on an individual basis may lead to erroneous conclusions. Interception can be done statistically by computers, and the amount of knowledge about any individual that can be collected by government or security services is simply staggering. The Supreme Court of Canada decision on healthcare We sometimes tend to be rather critical of the motives of our elected representatives while emphasizing the importance of the independence of the judiciary. However, when the courts make decisions that place individual rights above legislation, we sometimes support the legislators whom we might otherwise deride. The recent Supreme Court’s decision that Québec's ban on private health insurance for 'medically necessary' health services was unconstitutional, appears to open the door to a two-tier Medicare system in Canada. The ruling provides for private health care for essential medical acts, although the exact implementation of the ruling has yet to be decided. In deciding the implementation, the payer, payee and method of payment have not yet been determined. Some suggest that if the Court truly believed that life, liberty and security of the person were threatened, then it should have found a remedy for everyone; it is no answer to say that 'those who can afford it may guarantee their life, liberty and security of the person'. Is timely treatment more appropriately considered a luxury? In the interests of equitable access to Medicare, the Court should have ordered the government to deliver the care and raise the taxes as required to pay for it.