There is a great idea this week from the province's medical specialists.

A junk food tax.

Let's face it -- the stuff is leading to all kinds of medical problems. Obesity, high blood pressure. Heart disease and so on.

So, who ends up paying in the long run?

We all do.

So a special tax on this stuff would accomplish two things.

It would be much-needed money for the healthcare system and it might discourage people from eating it.

It's about personal responsibility.

I must confess that I love chips. I try to resist. But sometimes the temptation is just too much for me.

I know they are not the best for me. So would I be willing to pay an extra 15%, not a problem. If I don't have the money, I won't buy them. Having cheap access to junk food is not in our Charter of Rights.

We can't force people to do what's best for them. But in this case, a carrot and stick might work -- particularly if you eat the carrot.

Unclear on the concept

I looked up the word volunteer in the dictionary, just to be sure.

No where does it mention money or compensation.

So I think the health minister is right on when he says no pay for our volunteer surgeons in Haiti. Some of them were demanding $800 a day, after they held up their hands to go. Voluntarily.

They chose to go to Haiti ...very noble indeed. But to ask for money when they got there is shameful.

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Gandhi said that.

That is what volunteering means.

Online gambling gambit

You soon won't have to leave your home to have Loto-Quebec's hands in your pockets.

It will happen right from the comfort of your living room.

Loto-Quebec's internet gambling is on its way.

I don't believe it for one second when the lottery says it will not encourage more people to gamble. It will just take them away from offshore sites which the lottery says are illegal.

That's ridiculous.

Of course, more people will play or more people will get hooked.

Loto-Quebec always uses the same old argument … better us doing it than them.

They used it for the video lotteries. And yeah, we are such a better place because of government crack machines in every bar.

Loto-Quebec will advertise internet gambling and use its marketing muscle to make it seem so socially acceptable.

Just give us your credit card number.

Government gaming is, by definition, immoral. However, this is business. Loto-Quebec, despite what it says, is not the custodian of the public good.

Business indeed -- but sometimes, money costs a little too much.