Health Services Minister Kevin Falcon is correct when he suggests that the government is not relaxing requirements for eye health exams. The government has been relaxing the requirements and the education about eye health for more than a decade.

Our government seems determined to ignore the benefits of preventative health care. Regular and routine eye exams are more cost-efficient than the reactionary approach requiring visits to the opthalmologist.

Falcon has made this issue about the commodification of vision and the costs associated with it. Yes, glasses and contact lenses are expensive and, in these times, people are looking for more affordable options.

But what price tag are we willing to place on our eye health? Our vision?

Falcon says the public is capable of making “informed” health-care decisions. Our population continues to rack up health-care costs as a result of smoking, obesity and high blood pressure. Let’s add expensive surgery and the social costs of blindness to the list.