I always shake my head whenever people are interviewed on the CBC saying that they don’t want to move to an American-style health system, and therefore any change to our current public system is essentially anti-Canadian.

Why do they always have to compare it to the US, rather than, lets say, Denmark, or Brazil? Mixing in some privatization with the current system isn’t a sign of assimilation in the American empire. Virtually every country in the world mixes public and private funding to varying degrees.

The never-ending health care debate is crystalized this time over at St. Paul’s hospital, where a patient had access to an MRI scan after hospital hours, when the MRI machine wouldn’t have been used anyway. She paid for the procedure out of her own pocket and got timely access to medical treatment rather than a wait of several months - during which a patient’s ailment is likely to become a permanent problem.

Check out the latest news on this here.

Meanwhile, the NDP’s criticism that the province isn’t putting enough money into health care reeks of cynicism. No province (except maybe Alberta - anybody know?) has managed to cut down waiting times, regardless of its political stripes.

It’s nice that if we get really sick, we don’t have to pay for it (if you don’t consider taxes “paying for it”). Problem is, you get what you pay for.