Sunday, March 20, 2005

Canadian Values

I have long been puzzled why Health Care is alleged to be a Canadian value. This Newsday article clears up the confusion for me.
An estimated 4 million of Canada's 33 million people don't have family physicians and more than 1 million are on waiting lists for treatment, according to the Canadian Medical Association. Meanwhile, some 200 physicians head to the United States each year, attracted by lower taxes and better working conditions. Canada has 2.1 physicians per 1,000 people, while Belgium has 3.9, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Health Care is not the value; patiently waiting in line for health care is the value. Canadians value waiting patiently in line so much so that as a nation we have ensured that every Canadian regardless of need, creed, race, sex or sexual orientation can be assured of a place in the line going nowhere fast. I have said it before and no doubt I will say it again: when you consign your fate to the government, you become nothing more than a bystander in your own life.

(tipped off by Neale News)

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