This week an ambulance carrying a Windsor patient to a U.S. hospital for an emergency angioplasty was held up for a few minutes by U.S. border security. Apparently (I don’t watch the CBC) the CBC’s The National carried the story, with "a sense of outrage", as part of its on-going border-watch coverage. This led to Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announcing in the House of Commons: "We don’t want to see this continue."
Mr. Corcoran:
This is as close to a cosmic joke as you can get in Canadian affairs.But what is it that Mr. Day and the CBC don’t want to see continue. By reporting this as big news, the CBC essentially seemed to be imposing a tough Zero Wait Time policy on U.S. border officials.
Only in Canada would the national media get into a lather over the difficulties of crossing a border to get health care - when the need for an emergency trip across the border is the Canadian "Wait for it" health care system.
Private hospitals are mostly illegal in Canada, certainly in Ontario, thanks to the border and Ontario law that blocks privatized health care. The Henry Ford health care group couldn’t build an angioplasty unit in Canada if it wanted to.
This lack of private facilities is a source of national pride among Canadians, and the border is the enforcement mechanism...
A Globe and Mail headline ... said "Day urges U.S. to reconsider border policies." That's certainly easier to say than "Day urges Conservatives to reconsider health care policies."
What was he doing heading for that evil American style health care. He should have gone back to Windsor and died in line like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI think the CBC is right on this, no one should have to wait at the border for health care. I guess we should open private clinics right here in Canada so we won't have to rely on the nasty old 'Mercans.
ReplyDeleteWait for a big 'WHOA NELLY!' coming from the CBC when they eventually figure it out or have it explained to them.