If the business of the province is to deliver healthcare to its citizens, then why is the federal government butting in? What if Doug Ford’s version of Medicare is different from the version of Medicare preferred by François Legault’s CAQ in Quebec? And who knows what Danielle Smith’s people might prefer in Alberta?
And yet, the prime minister is calling for a meeting that will discuss, among other subjects, the collection of data in an organized manner across the provinces. This is like a group of school children kept after school to get their letters done properly.
How does the prime minister determine just who is doing Medicare right? Did the pandemic tell us just who was doing Medicare right and who is wrong? Did they measure the incidence, the vaccinations, the hospitalizations, the ICU cases, the deaths? If the patient is dead, is that your final answer?
But here you have Doug Ford in Ontario pumping private surgical clinics to clear up the backlog of simple surgeries. Is cataract surgery a simple procedure? And is Doug going to shut down these emergency clinics when the province catches up?
And just how much privatization will the system tolerate? How does ‘for profit’ medicine compete with ‘free’? Is your Ontario health card the same as a charge card? Will it be honoured in Florida, if that is where you spend your winter? Doug Ford says it is the only card you need?
I have this picture in mind where a doctor is explaining to the grieving widow that the robot operator of the private clinic made the mistake of removing the patient’s heart instead of the gall bladder.
Just don’t bother asking Doug Ford where the medical staff for these private clinics is to come from. It seems Doug Ford has a serious hearing problem.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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