1/ Misleading title. A PPC gov could not “pursue” anything since healthcare is a PROVINCIAL jurisdiction. Ottawa should respect the Constitution. What we would do is get fed gov out of the way and allow provinces to experiment and be responsible for outcomes.
2/ It’s time we break the taboo surrounding the role of the private sector in health care. I agree that we should not be following the American model, which costs a lot more than ours and excludes too many people without insurance. But that’s not the only model available.
3/ Apart from US, all other OECD countries have mixed universal health care systems, without a public monopoly like Canada. They all provide more services through the private sector. They are also all universal systems where everybody is covered by public and private insurance.
4/ Patients have a lot more choice than Canadians. They can be treated in public or private hospitals, with the government paying for the treatment. In Germany, Australia, Spain, France and Italy, more than 1/3 of hospitals are private and for profit. In Canada, it’s 0.
5/ These countries ALL PERFORM BETTER THAN CANADA ON HEALTHCARE. Nobody is left aside because of low income. Wait times are non-existent or very short. Nobody is denied care while waiting months or years to receive treatment like in Canada.
6/ We should get Ottawa out of the way and get rid of our dysfunctional system for funding health care. And replace it with another that will give the right incentives to provincial governments to adopt the necessary reforms. Read my proposal: maximebernier.com/speech_respons…
