TimmyBoy
Banned
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2005
- Messages
- 1,466
- Reaction score
- 0
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Undisclosed
Here is one of many reasons why I oppose socialized medicine and universal healthcare coverage:
Canadians have sought medical treatment in the US on numerous occassions:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051202/wl_nm/canada_politics_dc
Canada's Conservatives vow health care guarantee By David Ljunggren
Fri Dec 2, 2:19 PM ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The main opposition Conservative Party, regularly accused of planning to scrap Canada's creaking publicly funded health care system, promised on Friday to cut wait times for treatment if elected, but stressed it would not create a parallel private network.
The Conservatives -- bidding to end 12 years of Liberal rule in the January 23 election -- have had great trouble persuading Canadians that they want to improve rather than kill off the national medicare system.
Medicare gives Canadians the right to free medical treatment. Although it swallows close to C$90 billion a year in public funds, waiting times are growing and there are increasingly serious shortages of family doctors and nurses.
Canadians have sought medical treatment in the US on numerous occassions:
Conservative leader Stephen Harper said he would work with the provinces to guarantee that people get care within a reasonable time or be entitled to go outside the province if necessary. Spokeswoman Carolyn Stewart-Olsen said this would even mean treatment in the United States if necessary.
Private medical facilities have already been set up in various provinces. The Liberals have on occasion threatened to cut off funds to the provinces unless the clinics cease operations but Prime Minister Paul Martin refused at a Toronto news conference on Friday to say he would shut them down.
Martin scoffed at Harper and said he could not be trusted.
He said that in the 1950s his father Paul Martin Sr. had brought in the beginnings of the public health system. He himself made wait times a centerpiece of the 2004 election and then arranged for C$41 billion in new funding.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051202/wl_nm/canada_politics_dc