A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To A Healthcare Argument
I was making a spirited defence of public healthcare on my forum when I felt my blood pressure rise.
Literally. And I have naturally low blood pressure. (My sister-in-law told me that - not a doctor. My doctor understands that I don't like bad news so she just sends me for tests which I don't go for and then says a year later, "I notice you haven't gone for any of these tests yet so I'll just do an examination and fill out some new requistion forms and you can not go for tests for another year.")
Anyway, there I was in full flight, when I stopped and realized - people aren't just yanking my chain for an argument. Canadians no longer want public healthcare.
It came to me as clear as day - Brian Day, to be specific. There are just too many private healthcare interests at play in Canada and south of the border wanting to have their way with us and they will slowly but surely wear down public healthcare advocates and have it. That's just the way it goes. I experienced the same feeling under the Mike Harris government (over school closures - we closed - it took a couple of years, but, like the OCDSB said during the Save Our Schools campaign - "you're done - once we put you on the list - you're done") as I'm experiencing now - and I don't even know which government, if any, is causing it. It may even be the media causing it. Certainly CanWest/Global has been on a campaign for years to convince its readers (not that they'd even need convincing, the loons) to want private healthcare.
And even though Canadians in general say they want public healthcare, they really don't want to pay for it - or, at least, they don't want to pay for someone else's - and that's the bargain, isn't it. But Mr. Suburbia just isn't buying in anymore. That's why he votes for governments that either cater to private healthcare lobby interests or harbour private healthcare agendas themselves.
Look, we know New Conservatives believe in privatizing public services. We know that. Sure, they tell their borderline supporters what they want to hear during election campaigns - they even joke about not having a hidden agenda. But the fact is, Canadians, when they vote for New Conservative governments, know what they are voting for and they are doing it fully aware of what is eventually going to happen.
And they're okay with it.
So fine. Public healthcare will go the way of all the rest of Canadiana and life will go on.
Unless you can't afford it to, of course.
