They can keep talking around the issue and pouring money into the failed system, but that won’t change what must happen.
Time and time again, we’ve talked about how reality can be evaded temporarily, but not avoided forever.
Sooner or later, it bites.
And that moment has come for Canada’s socialist healthcare system.
For decades, the quality of care in Canada has been slowly degrading, even as more and more money was poured into the system.
This was studiously ignored by those in power, and by many Canadians.
We comforted ourselves with illusions and by pretending that the socialist Canadian system and the private American system were the only possible options, while ignoring the many countries that combined private delivery with universal access.
We ignored the fact that America’s private healthcare system ironically boosts the Canadian system by helping ease demand as many Canadians go to the US for treatment they can’t get in a timely fashion here at home.
And, we ignored the fact that being a doctor or nurse in Canada was increasingly less and less financially rewarding when compared to other nations, thus driving people to leave and seek prosperity elsewhere.
But now, Canadians can’t hide from reality anymore.
When tested, the socialized healthcare system crumbled, and is now in a state of collapse.
The true test of any system isn’t how it functions when things are going well, but how it functions under stress.
The same is true for our economy, the financial system, and even our bodies. Can a system be strong enough, flexible enough, and resilient enough to handle sustained stress?
Clearly, the answer for Canada’s healthcare system is “no.”
There are shortages of doctors and nurses, largely because the absence of the profit motive makes it impossible to compensate people adequately for a job that is becoming tougher and tougher.
Canadian doctors and nurses can go to the United States or elsewhere and make more money for doing as much – or in some cases less – work.
The efficiency and innovation seen in much of Europe, where private delivery is often matched with universal coverage, is largely absent here in Canada, and the bloated socialist healthcare bureaucracy takes money away from the frontlines, further worsening the quality and availability of care.
In response to all of this, most Canadian leaders have buried their heads in the sand, and are trying to avoid the unavoidable.
Provincial Premiers blame the federal government, demanding even more money be thrown into the failed system.
The federal government blames the provinces.
And yet, they are all ignoring the inevitable:
Sooner or later, Canadian healthcare will include a much larger private component, and the innovation and profit-motive inherent to the private sector will be a growing part of healthcare delivery.
At this point, whether that happens or not isn’t a question. It’s only a matter of time.
Spencer Fernando
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