Canadian Elections 2004

[Devon Lake]

Improving healthcare? That's strange, all I hear in America is how great healthcare is in Canada. Is it not as perfect as a lot of Americans think?

BTW, I know an embarassingly small amount about Canada. I live pretty far from the border. Sorry if this seems a stupid question to the natives.

Ya, it's definately not perfect, but then, name one thing that can't be improved upon? The problem is that since all the funding cuts in the 90's the quality of Canada's healthcare has deteriorated (Unexpectedly.) It's free and it provides equal access to all, but thing's are far from ideal these days. Particularly here in Ontario where the provincial government also underfunded medicare.

Access to doctors has fallen significantly. I even know some folks who just don't have a family doctor. Last time I was in the hospital, I had to wait for hours to see the doctor. Ditto with my sister when she get whacked in the head from a hockey game. Most annoying to me is the waiting lists to see specialists. It took me months to start seeing my psychologist and even longer to finally see the fertility specialist who froze my sperm (Which the state didn't cover) and proscribe my hormones (We still have to pay for drugs to.) I can't imagine how pissed the folks on a waiting list for surgeries and other proceedures must be.

Oh well, those are all just inconveiniances really. It's no like there's anyone who can't get treated or anything. I'd rather put up with that than the shame of being priveliged with better healthcare than everyone else just for having a rich daddy. The idea that we'd drag the class system into such basic human rights as life and security of person sickens me. What problems socialised medicine experiences here would be rendered nill if the government only funded it properly (Thus the Liberal platform.) and got back to subsidizing post secondary education so that we'd have people qualified to become doctors in the first place.