Don Martin: Alarms going off over health-care privatization? Such an out-of-touch waste of hot political air
Please, let’s not follow the same old formula.
That would be the traditional microphone-hogging parade of premiers whining on national television about having the constitutional responsibility of delivering health care without a fully paid-up federal partner.
That charade would be followed by the prime minister declaring his version of a funding fix for a generation, which will actually only buy a few years of quiet time before the bellyaching ramps up and the next health-care crisis begins.
But, sadly, this appears to be the set-up scenario for Tuesday’s opening round of health care-negotiations where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is badly in need of a political win at any cost these days, is set to deliver billions of new and conditional funding to provinces and territories before everything goes back to normal. Which is to say, broken.
There is, of course, no overnight monetary solution to the intractable problem of caring for an increasingly elderly and unhealthy population with dollars falling behind rising demand and inflation.
Every probe into improving health care over the last five decades has recognized and recommended urgent reforms. But the three wise men – Emmett Hall, Michael Kirby and Roy Romanow – have seen their decades-old recommendations for better efficiencies, less top-down administration, improved fee-for-service and changes to the way doctors are paid all kept inside a single-payer system, basically dusty-shelved.
And still age-old counterproductive realities remain – and worsen.
'A VICIOUS CYCLE'
Without improved home care, you can’t ease pressure on long-term care. If you can’t expand decent long-term care, you just fill up hospitals with people who shouldn’t be there. When regular hospital beds are full, patients overflow the emergency wards. And that leaves paramedics stuck with patients, some with minor ailments, until an overworked physician finds a corridor bed so they can return to their urgently-required ambulances.
And so it goes, a vicious cycle with sick Canadians dying for better care.
Even when staffing resources could be adequate, they’re wasted. Millions of Canadians are scrambling to find family doctors, for example, but those doctors are forced to spend far too much time on paperwork instead of patients. And they work under a compensation schedule which rewards bringing patients into their office for a paid appointment even when an unpaid text message or email response would suffice.
Meanwhile, doctor specialization is rewarded handsomely while family practice and psychiatry are not, despite similar training. Dangling a future as a general practitioner in rural Canada, where hours would be long and vacations short, is a hard sell in medical school.
And yet, what is the unholy holler about in the political realm ahead of Tuesday’s summit? Yup, five alarms going off over privatization.
Such an out-of-touch waste of hot political air that is. If you can’t access an emergency ward and don’t have a doctor, you head to a walk-in clinic which is, like most doctors in this country, a private enterprise.
If you need a hernia fixed in Ontario, chances are you’ll join the 7,000 others who go to the privately run Shouldice Hospital every year.
If you need cataract surgery in Alberta, you’ll probably go to the private Gimbel Eye Centre.
And if you want any diagnostic or scanning done quickly in Montreal, whip out your credit card and you’ll jump to the front of the line within days.
Privatization is a vintage bogeyman. Not only does a government-covered procedure in a private clinic not violate the Canada Health Act, but recent polling shows the public no longer sees the use of a for-profit provider as the axe coming down on the sacred medicare cow.
So here’s hoping Tuesday’s political parade goes off in non-traditional directions with premiers accepting strings on a fair federal settlement to reform, streamline and enhance this ailing system.
The Trudeau government has correctly identified the priority areas where the money should go and is right to demand a way to link their contribution to better results. If successful in these negotiations, Trudeau’s signature accomplishment awaits.
Premiers, in turn, understand they face a fed-up and aging population who see fixing health care as a non-negotiable, vote-defining demand.
The chances Tuesday will end with the blueprint to realistic long-term improvements are only marginally better than believing China’s balloon was simply collecting atmospheric temperatures, but it’s clearly time the 50-year-old dream of medicare as a Canadian birthright stopped being such a nightmare for so many patients.
That’s the bottom line….
IN DEPTH
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trying to sell or buy a home this summer? What a realtor says you should know
In the first few weeks of summer, the real estate sector is experiencing an upturn marked by more housing inventory, a Canadian realtor says
What you need to know about a possible LCBO strike on Friday
Ontarians could see long lineups at LCBO stores across the province today as customers prepare for a possible strike that will close all LCBO locations for the next two weeks.
Nathan's hot dog eating contest: Bertoletti eats 58 hot dogs to claim Mustard Belt, Sudo wins 10th women's title
Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago has won his first men’s title at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, while dental hygiene student Miki Sudo of Florida has won her 10th title.
No Frills grocery stores drop 'multi-buy' offer
As receipts tick ever higher for Canadians at the grocery store and shoppers continue to search for savings, one Canadian grocer has ended a perceived deal.
Victoria and David Beckham recreate their wedding day photos 25 years later
The British power couple got hitched in 1999, fusing the worlds of fashion and football forever. While their marriage has endured 25 years later, the pair have come to regret some of the minor details of their big day.
Hurricane Beryl churns toward Mexico after leaving destruction in Jamaica and eastern Caribbean
Hurricane Beryl ripped off roofs in Jamaica, jumbled fishing boats in Barbados and damaged or destroyed 95 per cent of homes on a pair of islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines before rumbling past the Cayman Islands early Thursday and taking aim at Mexico's Caribbean coast. At least nine people were killed.
Son asks court to sell B.C. home he co-owns with his mother, despite her objections
A B.C. judge has ordered the sale of a Surrey home despite the objections of the woman who lives there, who owns it jointly with her son.
Will Justin Trudeau step down, or stay on? Survey shows what Canadians think
A majority of Canadians think Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will stay on to lead his party in the next election even as his approval ratings are still extremely low, a new poll suggests.
Ottawa landlord left with hefty bill after tenant trashes rental property
A landlord in Ottawa is facing thousands of dollars in repairs after his tenant left his only rental property damaged and disorderly.
Local Spotlight
This pet chicken from B.C. is now a Guinness World Record holder
Lacey may look like just another pet chicken on Emily Carrington’s B.C. property. But she has a title her coop mates don’t: Guinness World Record holder.
Vancouver's 'Phil Wizard' first-ever breaker named to Canada's Olympic team
Philip Kim, who competes as "B-Boy Phil Wizard," is set to make Canadian sports history this summer as the country's first-ever Olympic breaking athlete.
New documentary explores the increased number of white shark observations
A new documentary filmed in Nova Scotia by marine biologist and veterinarian Dr. Chris Harvey Clark explores the increased number of white shark observations in Canadian waters.
'A steal for the international buyer': Whistler mansion listed for $17.9M
A never-before-lived-in mansion in Whistler is on the market for $17.9 million – with the listing describing it as a 'steal for the international buyer' due to the current exchange rate, which puts the price in U.S. dollars at $13.1 million.
'Traffic's too bad': Niall Horan walks to his own concert in Toronto
Irish singer Niall Horan had to ditch his car and walk to Scotiabank Arena where his concert was being held last weekend because the traffic was 'too bad' downtown.
Raves, weddings, and field trips: GTA residents share memories of shuttered Ontario Science Centre
A rave at the Ontario Science Centre was the place where Greg LeBlanc says his relationship first began with his husband Mark in 1997.
Travellers watch as WestJet cancels flights with no end to mechanics strike in sight
Travellers flying with WestJet continue to watch as the airline cancels more flights due to a sudden strike by its mechanics union.
An unknown Newfoundland soldier killed in the First World War is being laid to rest
The remains of a soldier from Newfoundland killed in the battlefields of France during the First World War will be laid to rest in St. John's Monday, bringing an emotional end to a years-long effort in a place still shaken and forever changed by the bloodshed.
AHS water quality tests come back clean: Calgary moves forward with stabilizing service
The city is entering the final stages of resuming water service through its repaired feeder main, as water consumption continues to fall below the city’s threshold level.