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
Trudeau, key election players to testify at foreign interference hearings. What you need to know
The public hearings portion of the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections and democratic institutions are picking back up this week. Here's what you need to know.
'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.
Who is supporting, opposing new online harms bill?
Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sweeping online harms legislation is before Parliament, allowing key stakeholders, major platforms, and Canadians with direct personal experience with abuse to dig in and see what's being proposed, reaction is streaming in. CTVNews.ca has rounded up reaction, and here's how Bill C-63 is going over.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
TREND LINE What Nanos' tracking tells us about Canadians' mood, party preference heading into 2024
Heading into a new year, Canadians aren't feeling overly optimistic about the direction the country is heading, with the number of voters indicating negative views about the federal government's performance at the highest in a decade, national tracking from Nanos Research shows.
Opinion
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.
opinion Don Martin: Pierre Poilievre's road to apparent victory will soon start to get rougher
Pierre Poilievre and his Conservatives appear to be on cruise control to a rendezvous with the leader's prime ministerial ambition, but in his latest column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin questions whether the Conservative leader may be peaking too soon.
opinion Don Martin: The Trudeau lessons from Brian Mulroney's legacy start with walking away
Justin Trudeau should pay very close attention to the legacy treatment afforded former prime minister Brian Mulroney, who died on Thursday at age 84, writes columnist Don Martin.
opinion Don Martin: ArriveCan debacle may be even worse than we know from auditor's report
It's been 22 years since a former auditor general blasted the Chretien government after it 'broke just about every rule in the book' in handing out private sector contracts in the sponsorship scandal. In his column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin says the book has been broken anew with everything that went on behind the scenes of the 'dreaded' ArriveCan app.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Local Spotlight
Conservation officers seize 9-foot python from Chilliwack home
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Ontario auto-insurance changes could leave some vulnerable, says expert
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
A tiny critter who could: Elusive Newfoundland Marten makes improbable comeback
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
Ontario man loses $12K to deepfake scam involving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Record-setting pop tab collection for Ontario boy
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
'I was just like, holy cow!': Saskatoon dumpster divers reclaim wasted valuables
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario to balance budget ahead of 2026 election, citing delay due to 'economic uncertainty'
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.