They called it a “Day of Action for Public Healthcare.”
Health-care workers and supporters of Canada’s public health care system rallied in more than a dozen cities across the country on Monday, including Calgary and Edmonton, pleading for the federal government to protect Canadians from what they claim is an emerging two-tiered health-care system.
In Calgary, they gathered outside Liberal MP Corey Hogan’s office, and in Edmonton, outside the office of Eleanor Olszewski, one of that city’s two government MPs, to protest the changes included in Alberta’s Bill 11.
Officially known as the Health Statutes Amendment Act, Bill 11 was passed by the Alberta legislature in December and allows doctors to work in both the public and private health-care systems, or “dual practice,” as referred to by the province.
“It’s not just an Alberta issue,” said Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta. “Creating a two-tier health-care system, that is bad for not just Albertans but bad for Canadians.
“Bill 11 is wrong and the federal government needs to step in and enforce the Canada Health Act and tell Alberta that piece of legislation is bad for Alberta, is bad for Canada, and violates the Canada Health Act.”
While the Alberta government claims the change could reduce wait times by allowing patients to purchase care or pay for medical procedures or surgeries that the government is unwilling or unable to provide, critics fear it will result in those who can afford it getting faster access to care while others will need to wait longer for treatment.
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“You know, it’s a violation of the Canada Health Act very clearly for allowing two-tier American-style health care, but it’s also a bill that changes the rules for insurance,” said Chris Galloway, executive director of Friends of Medicare.
“So allowing for insurance of medically-covered services, which has never been allowed before, and our fear is if we allow American health insurance companies to come in and start insuring those products, under our trade agreements, we’re stuck with them, and that impacts the whole country. Not just Alberta.
“So Alberta is opening the door to American-style health care, two-tier health care and we need the federal government to act now to stop it.”
Reacting to the rally that was held outside his office, Liberal MP Corey Hogan said the protesters raise some “legitimate questions.”
“We need to be asking ourselves, what is the Canada Health Act’s role in health in Alberta, and certainly some of the moves by the UCP government put into question whether the Canada Health Act is going to be fully adhered to,” said Hogan.
“I think we need to identify exactly what they mean by certain things when they talk about creating additional opportunities. What does that mean in real terms? Does that shut off access to health to Albertans? Because that’s a no-go for me,” said Hogan.
“But let’s keep the conversation going. We want to be pragmatic, but there’s got to be lines in the sand, too. And one of those lines in sand is we have a universally-accessible health-care system in Canada.”
Asked for a response to the protestors concerns about Bill 11 and the future of private health care in Alberta, Maddison McKee, press secretary for Alberta Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services Adriana LaGrange, sent Global News an email that lashed out at Friends of Medicare, calling the organization “a political advocacy group governed by the province’s public-sector unions. They routinely spread misinformation and hyperbolic predictions, so it’s misleading to cite them as if they were impartial experts.”
“Their talking points are always the same: they compare Alberta’s common-sense changes to cherry-picked facts from other countries and a theoretical version of Canadian Medicare, rather than the real system patients experience every day,” added McKee.
McKee claims the province’s plans to allow dual practice only applies to a limited range of surgeries, does not violate the Canada Health Act, and brings the province more in line with the health-care systems in countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Australia.
Our system doen’t work, and using the American boogeyman in the arguement is false, all of Europe (exept the UK) has a 2 tier system and they actually work.
Private Radiology offices already one example of “private” Healthcare- challenge as cherry pick easy, efficient and high billing procedures.
Need public system to axe bloat with 1 in 8 RNs a manger but cannot allow private system to bill patients or government for the easy stuff…
I’m sorry, its already here. The rich get treatment right away, the rest have to wait and die in the ER.
This needs to be protest India day because India is the one doing this
Tommy Douglas. But you ignore the fact that the federal liberals open the flood gates at the border and you wonder why healthcare took a nose dive. The federal government open the border for.more liberal voters and the provinces had to deal with these immigrants. We are broke. We can’t have it all and sadly the federal liberals are the ones that sold us out to Brookfield and friends. But hey, keep blaming the conservatives for every single problem.
Easy. Get Smith and Ford to make our system suck, then they privatize it. Throw them out.
Typical … status quo as many involved in protest financially benefit from a static over funded under achieving health system.
these people dont get it, everyone in that age group are boomers, incl my self. I and my friends and those in this group have had great health care in their life times. I and friends have experienced huge crowds at family doctors and immigration has swamped us. Time for a change to insure those that have the money get what ever they need. less wait times being the goal for me and my generation. These 50 people got way to much coverage on news.
I am more then ok with two tier. Our current system is awful and does not work.
Personally I think the line will get smaller for the people who are in public system. Let the rich pay and get the surgeries done in Alberta instead of them flying to US or Mexico.
BC, ON and QC have had public/private healthcare for decades. Also, feds have no controls over provincial healthcare. The media “experts” also say this is a good way to go.
Sucks to live in Alberta. The term “Health Care” is a oxymoron here.
Canada currently has no functioning healthcare …unless you consider waiting in line for at least 8 hours and then being offered MAID as a solution to your health challenges
Already have some version of this. Guys hockey kid needed knee surgery, had to wait several months, dad didn’t like that cause his kid is a hockey superstar & being off the ice too long will affect his career. So he paid $20k to get it done much faster at a private clinic & then demanded reimbursement from the govt of Alberta. Meanwhile my sports kid gave up football & soccer because he was on an 8 month wait list for his surgery. Do you know how that feels, as a parent, knowing some kid skipped the line cause daddy had $20k lying around, and your own is in constant pain?
Not surprised – Alberta and their love for America.
Well my brother in law has been waiting for 15 months for a hip replacement and can not work for the last 7 or 8 months due to pain and movement and had two appointments for his surgery cancelled in the last two month as someone has decided that other people with the same problem are more critical condition than him., how ever we just found out that was not the case as my sister was told yesterday march 17th. that the government decided to not fund and not pay for the operation and that is why his surgery dates got cancelled., if his surgery gets done he can go back to work and pay into the tax system and more money into government coffers and this not the first time i have heard about delays and hospital E.R and wait times., This not going to get better as we need to start building new hospitals now as the build for a hospitals is around ten years and to catch up we should be building two hospitals as we will need them in the future. The next protests I will be at and bill 11 is against my rights as an Alberta born and raised and have paid taxes since I was16 years old and now I am 62 years old and if I needed a hip or knee and the government cut off paying for that surgery is unacceptable and against our Canadian Rights and we pay taxes
Most of the money going to healthcare just goes straight to the unions
Nothing to fear works good in other countries
During Obama’s campaign, US health unions warned against using “Canadian style healthcare” in messaging. Canadian unions just keep chanting the reverse to keep us from noticing Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Australia, in fact most of the rest of the similar nations, who get much better results spending less per head to do it. Ignorance is not bliss and we desperately need to look at the better solutions elsewhere.
Governor smith, thy supreme separatist of thy 51 state wants an American health care system. Right out of the trump playbook
Fear mongering as usual from the left and their union backers.
Ah yes the usual fearmongering by the usual suspects. Our healthcare sucks even though it is the second most expensive per capita in the world, but anyone trying to bring some small improvements is instantly called un-Canadian. How pathetic.
Maybe if people didn’t go in and clog up the clinics because of “issues” like a fart smelling different than the day before, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Give an inch take a mile is just the Canadian social mindset.
The system is broken with no governance. A 2-tiered might help, an alternative could be to charge a fee per visit ($25)/person. This would have some people think twice beofre heading to the emgency room/Doctor and raise some cash for teh provinices.
Guess what? Canada already has two-tiered care.
Dental, optometrist, physiotherapy. All medical services you pay out of pocket to receive.
It’s already in Quebec
In addition a wealthy individual uses private option for major medical procedures life death then jumps to the public one for minor medical procedures because it’s free which clogs up the public medical system for those who have no other option. So choose one or the other.
Protesters fear ‘American-style’ 2-tiered health care is coming to Canada
The feds have to say it’s one or the other if the province chooses private that’s it no federal tax money. The provinces that opt for public get better service cause there’s more federal money available.
We need two tiered health care now
MAID will soon be the leading cause of death in Canada
Simplfy the system, there’s nothing wrong with a two tiered system, in actual fact, it’s already here, most just don’t realize it ..
Hope it comes soon! It’s just a tease currently.
Canada has had two tier helathcare for a long tine now
They are either fearmongering or incompetent
Either way they lack credibilty
Bring on the two tier.. Our healthcare sucks.
We have many tiers of everything why not healthcare? Atleast people could have sometype of care. Jealousy is a pathetic emotion. Why do you or I care if someone has the money to save their lives?
Countries with the most efficient and efficient health care systems have a mix of public and private health care delivery. Both paid for by the government. The only countries that have government only health care delivery are Canada, Cuba and North Korea. All three have the worst health care.
No! Healthcare has to suck for everyone!
Canadian health care is the black hole of bureaucracy. More money goes in the less seems to happen. I would rather have the Private/Public hybrid everyone fears since it will mean less people dying in Emergency room.
1st, two tier system introduce, then gradually move all the unaffordable one by one to private. One day in future, someone sudden found himself or herself got terminal illness may cost upper 6 digits to cure… inaccessible due to financial issue…😂🫣😱
health care is not free working people pay through their taxes and also pay a surcharge according to their income in ontario,i am a senior and my taxable income is alittle over 24,000 and i pay 258.00 this year surcharge problem is there are too many people using the system but never pay a dime in before i retired i was also paying in
More tiers the better
Canada and it’s health care system is a joke
It does violate the Canada Health Act. Where does Smith get her math from? There are only so many doctors in Alberta. They should only work for the provincial health system. Alberta needs to fund all health care. There should not be an option to pay directly. That is a 2 tier system. Even if it is the same amount, person willing to pay gets faster service than the rest of us. That is against the Canada Health Act and part of being Canadian.
2 tier health care is awesome. It allows those willing to pay out of pocket to remove themselves from the free line allowing everyone to move up an additional space. Doctors will want to work in either system adn you can control supply demand wiht legislation. What really needs to happen is that 75% of AHS managers need to be fired so we can hire more doctors and nurses.