We Broke It... So Only We Can Fix It

A little Ahab "Cheers and Jeers" to TDH Strategies' commentary yesterday (August 23rd):


CHEERS: for calling out the frustrating Liberal unwillingness/inability to react constructively to the now not-so-recent Chaoulli decision, beyond continued rhetoric:

"Either disregard your claim to supporting a universal health care system, or begin the conversation on how we can better regulate the industry by updating the Canada Health Act.

But for the federal government to continue to operate in this grey area of apathy is just unacceptable, lazy and short-sighted governance."

Can anyone disagree? [dare I ask, lest Cherniak turn out a post entitled "Martin Has Saved Health Care"?]. I hope the Fall Parliamentary session sees some movement on this file beyond the tired bluster that "no one" wants "two-tier" healthcare. A meeting of Federal and Provincial Health Ministers, as Sinister Thoughts has long suggested (day 76), would be a productive first step. Let's please move away from political posturing and toward constructive engagement.


JEERS: for calling attention and repeating (apparently without irony) these comments from July 8th, a classic example of the twisted reasoning typical of Liberal Party partisans:

We must modernize the Canada Health Act. And correspondingly, the only way a process can stay true to Canadian values and ensure the trust of the public is if it begins with a Liberal government.

The "only" way? I don't know whether that's an indictment more squarely of the Canadian public or the Opposition parties. It is a sad statement, surely, that seemingly the only ones we can trust to save the public system are those same ones who have overseen the sharp rise in private clinics.

The days of "See No Private Health Care, Hear No Private Health Care, Speak No Private Health Care" are gone - it is already, undeniably, in our midst. If we want to fix the system for a generation, we'll have to at least begin with an honest debate and argument that accords with reality. Then, let the chips fall where they may.