Timely Healthcare Shouldn't Be Illegal

Canadians should thank Dr. Mark Godley for having the courage to do what the Canadian government hasn't: provide important diagnostic and surgical services to patients in a timely fashion. I can tell you by personal experience that there is nothing scarier and more stressful than waiting to find out the cause of one's health troubles. Heath Minister Tim Sale expects sick, stressed, and worried Manitobans to wait over four months for diagnostic imaging procedures. That is disheartening in and of itself, however in light of the fact that treatment usually can't begin until those diagnostic procedures have been completed, it is even more apalling.

The public argument between Dr. Godley and Mr. Sale highlights the outrageous logic surrounding health care in this country. Consider this, if your car breaks down, you can take it immediately to a mechanic who will assess the problem and fix it. If your health breaks down, you have to wait months to be diagnosed, and more months and even YEARS to receive treatment. If your mechanic takes too long with your car, or doesn't provide good service, then you take it somewhere else. However, you can't do anything if the health care system takes too long, or doesn't provide good service. In fact, it is against the law to spend your own money to fix your own body. You can spend your money to fix your car, or your house, but not your own health.

Now, most people would blame the government for the poor state of Canadian health care. That blame is misplaced. It is Canadians themselves who are to blame, not some politician in Ottawa or some Administrator at the Health Authority, but ordinary Canadians. Those very same Canadians who complain about health care. Why? Ever heard of "you get what you ask for"? Every time someone mentions improving the Canadian health care system it is Canadians who shut down the conversation with such idiodic statemens as "You CAN'T change health care, it's TOO IMPORTANT" and the still popular "I don't want an American system". Canadians constantly berate the Americans for their lack of global and geographical knowledge, yet when it comes to health care Canadians believe there are only two systems in the ENTIRE world: Canada's and the American's.

So the next time you're sitting in a waiting room for 3 hours, or you're told it'll be two years to see a specialist, or your doctor tells you that you're only allowed one question per appointment, and you're looking for someone to blame and get angry at, take a look in the mirror. See that person looking back at you? THAT'S who is to blame for crappy Canadian health care.

(Know what really makes me laugh? Canadians will get furious if they have to wait more than a couple of minutes for their hamburger or to checkout at the grocery store, but they'll wait months and years for health care AND DEFEND THE SYSTEM!)