Privatization in the provinces

Canada’s public health care program is facing slow erosion as provinces across the country allow creeping privatization to seep in, and the Harper government is showing no willingness to stop it.

The federal government oversees the Canada Health Act, which is the national legislation that is supposed to ensure all Canadians have equal access to health care services anywhere in the country. Every year, the federal government is required by law to bring a report on violations of the Canada Health Act to Parliament. But what most people don’t realize is that the government relies on the provinces to tell them when violations occur. There is no impetus or incentive for provinces to report violations. In fact, doing so could make them lose money in the form of transfer payments. As a result, several provinces opt not to report anything at all.

In the most recent report to Parliament on the Canada Health Act it was noted: “The most prominent of these (concerns) relate to patient charges and queue jumping for medically necessary health services at private clinics.”

• British Columbia
• Québec
• Nova Scotia

Resources:

• Op-ed: Private clinics ruining public health care, Maude Barlow, The Chronicle Herald (Halifax), May 7, 2008
• Article: Provinces push privatization, Canadian Perspectives, Summer 2008