Ottawa - The Council of Canadians took aim today at the new Health Minister for signaling her interest in increasing for-profit delivery of health care. Earlier this week Anne McLellan said she has no problem with private hospitals. The Minister's comments help set the tone of the debate leading up to the Premiers' meeting on healthcare that starts today in Vancouver.

"Minister McLellan wants us to believe that she can stand by while some Premiers increase for-profit care but still magically uphold the Canada Health Act," said Anil Naidoo, Healthcare Campaigner for the Council of Canadians. "Profit is not the cure for the ills of our healthcare system, it's the cancer. For-profit delivery means higher costs for much less care. You just have to look south of the border to see where we could end up -- the U.S. pays more than double the amount per person for care while one in seven Americans has absolutely no coverage. Minister McLellan needs to ask herself if she wants to go down in history as the Minister that shepherded the end of Medicare as we know it."

Ms. McLellan's comments follow the release of a report by Don Mazankowski for the Alberta government. The report, which Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has said he will fully adopt, calls for private hospitals, among other measures that will increase both private delivery and personal costs.

"The fact that it's hard to distinguish between McLellan and Klein's approaches to medicare is troubling indeed," said Naidoo. "Who's standing up for the 95% of Canadians committed to strong national standards?"

Mazankowski himself has been hotly criticized for conflict-of-interest due to his ties to Great West Life Assurance Co., a for-profit health insurance company. Senator Michael Kirby, who is heading up a series of reports on healthcare, also has ties to the industry. He has been a Director of Extendicare, a for-profit long-term care corporation, since 1985.

"Trusting Senator Kirby and Don Mazankowski to defend public medicine is like trusting foxes to run the hen house," said Naidoo. "How could we possibly trust those with a vested interest in for-profit medicine to guard against it?"

The Council of Canadians will be monitoring the Premier's meeting as part of its emerging campaign on health care, which will officially be launched next month.

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