Message to the Liberal Party of Canada: leave health care to the provinces

There is an increasing consensus in the academic world that Canada’s health care system is not sustainable. Spending on the public side has been increasing at a rate that far outpaces increases in government revenue. Even during the good economic times, government spending on health care has eaten away at government total expenditures at an alarming rate.

The current federal government has not done a lot to deal with this growing problem. The Conservatives have thus far preferred a hands off strategy, allowing the provinces to find their own solutions.

To my mind this is the correct strategy. Provincial governments are more aware than the federal government of their particular challenges. A one size fits all national strategy is unlikely to bring best results in every province.

The Liberal Party, once the party of provincial rights, thinks that they can fix health care from their offices in Ottawa. They are proposing to expand coverage to include drug costs, home care, and long-term care. This exposes a dangerous ignorance to the problems that Canada now faces in health care policy. We cannot afford the coverage that already exists; expanding that coverage will only hasten us towards a day of financial collapse.

Furthermore, the Liberal Party’s desire to expand a system that is already strained to the breaking point underlines why provinces need to take the lead in health care reform.

Ultimately it is the provinces that are responsible for both providing and funding the public health sector. It is also the job of the provinces to regulate and set the limits on the private health sector. Do you really think that federal politicians are fully aware of all the intricacies of all ten provincial systems?

If coverage under the Canada Health Act is expanded it is the provinces not the federal government that will be responsible for implementation. It should then be the provinces that decide coverage.

Health care in general should be left to the provinces, and the federal government should not interfere.