the argument that these people want to use - and have had some success with - is that opening up market access will improve access to resources, which is essentially an article of faith in the market - it has no empirical support, whatsoever. it's really so ridiculous on it's face, that you have to treat it as disingenuous.

the one province that has seen a "liberalizing" in market health care is quebec, and delivery has collapsed since it happened. if the argument was that it would reduce wait times, that has proven to be a horrible failure - wait times have shot through the roof.

well, wait times for the rich have decreased. but, wait times for everybody else have increased exponentially. see, and this is the truth that everybody knows, and that the advocates of a two-tier system are really pushing for - that allowing for private care directs resources away from the general population in favour of luxury access for the rich. you end up with healthcare on demand if you can pay for it, and are stuck waiting so long that you'll die first if you can't.

to an extent, i'd like to see theses issues clarified by the supreme court, who has been kind of vague about it. the right case could allow the court to explicitly declare a right to health care, which is what we really need to abolish this perennial threat of privatization. but, the system has walked this kind of fine line that has prevented it from explicitly doing so, although it's come close.

the continuity on the court is that it has consistently wanted to order the legislature to increase spending, but it can't do that. so, it has come up with these convoluted rulings that have often been badly applied. if you force the court to act on a s.7, in a situation where a poor person can't get access to something offered in a private clinic, you could get as close to a positive right to health care as we have to abortion. that case hasn't happened yet.

doug ford is a level of corrupt that is unusual in canada, and unheard of ontario. we're normally able to sniff this kind of thing out. but, he has demonstrated the unusual quality of being able to sweep immigrant communities, and has essentially played into their naivete. one would think that if they wanted private health care they would have opted for the united states - that the social systems in canada were a draw. and, you'll excuse me for being a little pissed off at the premise of foreigners moving here and dismantling the health care system.

these are things we haven't seen before, and we've got a problem on our hands.

but, his challenges may, in the end, make the system stronger - if we react appropriately.