9/11700 = 7.69 x 10^-4. that is 0.076% of the budget deficit.

when your calculator resorts to scientific notation to get a percentage, it is not a substantial cost reduction. this is a fraction of any kind of error on the budget, and is quite obviously not being done to save money. rather, it's an example of capitalism at work - the government is eliminating a public service in order to line the pockets of it's buddies in the private sector. it's just good old corruption.

i live on the border, and i can't afford to buy insurance. nor am i going to allow that to affect my travel plans. so, i will now have no choice but to travel without insurance, and i guess we'll just need to create an international incident, if i get hit by a car while i'm out.

don't buy into the false narrative about budget cuts; this is privatization by stealth, and it's representative of how this government is going to operate, in general.

in canada, we have little ability to oppose a sitting government on an issue like this. but, the opposition should take it as an invitation to involve itself in the private insurance industry, when it rewins the government. if they want to open this can up, the opposition should take advantage of it in the long run in erecting a pretext for further meddling, when it reverses it.

and, yes, you should expect the next government to reverse this, because it's just flat out stupid.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-ohip-out-of-country-emergency-coverage-1.5109027