Statement by Roy J. Romanow, Q.C, Commissioner
On the release of the final report of the
Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada
November 28, 2002
Conclusion
In completing this report, I am acutely aware that the support of Canadians
for their health care system is not given freely. It is given in exchange
for a commitment that their governments will ensure that high quality care
is there for them when they need it.
If Canadians come to believe that their governments will not honour their
part of the bargain, they will look elsewhere for answers. And the grave
risk we will face is pressure for access to private, parallel services- one
set of services for the well off, another for those who are not. Canadians
do not want this.
Our reform agenda is an ambitious one, but at a time when one of our most
cherished national programs is at a crossroads, Canadians expect no less
than an ambitious plan.
I am always mindful of the lineage of Canada’s medicare system. It began
with the CCF party in my home province of Saskatchewan. It was a
Conservative Prime Minister who appointed Emmett Hall. And that it was a
Liberal government that introduced legislation to create modern Medicare.
And it was politicians of all stripes, and from all regions, that joined
together to UNANIMOUSLY approve it.
Ideology was not an issue then, nor should it be today. Medicare was simply
the right choice to make, and it remains so. Is it a left-wing or a right
wing agenda to want to provide Canadian businesses with comparative
advantages in the global marketplace? Is it a left wing or a right agenda to
opt for an approach to delivering services that any detached, objective
examination of the evidence shows to be more efficient, more affordable and
more equitable?
Forty years ago, when visionary men and women came together to create
Medicare, we had private medicine in Canada. You paid out of pocket to
receive medical services if you could afford them, or relied on the dole if
you couldn’t. If you needed an operation, you cashed in your savings,
mortgaged your home or sold your farm so you could pay, or you simply did
without. If you had the resources or good fortune, you were able to pay your
way to the front of the line; if you didn’t, you waited and prayed for the
best.
Many of the so-called “new solutions” being proposed for health care-
pay-as-you-go, user and facility fees, fast-track treatment for the lucky
few, and wait-lists for everyone else- are not new at all. We’ve been there.
They are old solutions that didn’t work then, and were discarded for that
reason. And the preponderance of evidence is that they will not work today.
In the coming months, the choices we make, or the consequences of those we
fail to make, will decide medicare’s future. I believe Canadians are
prepared to embark on the journey together and build on the proud legacy
they have inherited.
http://finalreport.healthcarecommission.ca/pdf/HCC_Speech.pdf
The entire report is now available at:
http://finalreport.healthcarecommission.ca/