Ottawa Sun
Published: Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Ignatieff prescription old news

By most accounts, it has been a good summer for federal Liberal boss Michael Ignatieff. Getting out of Ottawa with a nationwide bus tour to perfect his stump speech patter and connect with the Liberal party rank-and-file was just what he and his party needed.

Then came last week’s post-caucus news scrum with his cute sound bite that “prisons and planes” may be the prime minister’s priorities, but they weren’t his. He stated that Canadians were more worried about education, pensions, the environment and health care.

Kudos to Iggy and his advisers, it was very good political theatre. By listing the so-called people issues after the Tories alleged fixation on prisons and planes and by inference, their assumed neglect of these people issues, he defining the Harper government in a negative light.

Of course this is a subjective play, not objective or fact-based, but such is life when you’re the official opposition leader in the dying days of a beautiful summer, you take — and make — the coverage if and when you can get it.

Nonetheless, as a partisan Tory I was still elated that Mr. Ignatieff seemed willing to engage Canadians in a discussion about the future of health care. Politicians of all political stripes at all levels, have failed us on this file by dumbing down the complexities of health system and insurance reform and wrapping themselves in the holy grail of the Canada Health Act and anti-American, anti-market forces anti-any-real change related rhetoric.

Sadly, a few minutes later, Mr. Ignatieff slipped into this tried and tired refrain with some bumf about not wanting two-tiered health care. So much for the big Harvard thinker and renowned policy guru with a different vision for Canada.

For Mr. Ignatieff or any other politician who is serious about health system reform, the rules are straightforward: Can the rhetoric, own up to the failings of our present system and offer a solution other than just more money, more money or more money.

I’m all for universal access and a single-payer system, but we deserve a system that consistently delivers quality care across the land, provides access to the latest treatments and medicines and real accountability for the spending of my tax dollars, not the endless bureaucracy and reporting with which we presently saddle practitioners and administrators.

If you don’t like U.S. reforms, no problem; look to Europe or Asia where some of the same practices are implemented in publicly governed systems. As for the claim of avoiding two tiers, politicians with excellent drug and hospital coverage plans as compared to most Canadians should bite their hypocritical tongues!

Finally, on the health promotion front, fill your boots but don’t think for one moment that this will decrease absolute costs by one single penny. Even a healthier aging society will strain our system and the insatiable demand of baby-boomers for right-here, right-now, fix-me care, is just now beginning to strain finite resources to new and untested limits.

Health care is not the perceived third rail of Canadian politics any more. Honest, objective and at times, brutally scary discussions of changes that are needed and long overdue will resonate with a mature populace.

The only missing ingredient is a political leader, or two, with enough courage to persevere when the initial public opinion polls go south.