Commentary
The story is the same in every province in Canada. Emergency rooms are overwhelmed, hospitals are short-staffed, and ICU space can never seem to keep up with extraordinary pressures whether they be from a local disaster, a flu outbreak, or a spike in COVID-19 cases. Waiting lists for medical specialists continue to grow while it has become nearly impossible in some areas to find a family doctor.
Public health care is a popular political football for every opposition party. They lay every negative medical outcome at the feet of the party in power and imply lack of funding was the cause. While it may make for good politics, blaming underfunding for health-care challenges is disingenuous. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, every province in Canada dramatically increased funding into their systems. Despite all that investment, health-care systems continue to teeter on the brink of collapse even though the pandemic has eased….