Commentary
Recently, the Supreme Court of Canada announced it was not willing to hear an important health care court case. Patients should know, the court’s decision is anything but good news.
Dr. Brian Day, founder of the Cambie Surgery Centre in British Columbia, was hoping to build on a 2005 Supreme Court ruling that found it was unlawful for the Quebec government to force patients to wait long periods for health care while also banning private options.
The Supreme Court then famously noted: “access to a waiting list is not access to health care.”
Following that decision, private health care options grew in Quebec. For various reasons, patients cannot pay for whatever procedure they want in “La Belle Province,” but Quebecers do have the option of going to a private clinic to pay for many common surgeries, such as knee and hip operations. (Quebec patients can of course continue to use the public system if they so choose–and most do.)…