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Our Canadian health care system has its faults – the most egregious is the division into provincial and teritorial segments under a federal umbrella. Still, no individual can be denied medical care simply because he lacks “insurance” coverage from a private or employment source or because he has a ‘pre-existing’ medical condition. If someone loses a job because of illness, he may indeed face bankruptcy but that’s only because other creditors are in the lineup, not doctors and/or hospitals who will continue to look after his medical needs.

In 1948 I contracted paralytic polio. In 2005 I had a mild stroke. I am now housebound and bedbound. Over my lifetime I have had five family doctors, all of them being my personal choice. I have had flu shots in the doctor’s office, and at home, at the doctor’s discretion, and I am now arranging for this year’s regular and pandemic vaccinations, at no cost to me. I have had numerous X-rays, ultrasound tests, minor surgeries, electro-cardiographs, etc., at no cost to me.

Do I pay taxes? Of course. I pay for roads on which I have never travelled, pay for firefighters and policemen I have never needed, schools I never attended, and armies I have sent overseas to keep my country out of harm’s way. Gladly.

I see pictures of American crowds, carrying signs (manufactured, not homemade) protesting government involvement in “medicare.” Where are the crowds, carrying signs demanding their “right” to health services along with their “right” to carry guns, to exercise their “right” to choose their own doctor along with their “right” to choose their own words in free speech?

Des Emery

St.Thomas, ON, Canada