Crisis In Health Care

If you read any news recently, you would know that the provinces are begging for money from the federal government, for health care. You would also know that hospitals are in crisis. Hospitals are overloaded with patients and do not have enough staff to handle the demand. Emergency rooms are full, with long waits to receive treatment. Every medical procedure had a long waiting list. Hospitals are bad places to be these days.

In this country, health care is a provincial responsibility. Still, all provinces have reduced their health care spending. Instead, all of them are asking for money from the federal government. Are we looking at a health care crisis that is partially contrived?

My own province of Manitoba has reduced taxes. Cutting taxes is conservative ideology but it is also popular with voters. Of course, with reduced tax revenue, the government must also reduce services. That’s also conservative ideology. Still, it’s important to improve health care. Still, somebody has to pay for it. The federal government may have to raise taxes to do so. Curiously enough, increasing taxes is one of the things that gets criticized by the provinces.

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