XPost: can.politics, sk.politics, bc.politics   
   XPost: man.politics, ont.politics   
   From: {~_~}@nyet.ca   
      
   A very, very big reason to get rid of the Harper Conservatives in the   
   next election.  And get Canada's healthcare system back on track.   
   ______________________________________________________   
      
      
   Published on Mon Mar 31 2014 - thestar.com   
      
      
   It’s a sad day for Canadian health care, says Roy Romanow   
   On Monday, the Health Council of Canada shut its doors and a 10-year   
   health-care accord expires.   
      
      
   Monday was a sad day for health care in Canada, says Roy Romanow, former   
   NDP premier of Saskatchewan and one-time chair of the Royal Commission   
   on the Future of Health Care.   
      
   The day marked the end of the Health Council of Canada and the 10-year   
   health accord that led to its creation.   
      
   “It’s a blow to nation-building because it’s a blow to one of our   
   revered, if not most revered, social programs, which is medicare,”   
   Romanow said in a phone interview from the University of Saskatchewan   
   where he teaches classes in federalism.   
      
   The 2004 accord was a joint creation of the federal, provincial and   
   territorial governments. It was intended to force reforms and set   
   national standards in areas such as primary care, wait lists and   
   electronic health records, with strings attached to $41 billion in   
   federal transfers and the council acting as watchdog.   
      
   The accord has been replaced with a funding scheme created unilaterally   
   by the federal government. But with no conditions attached, critics   
   charge Ottawa has abdicated its role in shaping the direction of the   
   health system.   
      
   The commission’s recommendations, contained in the 2002 Romanow Report,   
   shaped the accord and the council.   
      
   Romanow readily concedes the accord and council were never as ambitious,   
   or as successful, as he would have liked. A national pharmacare program   
   never did see the light of day.   
      
   Still, he laments their passing.   
      
   “At least it was a federal-provincial commitment to a level of funding   
   and a degree of reform. We had the council to neutrally assess how we   
   were doing on those reforms,” Romanow said.   
      
   “I am concerned that without leadership from Ottawa and with reduced   
   money, we are going to see a further slowdown of reforms, more regional   
   disparities and a push for more private health care,” he added.   
      
   A growing chorus of voices is calling for the creation of a new council   
   and a new accord.   
      
   An appeal for a new oversight body appeared on the website of Longwoods   
   Publishing earlier this month in the form of an open letter written by   
   council director Mark Dobrow, council CEO John Abbott and Ottawa   
   Hospital CEO Dr. Jack Kitts.   
      
   “Accountability for health care system performance may not be top of   
   mind for all Canadians, but it should be. In the absence of the Health   
   Council of Canada or a clear successor agency, we believe an objective   
   voice for both Canadians and their governments will be lost. This   
   situation needs to be addressed if governments collectively want to   
   ensure public confidence in the measures they are taking to reform the   
   system, and they should welcome the opportunity to be held accountable,”   
   they wrote.   
      
   The Canadian Health Coalition launched a campaign for a new accord on   
   Monday. It kicked off in Ottawa with a luncheon speech by Dr. Jeff   
   Turnbull, past-president of the Canadian Medical Association.   
      
   In an interview, Turnbull said the accord did not bring about the   
   massive, transformative change that was hoped for, but it did make   
   modest progress in helping to improve wait times and availability of   
   electronic medical records.   
      
   “I think we need to rethink strategically how we promote the ongoing   
   transformation of our health care system. The engagement of a national   
   government and a pan-Canadian solution is essential,” he said, adding   
   that health care needs to be more community based with a focus on   
   chronic disease management.   
      
   National input is imperative to reform, Turnbull said.   
      
   “I am worried if we leave this exclusively to the provinces and   
   territories, we are going to have a patchwork of health care systems, we   
   are going to have inequity within jurisdictions and between them,” he said.   
      
   The Canadian Health Coalition campaign for a new accord was to include a   
   “musical, comical protest” in Toronto on Monday night, dubbed “Holler 4   
   Health Care.” Among those scheduled to attend were actor Shirley   
   Douglas, daughter of the late Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglas, known   
   as the father of medicare.   
      
   Asked what her father would think of the state of health care in Canada   
   today, Douglas said: “Before my father died, he warned that we were   
   watching the slow strangulation of health care. He said, ‘If you don’t   
   get up and fight for it, you are going to lose it. Don’t pretend you   
   didn’t know.’ ”   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)