In November, 2016, WikiLeaks released the confidential client lists of hundreds of private and quasi-private medical treatment establishments in Canada, Europe and the United States. To the astonishment of Canadians, these lists included the names of hundreds of judges, senators, members of Parliament, senior civil servants, union officials, union spokespersons, media executives, editorialists, journalists and television personalities – many of whom had been in the forefront of publicly denouncing private health care while privately availing themselves of its services. The exposure of such hypocrisy deprived the opposition movement of both its legitimacy and its strength.
The Great Waiting-Line Experiment
Meanwhile, back in Ottawa, the Standing Committee on Health had invited Dr. Lars Aalborg, Nobel Prize-winner and a world-renowned expert on queuing theory, to propose means of reducing Canada’s health-care waiting lines. Dr. Aalborg said he would do so only on the condition that members of the House of Commons agreed to participate in a scientific experiment. Being near Christmas, the members were in a charitable mood and consented to this unusual request. When Dr. Aalborg arrived he closed all the doors to the House of Commons except one and then asked all 308 members to form a line outside that door. He then asked the members to enter the chamber through that door, one by one, while he timed the process. Approximately one hour and 15 minutes later, all the members had entered the chamber. Dr. Aalborg then opened two more doors to the chamber and divided the members into three uneven lines, one outside each door. Once again the members were instructed to enter while Dr. Aalborg timed the process. This time it took less than 45 minutes for all members to enter the chamber.
Leading members of the Liberal and NDP caucuses – those who could count, tell time, or both – immediately explained the meaning of the experiment to their bewildered brethren. By establishing three open doors to its health-care system – a public care door, a private not-for-profit door, and a private for-profit door – and with government responsible to ensure that the care available through each met acceptable standards, Quebec ensured that the average waiting time for getting into the health-care system and receiving quality care would be significantly lower than if everyone was forced to wait in a long line behind a single door.
A House United
The House, now enlightened by science and buoyed with Christmas cheer, unanimously approved a motion endorsing the “mixed systems” approach to health care and commending it to all provinces and territories. The motion specifically affirmed that such a system was completely compatible with the Canadian way, since, as all members had always known in their hearts, “mixed systems are the very essence of Canada’s national identity.”
Preston Manning is president and CEO of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy.
