We are lucky to live in a society in which access to healthcare is not on our list of things to worry about. However, this has not always been the case in Canada. Medicare in Canada was born in 1962 thanks to Tommy Douglas a former member of provincial parliament. While Tommy Douglas was born in Falkirk Scotland and only moved to Canada when he was six, he decided to join the Saskatchewan Labour Party in 1932 because he was inspired to help Canadians after witnessing the hardships they endured through the Great Depression. In 1942 Tommy Douglas who became the leader of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, won the provincial election in Saskatchewan. He began to make a case to implement a universal health care system in the province because …show more content…
The free health care system Mr. Douglas implemented greatly helped families that were unable to afford healthcare but needed medical attention. Before medicare, medical assistance was a privilege that only people with money could have access to. The universal system meant that people without money could now also get the healthcare they desperately needed. Tommy Douglas has been commended in many ways for all that his is done for Canada as he should be. Although now Tommy Douglas’ efforts to bring free healthcare are appreciated and seen as a turning point in Canadian history, this was not always the case. In 1962, the start of free health care drove doctors in Saskatchewan to a 23 day strike in protest of this new program. They were worried they would be turned into civil servants and unable to make their own decisions about their patients. This strike also worried citizens as they were left without doctors. Not only did backlash come from the public and the doctors but also from political opponents. During the Saskatchewan election that he won, his opponents called him a communist and created many anti-medicare Tommy Douglas campaigns. These campaigns tried to suggest that Tommy douglas's plan would ruin the medical system. They said that people would not be able to choose their own doctors, there might be compulsory abortions and that the government might commit people to mental hospitals. The association representing doctors in Canada called medicare dictatorial and they promised never to accept
The nature of the current debate surrounding the implementation of universal healthcare in America is troubling because it is comprised almost entirely of pragmatic arguments void of concern for the principles behind the project. Before one asks how much a thing will cost, how it will be organized, or whether “the uninsured” will benefit, one should ask whether enacting universal healthcare is in keeping with the values and principles of the American experiment. In other words, is universal healthcare good for America? Universal healthcare is not good for America.
Pat Armstrong’s thesis in Managing Care the Canadian Way, is that expanding Canada’s public health care system the way that Canada has been doing so for the last 30 years, rather than privatizing it the way the United States’ health care system runs, is the best way to improve it. Armstrong argues that Canadian health care as a non-profit system is superior to the largely profited and privately administrated services in the United States. Canada has begun to bring American style health care into the system and Armstrong believes that this will have a negative impact on the Canadian health system in cost, accessibility and quality of health care. The strategies used in Canadian Medicare to manage costs are much more effective than managed care in the United States.
This was especially true when he witnessed firsthand the horrors of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike (Reb). Growing up, he went into politics where he gradually accumulated influence from voters in Saskatchewan’s provincial election to lead the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation [CCF] to form the first socialist government in North America (Bonikowsky). His leadership was often challenged by his political opponents that hailed him as a communist or even a fascist with their aggressive propaganda. However, Tommy responded strategically through radio telecasts that made use of his remarkable oratory skills to secure his seat as Saskatchewan’s premier for 17 years (Wong). Tommy’s humanitarian ideology made Saskatchewan a leader in progressive social policy that is still reflected through the NDP today.
“Courage, my friends; ’tis not too late to build a better world. ”-Tommy Douglas or better known as the Father of Medicare. Douglas won “The Greatest Canadian of all Time” on April 5th, 2004. This man has certainly brought many benefits to all Canadians. Universal Healthcare started with a belief that every Canadian deserves free healthcare regardless of their economic or social status.
“Saskatchewan’s favourite politician, ‘father of the Medicare’ Tommy Douglas, is among 11 Canadians who were recently inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame”(Wharry,1998,p.211). Tommy Douglas, who was known for his creation of Medicare, devoted himself into creating a promising future for Canada. There is no doubt that he is the greatest Canadian. Michael Shevell stated in his article(2012) that Tommy Douglas was born in Scotland in 1904.
Although Canada appears to other nations as innovative and visionary, many of their influential accomplishments have been copied from the province of Saskatchewan. Through the success of which had overcome Saskatchewan beginning when Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas came into power as the saskatchewan premier beginning in 1944. As quoted by Ian McLeod, Douglas’ bibliographer, through Tommy Douglas’ influence “Once more Saskatchewan has an opportunity to lead the way”.(Canadian) With the influence of which Douglas and the province of Saskatchewan had over the rest of the nation, Tommy douglas was able to create a more equal society. With the use of Saskatchewan’s experience it demonstrated the social divisions that could occur if the situation
In addition to the dismay of many healthcare professionals, patients, and citizens who are uninsured, several flaws about the current healthcare system show the necessity for reform. The three flaws that exacerbate the current healthcare crisis are: the tax code and tax breaks, the lack of preventable care and adequate care of chronic diseases, and administrative costs. A single payer, universal healthcare system can resolve the major flaws of the
The one major difference between the Canadian health care system and the American health care system is that is that they have a privatized health care system. A documentary such as “Sicko directed by Michael Moore” demonstrates the crisis of American citizens without health care coverage. Canada’s universal health care system ensures those who cannot pay for health to not suffer, contrary to the Sicko
The first editorial is in favor of the universal healthcare system. The author supports the claim with statistical reasoning when presenting the argument. The editorial focuses more on facts, logic, and reasoning rather than emotions and opinions.
Healthcare in the United States is in desperate need of reform. There are several rationales to further explain this proposition. As an illustration, the Declaration of Independence states our unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In other words, every individual should be entitled to healthcare as it preserves life and promotes the general welfare. The federal government should, therefore, enact a program of universal health to better protect and serve all of its citizens.
Health care should not be considered a political argument in America; it is a matter of basic human rights. Something that many people seem to forget is that the US is the only industrialized western nation that lacks a universal health care system. The National Health Care Disparities Report, as well as author and health care worker Nicholas Conley and Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), strongly suggest that the US needs a universal health care system. The most secure solution for many problems in America, such as wasted spending on a flawed non-universal health care system and 46.8 million Americans being uninsured, is to organize a national health care program in the US that covers all citizens for medical necessities.
Better Now : 6 Big Ideas by Dr. Danielle Martin is a compilation of ideas to try and fix the Canadian Healthcare system. Martin gained popularity after a schooling Republicans at the United States committee led by the Independent Senator Bernie Sanders. The Canadian doctor was invited at the panel to represent Canada, alongside other countries like France, Denmark Taiwan, to discuss the nation’s healthcare system and what the United States could learn from it. Inevitably, one of the issues often brought up by Canadians is the long waiting periods that Capitalists like to blame on the single payer system. Martin argued that when Australia switched to a multi-payer system in the 1990’s, statistics showed that wait times in the public health
Analysis of Healthcare to Thesis Healthcare is important to our well being, which is why we have free health care. That also means that Canadians have the burden of paying higher taxes in order to have free health care. Argument #4: The Aging
In 1947 the Premier of Saskatchewan Tommy Douglas and his Party established the first Universal Hospital Care Plan known as the Hospital Insurance Act. (Boan, 2006) This Act, guaranteed every resident in the province health care. (Boan, 2006) His idea was that with a small annual premium this
Health Care is a huge and important part of Canada and what it is. Canadian citizens all have access to Canada 's healthcare system known as `Medicare`. Medicare is managed by the federal government delivered through a publicly funded health care system, in cooperation with the 10 provinces and 3 territories. Under the health care system, individual citizens are provided preventative care and medical treatments from primary care physicians as well as access to hospitals, dental surgery, and additional medical services. With a few exceptions, all citizens qualify for health coverage regardless of medical history, personal income, or standard of living.