The Sixth Estate

There is a new think tank in Canada, and this one is specifically devoted to the privatization of healthcare. I can’t emphasize that enough: we have a new National Citizens Coalition. Unsurprisingly, this one is funded by big business and backed by the Conference Board of Canada, also known as Plagiarizers R Us. It will be called the Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Healthcare — a contrived name with the acronym CASH. The new group is billed as a vital new deep thinker at a time when healthcare costs are spiralling out of control. This is a nefarious myth. Yes, healthcare costs are rising faster than inflation. But they’re rising at the same rate in America, and the Americans already spend about twice as much on healthcare per person as we do. So sooner or later we will need to worry about it, but it’s not urgent yet. What is urgent is the shortage of doctors and the rising costs of drugs. Those we need leadership on.

Not from our government, though. During this election campaign, finance minister Jim Flaherty was booked making the following appalling statement about healthcare: “realistically there will be no serious discussion this year anyway… I’m not sure if any of the provincial politicians are going to raise this… At some point, somebody will take the lead on this.” Way to seize the initiative, Jimmy.

I don’t know yet what CASH will put forward as a solution to the healthcare problem, but from the acronym and from its wealthy backers, I can guess. In the meantime, the Conference Board is soliciting job applicants for the new think tank. New CASH economists will apparently be doing quantitative analysis of healthcare sustainability. Hmm. Sounds like the Fraser Institute. Maybe that Institute’s credibility is finally so tainted that the masters of Canada are going to try and trick us with a new brand name.