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You are here: Home / Politics / Harper’s stealth attack on Medicare

Harper’s stealth attack on Medicare

11/16/2012 by backofthebook.ca

Patients on stretchers in hospital corridorBy Montreal Simon

Oh boy. Trying to keep up with Stephen Harper these days is like trying to keep up with a pickpocket working a crowded railway station.

Or a pimp working a Republican convention.

One moment he’s selling us out to the Chinese Communist Capitalist Party. The next moment he’s preparing to sell us out to the Europeans and Big Pharma.

From The Canadian Press: “As free trade talks with the European Union reach the endgame, Ottawa is signalling it is prepared to give the Europeans at least part of what they asked for on drug patents — a move that could cost Canadians up to $900 million a year.”

Even though there’s nothing in it for Canadians. Even though there are too many poor seniors in this country having to choose between their medication or their food.

Even though it’s nothing but a shameless cave-in.

From The Record: “Canada currently pays 15 to 20 per cent more than the international average for new brand name drugs as part of a deal negotiated by Brian Mulroney’s government in the 1980s. In exchange for this form of price fixing, big pharma promised to invest 10 per cent of research and development-to-sales in Canada.

“The industry broke this promise and now invests only 5.6 per cent of research and development-to-sales, the lowest rate of research and development investment from the pharmaceutical industry since 1988. France and the U.K. have a research and development-to-sales ratio that is more than twice that of Canada and their prices are at least 10 per cent lower.

“To make matters worse, the drug industry uses this money, not for innovation, but to buy influence with the federal regulator, physicians, consumers and the media through their advertising departments.

“Is there a word for ‘being bribed with your own money?'”

A shameless surrender to foreign corporations, that will only make it harder for our healthcare system to deal with the increasing demands of our aging population.

But of course Stephen Harper doesn’t care about that, because he entered politics as the poster boy of the National Citizens Coalition that was founded to destroy medicare.

And his plan to destroy medicare is by making the provinces too poor to afford it.

That’s why he is cutting healthcare transfers by $36 billion, that’s why he is refusing to create any national health programs, that’s even the real reason he is sending more prisoners to jail. So the provinces will have to pay more to feed and house them.

It’s his stealth attack on medicare. And although most Canadians are blissfully unaware of this sinister plan, the Healthcare for Bucks lobby can smell the blood in the air, and all kinds of new organizations are circling Parliament Hill like vultures.

Like this one.

Founded by Brent J. Skinner, who for the last eight years was the Director of Health Policy Research at the Fraser Institute.

Which like all other similar organizations, and their flunkies in the MSM, would have us believe that medicare costs are out of control, and privatization inevitable. When the truth is quite different.

From The Star: “Total health-care costs as a share of the economy did rise when the economy tanked in 2008-9 but they have been falling for two years. For the past two years, provincial government health costs have also fallen as a share of GDP and as a share of their overall spending. Far from hitting the forecast 70 per cent, or even 50 per cent of program expenditures, provincial health costs are less than 38 per cent of program spending and falling.”

But will Canadians realize what the Cons are secretly up to, and will they unite to stop them before it’s too late?

Oh boy. I hope so.

For if they don’t, they really will wake up one day in a horrible place. In terrible pain.

In a country they don’t recognize…

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: business, Canada, Canadian economy, medicine, National Citizens Coalition, Stephen Harper

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Comments

  1. Nadine Lumley says

    11/18/2012 at 10:16 pm

    repost from online G&M: Zaphod on Feb 23

    In 2014, which is just two years away, the federal government will negotiate the Healthcare for each province in Canada…

    Do you want Harper closing that deal?

    Stephen Harper, In His Own Words:
    Let’s Privatize our Health Care
    2 min. cartoon
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWAFuwz-15s

  2. paulru says

    11/16/2012 at 11:50 am

    The potential problem with Canada ridding itself of the Harper Government is vote splitting – this is how the man attained a majority government. Apparently polls are showing the libs gaining ground again. If this sort of foolishness (vote splitting) continues, Harper will once again win a majority. In my opinion the best move would be a coalition of libs and NDP.. If Steven Harper is permitted to continue on as PM after the next election, Canada will surely find itself in uncharted and completely dangerous territory.

  3. Rober says

    11/16/2012 at 7:58 am

    Well this is news to me. With no medicare what are we suppose to do? If there will be no medicare in the future some things will happen. I remember someone saying that if there weren’t any medicare then no one would even stay in this country because it’s too damn cold. The other thing is that they will have to lower the taxes.
    I hope this doesn’t happen though. I was always thinking that my prime minister was always a good man and I still hope he is.

  4. Justin Flontek says

    11/16/2012 at 5:53 am

    Enough is enough! harpo needs to go!

  5. Roman says

    11/16/2012 at 5:48 am

    I think he’s still trying to find ways to pay for the F35 aircraft. Next election I’m voting for the other guy, I always thought ” it’s better to vote vote for the devil you know than the devil you don’t know” well I don’t know him anymore, he’s to unpredictable and doesn’t know what he’s doing, like Hitler (absolute power corrupts absolutely)

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