Will the Harper government use this argument?
Postmedia News reports, “A government ‘interpretation manual’ prepared for the Canada Health Act (by three senior departmental officials under then Liberal health minister Monique Begin in 1984) suggests the legislation has been badly misunderstood for three decades. …The manual makes it clear that the legislation does not preclude private, for-profit clinics from operating under the umbrella of the public health care system. The Canada Health Act, the manual says, ‘cannot be interpreted to mean that services cannot be provided on a for profit basis. It simply states that the organization, commission, or agency that administers the provincial plan cannot record a profit on its operations. …The existence of the manual was revealed in a new book, Chronic Condition, by the Globe and Mail’s Ottawa-based national affairs columnist, Jeffrey Simpson. …(He) contends the government manual proves that the Canada Health Act need not impede reform: that the law allows for a flexible approach to the delivery of medical care, one that embraces private enterprise, so long as the public system pays for it.”
The full article is at http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Canada+health+open+private+clinics+manual+says/7386372/story.html.
