Members of the Counci of Canadians Vancouver/Burnaby Chapter were on courthouse steps with signs of support on the first day of final arguments in the Charter of Rights challenge launched by Dr. Brian Day against public medicare.
Final arguments got underway in mid-November and conclude this week in a decade-old Charter challenge against public health care. Launched by private clinic owner Dr. Brian Day, the case is seen as a direct threat to Canada’s publicly funded medicare system.
The case pits Dr. Day, owner of the private Cambie Surgeries Corp. – which allows people to pay for access to surgeries – against the British Columbia government.
An audit of the surgery clinic’s billing revealed that fees were being charged to both the public medicare system as well as directly to patients. When the province finally clamped down on the clinic for double-dipping, Dr. Day launched this Charter challenge.
