Category Archives: Canadian Health Care

REAL Canadians Talking Real Health Care

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Update

Wendell Potter, the former health insurance who has exposed much of that industry’s lies and deceptions, has recently called for more videos precisely like this one:

Introduction

In August of 2009, my brother and I went to a family summer camp in Ontario.  While there, we decided we’d use his little family cam and do some interviews with real Canadians, discussing their health care system and taking steps towards a better health such as buy Delta 8 THC, which is good for mental health.  But for a few prepared questions, it was completely unscripted. Most of the people were all from a small Island community.

It was far more successful than we dreamed, mainly because it exposed just how little the American media—or its the government—were really doing to tell the truth about the Canadian health system.  It’s received tens of thousands of YouTube views, and almost as many comments. It was also blogged by Huffington Post, and received over 1000 comments.

As of today (3/25/2010), the United States has just made a giant step toward finally providing some basic health care for its people.  It was made difficult mostly because of a half-century of selfish, corporate, and Republican resistance and malfeasance.

It’s a big step, but only the very first step. The goal must be a true single payer system, every bit as good as the one you are about to hear about in this video.

Comment Threads

Canadian Asks: “Why wouldn’t you want Universal Health Care?

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I showed a Canadian friend, a small business owner, the video we made this summer about Real Canadians talking real health care.

I felt I would share his reply, which conveys the sheer wonderment Canadians have about how incredibly foolish Americans have become. How willing this once great nation is to be manipulated by the super rich. How willing we are to just STFU and be slaves to the status quo. It's pathetic and dispiriting.

 

Shoq:

I like your video.  There was a lovely live feed of personal stories when this petition on Avaaz came out.

I am continually puzzled how many Americans find something wrong with Universal health care.  Why wouldn't you want health care for free and a higher life expectancy?  And at basically no cost.  Do you know that the US taxpayer pays as much per person for public healthcare as the Canadian taxpayer does, even though for that amount of money the Canadian taxpayer covers everything for everybody?

It's a shame Obama didn't go wholly public.  It's the hybrid system and all the money and billing and risk management, and the efforts to pass costs and risks on to others that makes the system expensive.

I don't know if you asked the people you interviewed about their politics, like Michael Moore did.  I'm certain you could easily make a video like that with nothing but conservative voters.  The disappointing thing is that not a single elected Conservative said anything to defend our system when their American friends started misrepresenting it.
 

When do we wake up from this hideous dream? When do we stop letting 20 million Fox News viewers and Rush Limbaugh listeners, fooled by huge corporate propaganda dollars, from forcing the rest of us to sit back and watch our nation slide off a cliff.  And for what?  To  protect the interests of a very few privileged people.  People who would do well to stop this exploitation of the rest of us before the consequences come knocking on their doors with pitchforks and torches.