Health care on the election agenda
CMAJ 1997;157:508
Re: "Health care among forgotten issues in forgettable federal election" (CMAJ 1997;157:57-8 [full text / en bref]), by Charlotte Gray
In response to: J.C. Kazimirski
Dr. Kazimirski is absolutely correct when she points out that party leaders all spoke frequently about medicare during the election and gave the survival of our health care system a high priority in their news conferences, political advertisements and leaders' debates.
However, health care was not the determining factor in how most Canadians voted. I pointed out in the article that, from the day the writ was dropped, the major parties unanimously insisted there should be no more cuts to medicare. The pre-election lobbying efforts of the CMA and other health care organizations were so successful that every party leader wanted to claim the credit for saving medicare. Voters therefore felt sufficiently optimistic about the preservation of our health care system that they turned to other issues on which to make their voting decision -- issues on which parties disagreed. Chief among these issues was national unity, because the Liberals, the Reformers, the Progressive Conservatives, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP all have radically different approaches.
As any political observer knows, an election campaign is a nerve-wracking race that often seems more like a test of stamina than a serious debate about national interests. The media (which is always more interested in disagreement than unanimity) play a major role in defining the issues. The fact that health care never became a hot election issue last June says nothing about its priority for the new government.
Charlotte Gray
Ottawa, Ont.
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