Ian Mulgrew: B.C. government’s attack on private doctors unseemly
What kind of argument is it to suggest doctors are greedy swine trying to butcher the country’s sacred cow?

The B.C. Court of Appeal has an unenviable job parsing the 880-page decision involving the constitutionality of provisions in the Medicare Protection Act restricting private health care.

And both senior governments exacerbated it by continuing to muddy the waters during last week’s appeal as they did throughout the marathon 198-day trial conducted by B.C. Supreme Court Justice John Steeves.

Since 2009 when proceedings started — which tells you how much politicking and busy-work has occurred — this case has been treated as a time-bomb that the two governments want defused by any means necessary.

Some of issues were before the Supreme Court of Canada in a 2005 Quebec case, known as Chaoulli, when the high bench ruled that access to a waiting list was not access to timely health care.

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Ian Mulgrew: Doctors trashed in defence of medicare
COVID-19 may have conferred a saintlike halo on some doctors, but as far as the B.C. government is concerned too many remain greedy, unethical and ready to ablate part of Canada’s soul.

COVID-19 may have conferred a saintlike halo on some doctors, but as far as the B.C. government is concerned too many remain greedy, unethical and ready to ablate part of Canada’s soul.

Lawyers for the province told the B.C. Court of Appeal those physicians exaggerate waiting times, manipulate wait-lists and want to provide private necessary health services that would destroy the country’s celebrated egalitarian public system.

Both the B.C. and federal governments asserted the future of medicare depended on the high bench upholding a 2020 B.C. Supreme Court decision endorsing provisions in the Medical Protection Act restricting access to private care even though patients in lengthy surgical queues may be suffering.

They agreed the impugned provisions suppressed a parallel private market, made it uneconomical for doctors to leave the public sector and erected barriers to the provision of private necessary health services.

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Ian Mulgrew: Medicare injunction sought
“The prohibition of private surgeries will have devastating consequences for these patients, unnecessarily prolonging their pain and disability, increasing…
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Ian Mulgrew: Plaintiffs will appeal landmark court challenge of universal Medicare
Universal Medicare survived a constitutional challenge with a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that upheld restrictions on public, private practice.
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Ian Mulgrew: Marathon medicare trial finally ends
“It’s astonishing that we are the only country on earth that outlaws private health insurance.”
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