Cross posted at slothropia.com.
Thanks to The Louis Riel Trail for spotting this discussion of health care reform on Democracy Now.
Democracy Now sets up the piece with a reminder of who Tommy Douglas was.
As premier of Saskatchewan, Tommy Douglas pioneered a number of progressive policies there, including the expansion of public utilities, unionization and public auto insurance. But his biggest achievement was the creation of universal health insurance, called Medicare. It passed in Saskatchewan in 1962, guaranteeing hospital care for all residents. The rest of Canada soon followed, province by province. After his death, Douglas earned the title of “The Greatest Canadian” in a poll by the CBC.
The rest is a wonky (in a good way) discussion of the history and current state of Canadian health care.
Plenty of good intellectual ammo here for conversations with anyone who is not a dining room table.