Item — HN Reader

I think it's accurate to say our healthcare system is often loved and quite dear to our hearts as Canadians. (Canadian here.)

And, much like a beloved relative, our system has major annoyances and often keeps us waiting. (Can you still call Uncle Bob beloved after he shits the bed? I think you can.) But it's so core to the Canadian experience -- we all know, no matter what economic turns we might take, it's always there for us from birth to death, quirks and all. It's a constant and foundational.

I reckon by early adulthood many Canadians will have personally seen it help more loved ones than it harms (while asking for little or zero additional money) ... so I think the word beloved is reasonable.

I'd say our system is dear to my heart and that's synonymous with beloved.

1 comments

You put it well.

I'd like to add further context:

It saved my younger brother's life in terms of a brain operation where the (thankfully benign) tumor had reached the size of a standard California navel orange. He was a child. It cost my parents nothing for the immediate invasive surgery, the subsequent week+ stay and treatment, and recurring visits, checkups and studies.

When my father was a child the Sick Kids hospital in Toronto (disclaimer: also a charity, not solely OHIP) looked after my father regularly. I grew up with stories he'd tell about the state of children in that place from the time he spent with them while he was there.

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To expand upon your statement "by early adulthood many Canadians will have personally seen it help more loved ones than it harms" — this is the best way to put it. When it's not such a scarce and hallowed resource, people don't just go to look after their health if they have money, or are sick, or worse. They go to maintain good health, and don't typically abuse it otherwise. There are holes to fill yet, but just the same I think it's common knowledge that people love the system enough that they would fight against its hypothetical removal — especially in the face of promises of tax cuts, or other "trickle-down" benefits. At the same time it doesn't change the common opinion that certain aspects need improvements.