Us versus Them
Dr. Bob Bell for PM
I had the good fortune of being one of the lucky few to catch the Munk Debate on health care live Monday night: according to the wonderfully named Rudyard Griffiths, the devious mind behind the series, it’s proving such a hot ticket with the cultural elite, every seat in the house was sold out within a mere four hours.
On reading the evening’s resolution (Be it resolved: I would rather get sick in the US than in Canada) my immediate response was, “what have I got?” If it was just ordinary run-of-the-mill sick, naturally I would rather get sick, if I had to get sick at all, here in Canada, where, last time I checked, we still had universal health care. But if I came down with something really obscure and weird and life-threatening, and I could afford the Mayo clinic–well, that just might test my national pride.
On the “pro” side, ie, in favour of the US system, were Dr David Gratzer, a brilliant, funny, extremely cocky Canadian-born psychiatrist and author (which does prompt the question: we know shrinks tend to be smart, but why is it exactly that so many of them are also so funny?), and the Republican Senator Bill Frist, a former cardio-thoracic surgeon and a hearty apologist for US individualism and innovation.
On the “cons”, ie, pro-the Canadian system, were Dr. Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont and one-time Presidential candidate (I thought it was rather cruel and unnecessary, frankly, of both Griffiths and the audience to guffaw after his introduction, remembering the weird strangled yell that cost him the nomination–I mean, does the poor man have to face that every single time he appears in front of a crowd for the rest of his life??), who, apparently DROVE up from Burlington to appear in the debate after his flight was cancelled. His partner in crime was the extremely affable and charming (and did I mention tall, hunky and blonde–this is rather a poor photo) Dr Robert Bell, big cheese and CEO of the Universal Health Network (which includes Princess Margaret, Toronto Western and the Toronto General Hospital). And you think you have a lot on your plate to deal with.
It was fascinating, when the arguments unfolded, to reflect on how much ideology is wrapped up in the whole notion of health care. For instance, Gratzer observed, and quite rightly, that a lot of our resistance to changing the dream of health care by making any sort of modification to the plan such as introducing user’s fees is really rooted in obstinate Tim Hortons nationalism.
While for his part, Frist’s observations about America–how there is just no way that such an individualistic–and therefore, in his view, innovative– political culture such as America that anybody would put up with a bureaucrat being able to decide on the level of care that your dying child is going to get (what he called health care being delivered from a “single spigot” versus the “vibrant, fluid” chaos he calls home).
And that troublesome data about shorter life expectancy and maternal health south of the border? I found it amazing that Frist doesn’t even see the parallel, let alone the irony in his claim that the numbers should be adjusted to account for Americans’ insistentence on riskier (read :”individualistic”) lifestyle choices and behaviour.
Dean was eloquent and extremely well-versed in the subject. I appreciated his professional opinion that profit has no place in health care and that the more stuff you get done to you by the medical profession, the worse off you’re going to be. He didn’t shriek like a girl or do anything even slightly embarassing. (The only thing that was off-putting about him at all was that the man has an ENORMOUS head. I mean, a full third of him is cranial).
I happened to find Gratzer, who was very intense and self-satisfied, brilliant. Outside, after the debate, however, two different men in two entirely different conversations said the exact same thing to me: “that guy is the kind of guy we used to beat up in high school”.
Once again, I am happy that I am not a man.
But the star of the evening in my view was Dr Bob Bell. He was measured, thoughtful, open, extremely well-spoken, even inspirational. When he spoke of the “noble experiment” we are engaged in and how we shouldn’t lose our nerve, I truly felt like if this was the guy in charge of our challenged health care system, we were somehow going to come out of it all right.
Which is why, after the vote–which went heartily with the “cons”–my vote is with Dr. Robert Bell for Prime Minister!