Norway had their Quisling, the US of A had their Benedict Arnold.. and Canada, our Holmes?
The debate surrounding healthcare reform in the US gives us a chance to witness some of the most colossally ignorant behavior ever to emanate from a supposedly civilized and democratic nation. Obama’s proposed reforms are cautious, to put it mildly. Yet to gauge things by the rhetoric of his detractors, you would think he was ushering in some sort of neo-Communist regieme: “Round up the guns! Euthanize everyone over the age of 68! Etc!”
So it was bound to happen.. a partisan and sensationalist US media hungry for the next sound-bite, and eager to fuel this farcical “debate,” found in one Canadian woman an all-too-complicit poster child for Victims of the Failed Socialist Healthcare Experiment Up North. Yes, if not Shona Holmes, then who? But it is Holmes we see all over YouTube now, so be it: Let it never be said that a Canadian wouldn’t speak up to decry ineptitude and short-comings in our public institutions. Gods know, our healthcare is well worth a little pride, and even more so our continued scrutiny and diligence.. each of us. Every level of government in this country has been telling us for years we can’t afford health, we need to cut back, we need “realistic expectations.” Who doesn’t have a personal experience (wait times), who hasn’t felt impotent anger over the poor treatment of a loved one, at least once as a result of healthcare inefficiencies?
Is Canada’s system of universal healthcare perfect? No! But it’s a model worth preserving, and if we let it fail then shame on us. In the meantime, for those who would shill for the US networks, thanks for nothing.. or, for one thing, rather: “Quit trying to Holmes me.” It’s not every day we get to coin a phrase.
