Canadian system leaves much to be desired

By Gale Wisdom

The current political environment is trending toward a government-controlled health-care system, and I feel the need to relate my experience with this type of system.

A few years ago I was the winning bidder for an archery-only bear hunt in at a United Bow Hunters of Missouri fundraiser. The hunt was donated by Basswood Ridge Lodge, owned by Les Curran, in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

We arrived in camp on a Sunday afternoon. We busied ourselves readying equipment and getting acquainted with Les and Jim, the camp cook.

On Tuesday morning Les received news that Jim's wife had experienced some type of incident related to her diabetes that left her blind. Jim left to care for his wife and returned the next day because he needed the money he would earn cooking for us.

Jim's wife needed to go to a doctor, but Jim wouldn't/couldn't take her to a medical facility. Why? All the Canadians -- outfitter, guides, helpers -- did not seem to think anything about this situation was unusual or uncommon.

It turns out Jim's residence of record was in Toronto, 500 miles away. They belonged to that medical group. They weren't allowed access to medical facilities in New Brunswick because there was no money allotted in that unit for them. They would have to return to Toronto for medical treatment, or they could travel 35 miles to Calais, Maine, in the U.S. and receive immediate treatment in the local hospital's emergency room.

Jim, being an honorable man, wouldn't take his wife to Maine because the hospital would expect him to pay for the needed treatment, and he didn't feel he could afford it. I told him to take her anyway because the hospital would treat her whether or not she could pay. He said he knew that, but he was an honorable man. Meanwhile, his wife was confined to bed.

Our mornings were consumed with fishing, sightseeing and much palaver. Our afternoons consisted of hunting. The topic of conversation among the archers from the U.S. was about the seemingly poor system of medical care that wouldn't provide a woman needed treatment because of where she lived.

Over the last few years I was fortunate enough to have been employed in a business that required me to travel. I have been in 45 of the lower-48 states and seven Canadian provinces. I estimate I have been in Canada at least 50 or 60 times. Several of those trips took a week or longer. The Canadian people are friendly and willing to talk to me. By and large Canadians are much like Americans, except in Quebec, where they speak French.

There are some other notable differences. Canada is the second-largest country in the world with less total population than California. When Les made his morning cell phone call, he had to go upstairs to get a signal. There essentially is no land-line phone system outside major population areas. A huge number of Canadians live without electricity provided by a utility company. Many Canadians use generators. A lot of homes have a water tank on an upper level to provide running water when the power is off. Propane refrigerators are the norm. Gas lanterns and flashlights are everywhere. There is no interstate highway system, but there are some divided four-lane highways. If you drive in Canada, you have to drive through every town and city, stopping at every light along the way. In the winter, only the main roads are cleared of snow, and then only one lane unless you are new a large population center. Canadian taxes are outrageous. In spite of the high taxes, they have a totally unacceptable government-provided medical system.

Canada has many political parties, making it difficult to achieve voting majorities. This results in low participation by Canadians in their election system. Les and Jim both said they did not vote because it didn't make any difference. The city people would always outvote them.

We spent our week hunting, having fun. When we left of the following Sunday, Jim's wife still hadn't been to a doctor. He said he was going to take her to Maine on Monday.

I returned the following year. Jim's wife had received treatment and was doing fine. Jim and his wife had transferred their residence to New Brunswick. However, Jim had suffered a major stroke and wasn't doing well at all. He could barely walk and was unable to work. The only reason I saw him was that he had heard we Yanks were back, and he had someone drive him to visit with us. It was good to see him.

Some of the lessons I have learned from our good neighbors to the north: I enjoy their company. They have an incredibly beautiful country. And their politically controlled medical system sucks.

Gale Wisdom is a Jackson resident.