FACT CHECK: Is Erin O'Toole promising two-tiered private health care?
The claim is false, but Justin Trudeau and his ministers have made it many times this week
Article content
The claim made over the weekend from the Trudeau Liberals was blunt — a Conservative government led by Erin O’Toole will bring in two-tier healthcare where access is determined by your ability to pay.
The claim is false, but Justin Trudeau and his ministers have made it many times this week.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
FACT CHECK: Is Erin O'Toole promising two-tiered private health care? Back to video
tap here to see other videos from our team.
On Monday, campaigning in Halifax, Trudeau said that O’Toole had a “belief in a two-tiered, private, for-profit system.”
On Sunday, in New Brunswick, Trudeau went even further.
“We just saw today, that Erin O’Toole, in the middle of a pandemic, came out in favour of a private, for-profit health care system,” Trudeau said.
“He’s saying, ‘No, no, no, I’ve always believed in a for profit care system. We need to ensure better access for people who skip the queue.'”
Trudeau’s depiction of O’Toole’s position isn’t just a slight torquing of an opponent’s viewpoint, it’s factually incorrect, a lie.
In a question and answer session during the Conservative leadership race, O’Toole was asked if he would allow provinces to experiment more with the private delivery of care within the public system.
“Yes,” was O’Toole initial response before expanding and explaining.
“We need to ensure universal access remains paramount,” the Conservative leader said while also calling for better access to care and public/private synergies.
He never once said he wanted a two-tier model where people pay to get to the front of the line.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
The private delivery of care already exists inside Canada’s public health care system.
Blood work, ultrasounds, MRIs, even a trip to your family doctor are all examples of care that is provided by private clinics in Canada but paid for within the public system.
As for actually paying to get an operation before someone else in the public system, that already exists in major cities across the country with private clinics offering knee and hip replacements and a variety of other procedures.
Trudeau’s hometown of Montreal has an abundance of such clinics.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.