O Canada!
Fifty-nine-year-old Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams needs heart surgery—and he’s going to the US to have it.
That’s his prerogative. He’s lucky to have the resources to do so. But it’s an especially glaring example of a fact most of us already know: Canadians who can afford it often choose to bypass [pun intended] their system and go south of the border for treatment.
Williams needs an unspecified procedure that may or may not be available in Canada; spokespeople are being cagey about that:
“It was never an option offered to him to have this procedure done in this province,” said [deputy premier] Ms. Dunderdale, refusing to answer whether the procedure could be done elsewhere in Canada.
My guess is that Mr. Williams wanted the best treatment possible, and that was available here.
For now.
[NOTE: The title of this post is a reference to the Canadian national anthem, “O Canada.” When looking it up on Wiki, I discovered the curious fact that the lyrics between its French and English versions differ significantly. The English, which I already knew, goes like this:
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
And here’s a translation of the French lyrics:
O Canada!
Land of our ancestors,
Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious garland of flowers.
As in thy arm ready to wield the sword,
So also is it ready to carry the cross.
Thy history is an epic
Of the most brilliant exploits.
Thy valour steeped in faith
Will protect our homes and our rights
Will protect our homes and our rights.
A very different flavor, non?]
Time to hear from Mr. Spragge, our Canadian friend.
During the prior adminisration (national, not provincial) one of the ministers went to SoCAL to have her breast cancer treated as well–her doctors probably didn’t want to wait. The PM at the time had a private doctor who had a private clinic, then illegal in Canada. Now, I understand, they’re soringing up like weeds.
Same melody but two different sets of words for the national anthem?
What loons….lol.
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IIRC, the minister who came to CA for cancer care was a socialist.
Here’s an anthem for Canada that’s a LOT more fun.
Strange, when I think Canada , I think of htis catchy show tune.
When the Dems screw up our health care system, there will be no place left to go. Currently, people from all over the world come to places like Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic or the Anderson cancer center. European soccer stars come to New York for their knee surgery. The Dems are playing with fire. They want medical care to be equally bad for all.
We must concede that Canada’s victory over the US in 1814 made them what they are today.
“A very different flavor, non?”
Oui.
As long as we’re talking about fun Canadian anthems…
Hey now, hate to be a stick in the mud, but I was medivac’d off a ship in 1977 for an appendix operation. Six days later I was released from a Newfoundland hospital with a bill that totalled 130.00 dollars. Fast forward to this past year, I went to the ER with chest pains (thought I was having a heart attack) two days later I was cleared (Thank God) and went home with a bill for 15,000.00
I’ll be paying them for the rest of my life. I’m not trying to make the case for socialized medicine, but too many people I know are going without or going into serious debt trying to stay one step ahead of the reaper.
I doubt very seriously that this administration is capable of doing anything correctly, let alone “fixing” healthcare, but for me and my family, we need something other than healthcare plans that cost half your salary. Here’s to common sense and all my relatives back in the Great White North.
As a Canadian, I will say upfront that I support the state-based medicare system here.
What I, and other Canadians, object to is the outlawing (if you can believe it) of services offered through medicare, on a for-profit basis. You read it right: the state actually outlaws certain services, if they are offered in the state system – giving itself a monopoly on the provision of medical care (there is private medical care for those services not offered under medicare, of course).
The argument is that this is necessary to do or else we’ll have `two-tier health care.’
Of course, there IS two-tier health care in Canada. If you belong to certain unions, for example, under their collective contract, union members receive for free a private room in hospital, that anyone else has to pay for (which is two-tier in a dummy-whammy there).
Danny Williams – this guy is a psychotic disgrace for a number of reasons – was one of those who proclaimed that anyone who wants so-called `two-tier health care’ is unpatriotic and should go to the United States. Indeed.
Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, another disgrace to Canada, missed the funderal of King Hussein of Jordan in 99 or 2000 or whenever, bec. he said that he was on vacation in B.C. instead. That was a disgrace enough, but the real reason is that he was in Minnesotta (sp?) receiving treatment at a private clinic.
In a familiar situation to Americans, the mainstream media here go along with this liberal fiction of banning private health services bec. of `two-tier health care’ (Williams is, nominally, a Conservative, a `Progressive’ Conservative as his party is known in Nfld).
Slightly off-topic: how about a recording of the Canadian anthem (in English), done in counterpoint with the American anthem? In a medley with Ode To Joy, no less? Would you believe it done in perfect four-part male acappella?
I couldn’t find it on youtube, but it’s on the Toronto Northern Lights’ album “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime”. Go here for more details, or click here to listen to a sample.
enjoy…
DiB
Wow! I may never read anything in translation again. It’s either going to curtail my reading or make me Berlitz’s best customer.
These two versions are about as alike as the Bible and the Koran.
Canada has never been involved in a war with the United States. In so far as the British used their land as a staging base, they did so using British, not Canadian, forces. Then again, the Canadians were British subjects in the first place and only given independence sometime much later than the 19th century.
The creation of the myth that Canadians can be proud about some sort of defeat of US forces is a bit too well fabricated.
Find something real to be proud of. While I’ll leave every patriot to love his or her country, true myths are very different from false and fabricated myths.
The last part of the English version of the Canadian national anthem has actually a part of U.S. military doctrine since after WWII:
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
Who knows what happens next… All I know is:
“Remember to always be yourself. Unless you suck.” – Joss Whedon 🙂