Future of universal medicare under fire in groundbreaking B.C. Supreme Court trial

Ian Mulgrew, Postmedia News | September 7, 2016 12:10 AM ET

VANCOUVER — The Great Debate over the future of universal medicare was launched Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court, although the real issues before the court are more complicated.

Outside the court in downtown Vancouver, demonstrators carried signs protesting for-profit doctors and denouncing the man at the centre of this case.

Inside, in his opening address on behalf of a handful of patients and a private clinic — the Cambie Surgery Centre in Vancouver — lawyer Peter Gall blamed the provincial health-care system for trampling the constitutional rights of British Columbians.

There is no universal equality of access nor timely access to needed health services, he argued.

As a result, Gall said, the provincial government is violating B.C. citizens’ rights to life because medical waiting lists are growing longer.

Read more…http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/groundbreaking-health-care-trial-begins-long-run-in-b-c-court