The New WELLNESS CENTER in Coboconk Ontario.
A Libertarian perspective from a local resident who hopes that the Non-Government Options approach will receive serious consideration (see Platform at libertarian dot on dot ca)
The New WELLNESS CENTER in Coboconk Ontario is the “entrepreneurial” response to meet a public need that has festered for many years. Unfortunately, it took a crisis like the pandemic to get “shovels in the ground” and money in the kitty. The fact that this project that has begun at all is a tribute to the spirit of a community whose residents are tired of waiting to be recognized and served by a myopic, GTA-centric Ontario government.
A “poke in the eye” hurts politicians like anyone else.
I applaud the efforts of the communities surrounding Coboconk, Ontario for their initiative in kickstarting a citizen-led drive to address a need for local medical and wellness services. They quickly raised $1 million from voluntary donations. This proves that local residents are quite willing to “put your money where your mouth is” to address a real need. Intended, or not, that initiative by locals has shamed our government leaders into paying attention to a project that ultimately needs $11 million to succeed. Politicians can no longer overlook the need or blame budget constraints for not stepping up. Kudos to the locals for poking the eye of the political bear.
Will Competition be part of the plan?
The Ontario Libertarian Party has offered the Non-Government Options approach to introducing competition into the Medical Care sector as many nations in Europe have done already. As Dr. Shawn Whatley, former President of the Ontario Medical Association, published his book in 2020 ‘When POLITICS Comes BEFORE PATIENTS - Why and How Canadian Medicare Is Failing’. This book is a ‘must read’ for all voters who wish more than a tweet-level understanding of the topic. It’s clear that it’s time to look to European nations to adapt Canada’s systems to the best practices of theirs.
Monopolies are outlawed in the private sector but continue to be the standard operating model for government! Why the double standard?
In Canada, our political and government leaders desperately hold onto the the reins of monopoly control and influence over our health. The greater public continues to defer to the government “authorities” even while their many shortcomings have clearly demonstrated that public monopolies are deeply-flawed operating models. Our Public Health system is like a “runaway horse” that their central planners have shown no ability to bring under control where the timely availability of services, their costs and their efficiencies are concerned.
Central planning is a standard feature of all Socialist regimes. History had shown that they inevitably fail under their own lumbering, bureaucratic heft. Men like my father and step-father, both WW2 veterans, made huge sacrifices to secure our democracy from the various faces of Socialism, yet subsequent generations of voters have dishonoured their memory by allowing Socialism to creep into all of our contemporary public institutions!
Capitalism, on the other hand, is a decentralized model of decision-making that respects the freedom of educated individuals to make informed choices that best serve the interests of themselves and their loved ones. Consumers voluntarily respond to the products and services of producers and market providers who possess strong incentives to attract new customers and “return business”. It’s a model that have proven to be unquestionably successful and even self-evident.
It has always baffled me why the majority of Canadians have been so thoroughly committed to a centrally-planned and monopolist model of public medical care when they seem to be unaware that their daily reality of Canada’s the high standard of living has only been possible under Capitalism.
What will “success” look like, and who will declare it?
The success story of the Coboconk Wellness Centre will inevitably be told years from now. Politicians, flanked by journalists, will be on hand for photo ops to take the credit and hand out government cheques. The public administration will have added another budget line in the appropriate places for the Coboconk facility and the services it will provide. The public health legislative enforcement officers will dutifully scrutinize the Centre’s operation to ensure that it’s management team and staff don’t ‘colour outside the lines’ of the numerous municipal and provincial regulations. It will be “business as usual” without any asking what could have been.
One more opportunity lost?
As much as it pains me to admit my pessimism, I suspect that Libertarians like me will (most likely) lament the loss of one more opportunity to implement the Non-Government Options approach to bringing real accountability and Freedom of Choice in Health Care to our local communities.
https://summitwellnesscentre.ca/home/#page-section-60708c64558c635eae14e820
