The Canadian Healthcare System and Its Effect on Development and Equity

The Canadian Healthcare System and its Effect on

Development and Equity

Jennifer MacDonald

201101133

DEVS 202:10

Acadia University

Dr. Brown

November 22nd , 2012

Introduction

Canada’s various social programs prove to be key factors in the process of development in terms of equity, redistribution, and cohesion within the country. Within the industrialized world, the ongoing debates about healthcare programs generate questions about how to design the most equitable and economically competitive system. In Canada, the debate lies between privatization and a publicly funded care system, as well as how healthcare money is distributed across the ten provinces and three territories. Although worldwide Canada has a fairly equitable and high quality system, within the industrialized world there are several flaws and issues that still exist. The growth and change of the healthcare system in Canada within the last century has been essential for the overall economic, political, and social development of the country.

The Development of the Canadian Healthcare System

When Canada became a constitution in 1867, the British North American Act was passed declaring that the provincial governments would become not only responsible for education and other social programs but also for most forms of healthcare including hospitals, asylums, and charities (Chappell, Penning 2009). Due to the fact that healthcare was implemented provincially, the federal government had little control of the health policies enforced by the provincial governments; however, constitutionally, the government could influence the policies only by its transfer payments to the governments and attaching conditions to those payments (Tuohy 2009). This initial Act was the basis for continuing intergovernmental tensions and the underlying struggle for money and power. In 1919, the Department of Health was created after over 20 years of health duties being placed under the Department of Agriculture...