Last week a National Study conducted by the Conference Board of Canada ranked Manitoba’s Health Care System as dead last among all the Provinces of Canada. This in spite of the fact that the NDP has spent the 4th highest per capita on health care in Canada. This is obvious proof that throwing more money at a system that is not working will not improve the system. It’s not a question of spending more money – what is more important is what you do with the money that you put into the system!

Manitoba’s ranking comes as no surprise to many constituents who have experienced our Manitoba Health Care system first hand. Many constituents have to wait years for hip and knee surgeries. Many constituents wait months for diagnostic tests such as CT scans and MRI’s.

Let me ask you – if you wanted the oil changed on your vehicle, and were told by your mechanic that he was so backed up that you would need to wait 6 months for that service – what would you do? Of course, any reasonable person would just make the appointment with someone else! We would not tolerate a 6 month wait for service to our vehicle, yet we stand back and accept it for our health care services! Why is that? Could it be that we have come to expect poor service from the NDP health care system?

I do not blame anyone employed in Manitoba’s health care system. In fact, I applaud the efforts of our frontline workers in our system. They are doing the best they can with the system they are given and their dedication to their profession is commendable.

Clearly there is much that can be done to improve our health care system in Manitoba. Throwing money at our health care system without expecting or requiring any improvement is not one of them! The NDP has had nearly 7 years to improve the system – clearly the NDP has made Manitoba’s health care system the worst in Canada and has spent our money to do it!