Why are our governments denying us our constitutional right to get the medical care we need?

“Access to a waiting list is not the same as access to health care.” This observation from the 2005 Supreme Court case of Chaoulli v.
Quebecis probably the most famous judicial statement about Canadian health care. And rightly so. On the surface it is simple logic,
but its depths embrace the frustration of tens of thousands of Canadians who are forced to suffer unnecessarily on provincial health
care waiting lists each year. For them, this dry, ineluctable proposition is a rallying cry.

Last week, four patient plaintiffs and the Cambie Surgery Centre, a private clinic, finally got the chance to put that logic to the test in
the B.C. Supreme Court. Their case is simple: If a province does not provide timely medical treatment through its public health care
system, it cannot legally prevent patients suffering on waiting lists from taking control of their own health and arranging for
treatment privately. The trial is scheduled for 24 weeks of court time over the next eight months, reflecting the scope and import of
this constitutional challenge.

Source: Why are our governments denying us our constitutional right to get the medical care we need? | Financial Post