John Bolton - 10's of Thousands of DEATHS： Canada’s COSTLY Healthcare FAILURE

00:00:00.000 Hi, it's John, and welcome to the channel, 322 AM, Monday, November the 24th. I hope

00:00:08.420 you're having a great day today. You've got the big blue mug of coffee. I appreciate you

00:00:13.760 being here. Thanks so much. By the way, if you haven't yet subscribed to the channel,

00:00:18.060 I would appreciate a click on subscribe. Thank you. It really helps out the channel. Don't

00:00:22.420 forget to like the video as well. I want to talk about a subject we don't talk about enough

00:00:27.480 in Canada. We're so focused in on the politics. Now, this story I'm going to talk about today

00:00:32.040 certainly has a political angle to it, a lot of political angle, but this is a story that

00:00:37.720 really should infuriate you. It should infuriate you because tens of thousands of your fellow

00:00:43.960 Canadians are dying every year, and nobody is discussing this at all. It will also infuriate

00:00:50.220 you when I bring the Mark Carney angle into this, and it will really infuriate you. So

00:00:54.080 it does have a political angle, but we need to have a grown-up discussion, and it's a

00:00:58.900 topic we don't talk about like grown-ups very often in this country, and it's healthcare.

00:01:05.200 As soon as you suggest there might be another way to do healthcare in this country, you get

00:01:10.000 the regular people shutting down all discussion about healthcare, the socialized medicine that

00:01:15.940 we have here in Canada. Now, I've mentioned on this channel before that I have had some

00:01:20.040 interesting experiences in our healthcare system here. I had an interesting experience this year,

00:01:25.120 and in no way am I criticizing the people who give you healthcare in this country. They're all

00:01:30.220 professionals. They're there to help you. They do a wonderful job, but our system is broken.

00:01:35.420 It is inefficient. It costs way too much money. But like the self-righteous Canadians that we are,

00:01:43.580 like the people who think we're morally superior, mostly to the United States, and with the regular

00:01:48.940 Canadian mediocrity that I talked about on occasion here on this channel, we don't want to do anything 1.00

00:01:53.620 about our healthcare system. But my premier is going to do something about it. I'm going to play

00:01:57.640 a short clip from her in just a moment, and then I'm going to show you the infuriating thing that

00:02:01.800 Mark Carney is doing. Why am I talking about this today? Because of this article right here.

00:02:06.440 This is Peter Menzies on Substack. Link in the description to all of the stories I talk about here

00:02:11.800 today. But this is an absolutely disgraceful thing you hear nothing about. Now, I've talked

00:02:19.360 before about my experiences in the private healthcare system here in Canada, and it is

00:02:26.280 so superior to the public system, it's not even close. You know, if you do end up in the hospital,

00:02:32.660 which happened to me this summer, I spent five days in the hospital, and I'm still recovering from

00:02:37.440 a bad bicycle crash back on August 9th. If you do get into the system, you wait around a lot. I

00:02:43.300 remember my wife being in an emergency room earlier this year. She sat around for two hours,

00:02:49.180 and then they told her to go home because there was a 10 and a half hour wait. Now, she was only

00:02:53.440 there for a minor thing, but if you're waiting for some elective surgery in this country, you can wait

00:02:57.620 forever if you ever get your surgery done. The best care I've ever had, ever, wasn't even close,

00:03:04.700 this was a private clinic, and it was in Ottawa. I got an appointment the next day with a sports

00:03:08.760 medicine physician, saw the doctor at the exact time I was scheduled, got my examination, had an

00:03:14.740 x-ray and treatment within 90 minutes. I had the same procedure in the public system, and it took me

00:03:22.640 more than six weeks. It wasn't even close. We need to have this discussion. So, here's the story right

00:03:27.760 here. Tens of thousands are dying on waiting lists following decades of media reluctance to debate

00:03:33.180 healthcare. We don't want to have a grown-up discussion about this because you get the

00:03:39.700 people on the left screaming bloody murder that we want to privatize the system. Let's read a bit

00:03:44.520 of this story, and then I'll show you the clip I've got with Danielle Smith because she's doing

00:03:49.780 something about this, and the regular people are screaming bloody murder. About the same time as

00:03:54.880 William Watson's outstanding book, Globalization and the Meaning of Canadian Life, it starts off,

00:03:59.140 and it talks about this book, Bill's book, which was runner-up for a public policy donor

00:04:04.100 prize because it exquisitely details many of the things Canadians believe about themselves

00:04:08.760 that simply aren't true. I've got to read the book. The Calgary Herald sent its health reporter,

00:04:14.220 yes, there used to be such a thing, Robert Walker, to Europe to expose its readers to the fact that

00:04:18.220 there are more than two healthcare systems, our defining one in America's, both which are extremes.

00:04:24.780 In every country examined in Walker's reports, as is the case with almost every country in the world,

00:04:29.480 public and private healthcare and insurance systems are maintained, a peaceful coexistence,

00:04:34.620 and the public's needs were being met. Almost 30 years later, that remains the case. Almost 30 years

00:04:39.100 later, neither Bill's book nor the Herald's reporting has had the slightest impact on the

00:04:43.560 prevailing media narrative in Canada. It remains determined to perpetuate the fear that any move to

00:04:50.180 increase the role of private health providers or even allow doctors to work in both systems,

00:04:55.600 as was proposed this week by Alberta Premier Daniel Smith, is the first step on the slippery slope to

00:05:01.400 American-style healthcare. Waiting for a needed surgery is a painful and often frustrating experience. 0.87

00:05:08.340 How many people in Canada do you know that are currently waiting on a wait list for a knee or hip

00:05:12.760 replacement, or a shoulder, cataract, or back surgery to alleviate chronic pain and resume their

00:05:17.980 normal life's activities? If you're like me, you know a lot of people on these wait lists. Parents,

00:05:23.980 grandparents, siblings, and friends. These are our loved ones, and they need care far faster than

00:05:29.820 they get it now. And make no mistake, this problem is not just found in Alberta, it's as bad or worse

00:05:35.440 in every province across Canada. In fact, last year, while Alberta performed a record 318,000 surgeries

00:05:42.200 and ranked second in Canada for hip and knee replacement wait times, Canada continues to perform

00:05:47.820 poorly relative to other countries. In a recent survey of wait times for elective surgeries in 10 of the

00:05:52.960 world's wealthiest countries, Canada finished dead last, trailing the UK, Germany, France, Australia,

00:05:59.600 New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and even the United States. Simply put, our wait times

00:06:05.460 in Canada are well above what medical experts say is an acceptable amount of time to wait for surgery

00:06:10.600 without risking other difficult physical and mental health challenges.

00:06:14.100 We need to find a solution that results in lower wait times for surgeries, doctors empowered to perform more

00:06:20.140 surgeries than they can now, and no more extra taxes or fees for taxpayers. Some might say it's quite a tall order,

00:06:27.040 but it's not. And most of the world's advanced healthcare systems from France, Germany, and Sweden to the

00:06:32.820 Netherlands, Australia, and Switzerland have figured out how. It's time for Alberta to do the same. We're calling it the

00:06:39.580 dual practice surgery model, and here's how it will work. The Alberta government will introduce legislation

00:06:45.620 to permit surgeons and supporting surgical professionals like anesthesiologists to perform

00:06:50.980 both publicly and privately funded knee, hip, eye, shoulder, and other elective surgeries.

00:06:57.300 That video is fantastic. It goes on for seven minutes. Obviously, I had to edit it down for time here.

00:07:02.780 But it goes on to say that Alberta does 10,000 elective surgeries a year. That would be

00:07:09.300 hip replacements, knee replacements, cataract surgery. Meanwhile, we've got 10,000 other people

00:07:15.200 in pain and agony waiting every year, and they can't get the surgery they want, and they can wait years,

00:07:21.120 and likely the same thing is happening in your province. In fact, that video goes on to talk a lot about

00:07:25.740 the Canadian healthcare system. Here in Alberta, likely the same where you are, 40% of our budget goes to healthcare.

00:07:31.820 The original agreement between the provinces and the federal government that they would pay 50%,

00:07:36.940 the province would pay 50%. Feds are only living up to 20% of that right now. They don't pay what

00:07:41.940 they're supposed to pay. And the answer to the left is always, spend more money, spend more money,

00:07:47.120 spend more money. That never works. We need to have a grown-up discussion about this. But again,

00:07:53.380 we've got the self-righteous Canadians who think we're morally superior to the United States.

00:07:57.640 We don't want an American healthcare system here, so we've got to just keep throwing more money at a 0.99

00:08:02.320 bad problem, which takes us back to our article. Now, it goes on here to talk about the baby boomers.

00:08:07.340 We knew 40 years ago the baby boomers were coming, and there's going to be an unsustainable system 1.00

00:08:12.040 here. But that single terrifying American-style slur has halted reform at every turn. The Ta-Yi responded 0.99

00:08:19.440 with a Danielle Smith secret plan to destroy public healthcare. And here's the article right here.

00:08:26.040 It's ridiculous. 0.54

00:08:28.900 There's actually a Globe and Mail article right here.

00:08:31.440 Alberta plans to allow doctors to deliver public and private services. Oh my God, the horror.

00:08:37.520 Blame. A lot of it, in my view, belongs at the door of the Canadian news organizations that for decades

00:08:42.180 have failed to fully inform readers by making them aware that there are a great many alternatives to

00:08:46.520 just ours and U.S. style. I'm going to get to the tens of thousands of people who are dying every

00:08:51.460 year in Canada that you don't hear about. And one of the solutions from Mark Carney and the

00:08:56.120 Liberal government, who have mishandled this for years, you realize they're the natural ruling party

00:09:00.120 here in Canada. They're the ones who have been in charge most of the time. The system never gets

00:09:04.280 better. Readers have every right to demand that journalists push back and ask advocates for

00:09:08.960 state monopolies simple questions such as, why do you say that? Could it not be the first step

00:09:14.120 towards U.K., German, Dutch, French, Portuguese, or Swedish-style health care and open the debate?

00:09:19.540 Stuck in the fetid trench of an us-and-them narrative that compares two systems at extreme

00:09:24.620 ends of the spectrum, the public is largely unaware that moderate alternatives exist, ensuring that

00:09:30.260 no meaningful reforms will ever take place and tens of thousands of Canadians will continue to die

00:09:35.160 on waiting lists. So let's go over here and take a look at this article right here.

00:09:39.960 This is on 2nd Street. 15,474 Canadians died waiting for health care in 2023-2024. This is

00:09:49.380 from January 15th of this year. It's actually worse than this. Today, 2ndstreet.org released

00:09:54.320 government data showing an additional 15,474 patients in Canada died in 2023-2024 before receiving

00:10:01.860 various surgeries or diagnostic scans. Canadians pay really high taxes, and yet our health care system

00:10:08.200 is failing when compared to better-performing universal systems in Europe, said Harrison Fleming,

00:10:13.580 legislative and policy director at 2ndstreet.org. Thousands of Canadians across the country find

00:10:18.180 themselves on wait lists, in some cases for years, with too many tragically dying before ever getting

00:10:23.300 treated or even diagnosed. If one extrapolates the data provided across provinces and health regions

00:10:28.680 that did not provide data, an estimated 28,077 patients died last year on health care waiting lists.

00:10:35.740 Since April 2018, 2ndstreet.org has identified a staggering 74,677 cases where Canadians died while

00:10:44.600 waiting for care. Have you ever heard of this? Listen to this next paragraph.

00:10:48.920 When a restaurant fails a health inspection, the government shares the news publicly and sometimes

00:10:54.240 notices are posted in the establishment's windows for everyone to see, said Colin Craig. But when nearly

00:11:00.560 75,000 Canadians have died before getting the care they needed, governments don't proactively disclose

00:11:06.640 anything. Maybe it's time for governments to hold themselves to the same standard they hold

00:11:11.160 everyone else. Again, link in the description to all of these articles. And how does the Kearney

00:11:16.740 government deal with health care in Canada? They give $1 billion for health care in Africa to

00:11:23.160 developing nations. Now I'm all, I'm all for charity folks, but we spend far too much money overseas and

00:11:30.580 we don't ever know what happens with the money. Let's read a little of this article. This is True

00:11:34.680 North Wire. Go subscribe to them. This is just a couple of, yesterday, go subscribe to them. They do

00:11:39.940 good work. Taxpayers are on the hook for over a billion dollars after Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged

00:11:44.840 new funding to a global health fund ahead of the G20 summit in South Africa. You know, actually,

00:11:51.040 I should make this one of my Kearney horrifics, you know, doing a kind of a series. Kearney's G20

00:11:57.160 visit follows a stop in the United Arab Emirates earlier this week, where the federal government

00:12:01.260 announced a prospective $70 billion in future investments. However, no binding commitments

00:12:05.300 were signed, naturally. The $1.02 billion pledge aligns with Canada's historical support for global

00:12:11.820 health efforts, but comes as inflation, housing costs, and spending restraint remain key domestic

00:12:16.700 political concerns. Ottawa's continued international funding commitments have drawn criticism in light

00:12:21.700 of federal program reviews and domestically affordability issues. No doubt about it.

00:12:29.080 Got people standing in food lines here, people dying on the streets from drug addiction. We've got

00:12:34.460 crime issues in this country and our government spending a billion dollars overseas on health care.

00:12:38.620 Meanwhile, our health care is languishing and we can't have a grown-up discussion about the

00:12:42.780 situation. I applaud Premier Danielle Smith. More private care in the system. And let me just tell

00:12:48.260 you this about my Ottawa private health care clinic that I went to many, many years ago to get

00:12:55.140 some treatment for my knee. I used my Ontario health insurance plan card for it and I paid $60

00:13:01.740 for the medicine to help me out. It's all I paid, 60 bucks. That was it. It was either that or wait

00:13:09.180 six weeks or longer to just see a doctor in the first place. It took six weeks to see a sports

00:13:16.180 physician in the town I lived in. Then I had to get x-rays and wait for that. Meanwhile, the whole

00:13:20.780 summer would have been gone. I've been waiting for months. We need to talk about this situation. I've

00:13:25.800 been talking about this for years. I used to do a radio program back in Ontario when I used to sit in

00:13:30.820 to talk about health care and brought this up and people are just aghast that whatever suggests

00:13:35.720 we have private health care. Maybe it's time we have more of a discussion because it's become

00:13:40.480 unsustainable. What do you think? Let me know if you've had a situation with a private clinic.

00:13:46.520 There's more of them across the country and they give good service. And again, I'm not knocking the

00:13:52.020 people in our health care system here. They do good work, but we have a highly inefficient, expensive

00:13:56.520 system that needs reforming. Let me know what you think in the comments. If you like the video,

00:14:01.200 give it a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel, ring the bell for notifications. I'll see you.

00:14:05.720 in the next one.

John Bolton - November 24, 2025

10's of Thousands of DEATHS： Canada’s COSTLY Healthcare FAILURE

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