Posted at Monday, December 5, 2005  EDT  

Not opposed to private health care, Layton says His party's concern is how taxpayer dollars are used, NDP Leader explains

BILL CURRY, 

VANCOUVER -- NDP Leader Jack Layton, who spent the last Parliament rallying against the growth of private health care, said yesterday that he is not concerned with private clinics as long as they do not receive public money.

Mr. Layton delivered a speech in Vancouver yesterday accusing the Liberals and Conservatives of failing to protect Canada's public health-care system and pointed to the rise of private clinics across the country.

But when asked afterward about the specifics of his position, Mr. Layton suggested an NDP government would not do anything to stop such clinics provided they are 100-per-cent private.

"That's not our concern. What I've said is we would stop the flow of public money to the Copeman clinic," he said.

Some services at the Copeman Healthcare Centre, considered a mostly private clinic, are covered by the B.C. Medical Services Plan.

When asked if such a position would allow the two-tier health-care system his party has long opposed, Mr. Layton said that entirely private health care has always been an option for Canadians.

"That's been available since medicare was established. That's a fundamental aspect of what Tommy Douglas established in Canada. There's nothing new about that," he said.

"Our focus is on what happens to the public tax dollars that we all contribute to help take care of Canadians. We don't want them going to the American-style, for-profit health corporations that end up skimming off profits instead of financing people's health care."

Throughout the past week, Mr. Layton's speeches have included a line stating that he will make sure Canadians do not need a credit card to access health care.

During the NDP's failed negotiations last month with Liberal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, the party listed the Liberals' failure to bring in measures to stop the growth of private health care as the main reason for pulling his support for the Liberals and triggering an election.

In an interview, Mr. Dosanjh acknowledged the federal government cannot bring in a law to stop fully private clinics. He also said it is the provinces that decide whether to allow private clinics to be reimbursed for delivering publicly insured services.

However, Mr. Dosanjh said he is concerned about entirely private health clinics.

"I have a concern, yes, absolutely. My concern is if that goes on and on and on, you are then by default building up a robust second tier and I think all of us are concerned, but that's not something that the federal government can by law prevent from happening. That's up to the provinces."

Mr. Dosanjh said he did not have statistics on how many private clinics are operating that do not seek reimbursement from governments.

A Liberal official later said there are about 30 private diagnostic clinics in B.C., Alberta, Quebec and Nova Scotia. The official said private clinics that do not receive any public funds are "very rare."

At one point during last month's NDP-Liberal negotiations, a senior NDP official provided a technical background briefing to reporters outlining the party's health-care position at the time.

The official said the party was upset that the Liberals would not agree to restrictions to rein in the growth of private health care.

"Our initial impression is that [the Liberal offer] doesn't meet the test in terms of preventing the growth of private health care," he said, without making a distinction between fully or partially private clinics.

The official also suggested the NDP was proposing regulatory amendments to the Canada Health Act to stop private health care.

"My point in terms of regulations is that you can change the regulations of a piece of legislation. That is the federal government's current capacity to outline . . . the Canada Health Act."

Mr. Layton had offered in November to continue supporting the minority Liberal government provided it took action to stop private health care. The NDP Leader met with Prime Minister Paul Martin at 24 Sussex Dr. to discuss the issue, and subsequent negotiations took place with Mr. Dosanjh.

The Liberal offer, which was rejected by Mr. Layton, noted that Ottawa has penalized provinces for violating the Canada Health Act for the past several years and will continue to do so. The government promised to stop doctors from working in both the public and private system and would ask an independent agency to gather statistics on private health care.

Mr. Layton's comments yesterday came on the heels of very personal comments on the issue a day earlier from the NDP Leader.

After Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said he would consider private health care should one of his family members become ill, Mr. Layton said he has grappled with the issue personally through his late father's struggle with Parkinson's disease, his wife Olivia Chow's battle with cancer and his own emergency-ward experience with appendix trouble.

"Olivia and I have talked a lot about this. We would not support the idea, personally, of buying our way to the front of the line," Mr. Layton said on Saturday.

His speech yesterday was focused on the views of Liberal Senator Michael Kirby, whom he described as the "Wizard of Oz of health-care privatization."

Mr. Layton said both Mr. Harper and Mr. Martin support Mr. Kirby's proposals, as outlined in a Senate committee report, for privately delivered health care provided Canadians do not have to pay for it out of pocket.

Mr. Layton said the health-care platforms of the Liberals and Conservatives are indistinguishable and only the NDP would stop public money going to private health care.