Arguments both for and against the privatization of Canada's health care are plentiful. There is evidence by looking at any Canadian newspaper, television news program, or news-oriented website on the Internet. Election polls consistently rank health care as Canadian voters' number one concern (Wickens, 2000, 26). Reasons for supporting a two-tier system include reducing line-ups in the so-called "cash-strapped" system (Fennell, 1996, 54), and to allow Canadian doctors a financially viable alternative to the United States by presenting the option to set their own wages as well as the luxury of more flexible working hours. Supporters of the blended private-public system insist that privatization is required to advance technology and decline government budgets (Vanagas, 1995, 24). However, those worried about a change in the way this country delivers its health care feel a two-tier system would be "unCanadian" (26). In this paper, I will attempt to discover the positives and negatives of an implementation of a two-tier health care system in my home province of New Brunswick as well as the rest of Canada.
             Two-tier health care can be simply defined as a health care plan that will allow for a private or for-profit system to operate alongside Medicare (Marshall, 200, 48). The system will allow the opportunity for those people who are willing to pay for health care to do just that. Ideally, it will take pressure off the current Medicare system by shortening waiting lists and generating revenue. The form of two-tier being proposed in New Brunswick involves a private system that will operate parallel to the current public system and will allow people to purchase private insurance if so desired (Deber et al, 1999, 539﷓43). Some politicians like to define two-tier health care in different terms. BC Health Minister Paul Ramsey says, "I cannot think of a clearer definition of a two-tier health system than having one set of servic...