is cost? When does our insurance run out?" (Gladwell and Gopnik 360) and in part because such a system offers totally equal care to an entire nation's citizens, regardless of ones socioeconomic class.
             Perhaps as with many issues, the best solution is not black and white, (as the aforementioned proponents would have us believe) but rather is somewhere in between. Considering the increasing costs of Medicare, while also keeping in mind the prevailing Canadian ethos, the government should not discard or dismantle Medicare altogether. Parliament should rather seek a balance by re-introducing user fees and developing a joint public/private system; similar to that now in place in European nations such as Sweden or Britain.
             Before any statements about future policy regarding healthcare can be made, it must first be established that the current system is not functioning well. Only after it has been shown that reform is truly needed can one begin to make recommendations about what type of reform should take place. As a people, Canadians were once extremely satisfied with the Medicare system. In fact, in "1988/90 the proportion of Canadians who believed their system was fundamentally sound, needing only minor changes was 56 percent."(Evans 22) However, this high approval level plummeted over the next 10 years, and in 1998 according to "a recently published cross-national survey...the proportion...has fallen from 56 percent to 20 percent."(Evans 22) Clearly the public perception of Medicare's adequacy has changed. This decrease in public approval alone does not necessarily mean that the system is inadequate, but it is an important indicator of a potential problem.
             There are many startling indicators that we are currently facing a healthcare crisis. For example, because of inadequate facilities and waiting lists, "seven provincial governments, including Ontario's have been sending ...