COMMENTARY

The Liberal Party and the Dismantling of Canada - Part 1

During the 1988 federal election campaign, the Liberal Party ran a commercial that featured two actors pretending to be negotiating free trade between Canada and the United States. One of the actors announced there was still a detail left to be settled, and the camera then zoomed in on him erasing the border on a map of Canada and the U.S. An ominous voice then intoned: "Canada: Don't trade it away." The Liberals were clearly positioning themselves as the defenders of Canada, something they continued during the 1993 federal election campaign. While the now infamous Liberal Red Book of election campaign promises was deliberately vague, promising to renegotiate NAFTA or refuse to sign it, across the country Liberal candidates were quick to denounce the deal; many even pledging to abrogate the Free Trade Agreement. However, once elected, the Chretien Liberals reversed their position, signing NAFTA less than a year after coming to power and moving quickly to implement a neo-liberal agenda.

With the internal crisis in the Liberal Party now out in the open, the different factions are once again trying to position themselves as champions of Canada. Former Finance Minister Paul Martin has announced that he will travel across the country to hear the views of Canadians on "national issues" such as health care and education. It is unclear at this point why he had not bothered to listen to Canadians views on these important questions before, particularly when delivering budget after budget which slashed investments in social programs.

Prime Minister Chretien is trying to portray himself as a nationalist and fighter for Canadian sovereignty by attacking Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper. Harper, he told reporters, is the kind of man who turns to the Americans after they've kicked him to inquire whether they hurt their foot. Chretien's implication that he is different is not borne out by any experience with which Canadians are familiar.

It seems that the Liberal Party of Canada is sensing that something is in the air. Less than a year has passed since the September 11 attacks on the United States, following which Canadians were subject to a constant barrage of propaganda about the need to Canadian cede sovereignty to the Americans as part of our special relationship with them. Measures were adopted to "harmonize" our immigration, defense and border security with the Americans. For the first time since the Korean War, Canadian troops were dispatched to fight a combat mission, and under American command. The backlash has been palpable; many Canadians are now openly expressing strongly patriotic and anti-American sentiments which are showing up in opinion polls.

To contribute to this discussion, Modern Communism, in a series of articles, will examine the systematic dismantling of the Canadian state carried out by the Chretien Liberals since coming to power in 1993. The following is the first installment:

Health Care

When the Liberals came to power in 1993, the health care system was already in a state of crisis. Universal Medicare, adopted by the federal government in the 1960s, had initially provided for a huge transfer of state funds into the hands of different monopolies through the construction of a national infrastructure of hospitals and clinics, the creation of a guaranteed market for pharmaceuticals and hospital supplies, etc. However, Canadians now feel a sense of entitlement to universal health care and Medicare has become identified as a Canadian value, one of the things which differentiates us from the Americans.

Beginning in the 1980s, with the advent of neo-liberalism, federal investments in health care spending began to significantly decrease; more and more of the burden was downloaded onto the provincial governments. A vicious process began - cutbacks decreased the quality of care people received and different monopolies argued that the quality of care could only be improved by privatizing health care or introducing a two-tier system. While they once made money from the construction of the national health care system, it was clear to the monopolies that the money was now to be made in privatization.

In their 1993 Red Book of election campaign promises, the Liberals made a commitment that a Liberal government would stabilize and slowly increase health care funding. In fact, after being elected, they cut an average of $1.2 billion a year for six years in transfer payments to the provinces for health care spending, sending the health-care crisis spiraling out of control. The phrase "hallway medicine" was coined during the Liberals' tenure. They also presided over province after province reducing funding for such necessities as prescription drugs, eye care, dentistry, and a host of medical treatments deemed too expensive.

Since 2001, the Liberals have slowly started to restore some of the funding for health care. However, they still have not restored funding to 1993 levels, never mind the levels of the mid-1980s, which is what they promised during the 1993 election campaign. And because the health care system is now in a state of chronic crisis, simply restoring previous levels of funding is not sufficient. Medical economists have estimated several billion dollars would be required simply for infrastructure repair and the purchase of necessary equipment.

Instead, three consecutive Liberal health ministers have talked about the need to spend better instead of spending more. They point to soaring health care costs and say the situation is out of control and the government just does not have enough money to fix it.

It is true that health care costs are soaring. But it is also true that the biggest increase in health care budgets comes from rising drug prices. Between 1987 and 2002, the Canadian Health Care Coalition reports that spending on prescription drugs has increased by 342 per cent, with over $10 billion a year currently going directly from the state treasury into the hands of pharmaceutical multinationals. In their 1993 Red Book, the Liberals had promised to repeal Mulroney government legislation that gave 20-year patent rights to the pharmaceutical giants, ensuring that cheaper, generic drugs would be available. They neglected to follow through.

To be continued.