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So far the prime minister has not objectedLast updated 32 minutes ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Prime Minister Mark Carney marches in the Toronto Pride Parade along Yonge Street. Toronto, Ont, June 28, 2026. Photo by Nick Kozak for Postmedia NewsPrime Minister Mark Carney deserves praise for being open to the changes Alberta is currently implementing in health care. Like most European countries, Alberta will keep its public system but will now make it much easier for patients to pay for private treatment in Alberta if they want to.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorThis is good news for patients. European mixed systems perform much better than Canada’s health-care monopolies. Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway — countries Canadian progressives often admire — all allow patients to choose between public and private options. France, Japan and Australia also have public systems and non-government options. It’s no secret these countries also outperform Canada’s monopolistic system.One reason provincial governments impose barriers to private treatment is fear of funding cuts from the federal government. In 2023, for instance, the Trudeau government reduced funding to eight provincial governments by a combined $76 million for allowing patients the option of paying for MRIs, ultrasounds and other diagnostic scans privately. Imagine! The audacity of letting people use their own after tax-income to improve their health!Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againOddly enough, under the rules it’s perfectly fine for patients to pay for treatment in another province — they just can’t pay for it in the province where they live. (Quebec is an exception to this rule largely due to a 2005 Supreme Court decision: Quebecers can pay for services delivered in Quebec.)Bans on non-government care options mean more people are dependent on the government for health care. Removing the bans not only helps those who decide to pay for treatment but enables people on public waiting lists to move up a spot whenever someone ahead of them does decide to pay privately. Like other nations, the Alberta government is moving forward with guardrails to ensure surgeons complete whatever work the government sends their way in the public system before taking shifts at private clinics.Ultimately, government bans contribute to bad service for patients. Every year there are reports of patients dying while waiting for treatment in emergency rooms or on waiting lists for life-saving surgeries. Waits longer than a year for routine knee and hip operations are all too common. Wait-list suffering has become a Canadian tradition.To understand just how nonsensical health-care policy is in Canada, consider Jeff Krushell’s story. He’s from just outside Edmonton and in 2022 was coping with serious back pain. Faced with a year or two’s wait for treatment in the public system, he searched for private surgical clinics across Canada. The only one offering the surgery he required was just down the road in Calgary. But they told him government rules prevented them from operating on Alberta patients. They were allowed to help patients from anywhere else in Canada, or anywhere else in the world for that matter, just not Albertans. So, Jeff headed to Atlanta for private surgery.Once Alberta’s health reforms are complete, patients like Krushell will no longer have to travel to another province or country for surgery. They’ll be able to wait for the public system, as they can right now, or pay for treatment at a non-government clinic at home in Alberta.When asked about Ottawa’s reaction to her reforms, Premier Danielle Smith said: “We’ve told the federal government we’re moving towards a European-style system. We’ve got a prime minister who is familiar with Europe because he spent many years there, and so at the moment they’re allowing us a little bit of latitude and we just have to demonstrate that it works and I think we will.”Media have also reported that Prime Minister Carney has no time for members of his own caucus who want Ottawa to take action on Alberta’s health reform. Winnipeg MP Dr. Doug Eyolfson reportedly was told “not to come to the prime minister with his concerns over the lack of federal response to Alberta’s two-tiered health-care Bill 11.”SecondStreet.org was proud to sign a recent open letter praising the prime minister for his openness to Alberta’s reforms. Health care is a provincial responsibility, after all. Provincial governments should be encouraged to try effective policies that are in place in countries that have better-performing public health-care systems. Once a change proves to be successful in one province, other provinces can then copy it and even more patients will benefit.Allowing more choice in health care won’t solve all of the system’s problems but it will help more patients get access to treatment and that should be the top priority for politicians.Colin Craig is president of Canadian think-tank SecondStreet.org. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.