Canadians also pay for health care

Re Hugh Sutherland letter, “Going home to civilization,” Dec. 30:

Mr. Sutherland laments the fact that his wife would have to pay $15,000 for knee surgery in our country. I know that Canada has socialized medicine and that’s great if that’s what they want, but everyone pays for health care one way or another. Anyone with health insurance here would pay a small deductible, not $15,000.

One would think that his utopian society would have made contingency plans for the health care of their citizens when out of their own country, especially considering the vast numbers of Canadians who flock to this horrible barbaric area in droves. I’ve read where everyone in Canada isn’t pleased with socialized medicine and some complain of long wait times and inferior care. As far as Canadian prescriptions are concerned, maybe this should have been considered before he came down here without a proper supply of medication. Perhaps socialized medicine is one of the reasons that the value of the Canadian dollar keeps getting lower and lower.

So far as the Syrian baby and the assault rifle are concerned, I would much rather be holding an assault rifle than a Syrian baby if intruders break into my home. I suppose you could ask the bad guys to hold the Syrian baby while you call the police and ask if they would mind waiting until the police arrive.

Letters like his go a long way to perpetuating the stereotype of the complaining entitled Canadian tourist.

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 9:09 AM with the headline "Canadians also pay for health care."