The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has refused to hear a constitutional challenge against the ban on private healthcare, bringing a BC surgeon’s 14-year court battle to an end. . Nurse in hospital hallwayNurse in hospital hallway .Vancouver surgeon Dr Brian Day and five patient plaintiffs who had suffered from long waits in the public system launched the legal challenge in 2009. They argued BC’s Medicare Protection Act was unconstitutional to bar doctors from billing provincial governments for services given in the public system while also earning money from private clinics. They also contested the ban that kept doctors from billing patients or their insurance companies..In an interview with the Western Standard, Day said the SCC put politics above patients..“For patients across the country, it's a disaster … I would describe it as cowardly because they [at the SCC] basically succumbed to political interference. They are political. We know that,” Day said..“The prime minister appoints our judges and promotes them. They are federal employees and I guess they don't want to tangle with their employer.”.Day said provincial government lawyers doggedly contested his constitutional challenge after it was launched in 2009..“It just dragged on. The government was trying to make us bank go bankrupt, and disputing every single witness, every single piece of evidence, everything, [plus] the time when 300,000 documents was suddenly released to us that they said they'd forgotten.”.In a written statement, BC Health Minister Adrian Dix celebrated the SCC decision..“Today's decision affirms our ongoing efforts to preserve and uphold our public healthcare system and confirms the legal arguments heard at the BC Supreme Court and the BC Court of Appeal,” Dix said.. Private healthcareThe Canada Health Act, enacted in 1984 after being passed unanimously in the House of Commons, laid out criteria to ensure "reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers." .“It sends a strong message that our nation's highest court supports the principles of universal healthcare, where access to medical care is determined by a patient's needs, not their ability to pay their way to the front of the line.”.However, Day says BC patients have lost the most..“We just feel badly that BC residents who need healthcare and are desperate have to go to other provinces or countries. And yet Albertans can come here. Winnipeg and Saskatchewan patients can come here. Ontario patients can. It's absolutely bizarre,” Day said..“You could do a Monty Python skit on a train travelling both ways, with BC patients coming one way and the other provinces going the other way. It's actually bizarre and it makes a mockery of the term Canadian Health System. There's no such thing.”.In 2020, following a four-year trial, the BC Supreme Court upheld the MPA, a decision reaffirmed by the BC Court of Appeal in June 2022. Day says his lawyers had every expectation the SCC would hear his case because of its importance and the opportunity to deal with Charter issues as never before..“This would have been a chance for them to rule on whether Section One can override Section Seven. It has never been done in the history of the Supreme Court of Canada,” Day said..“The BC Appeal Court even ruled that residents were dying on wait lists and gave us the right to life. The appeal court overruled the Supreme Court of BC judge, but [for the SCC] to not even hear it is cowardly.”.The SCC ruled in 2005 that the ban on private healthcare in Quebec went against that province’s constitution. One judge in the 4-3 decision decided to defer on whether it was contrary to the Canadian constitution, leaving that question a 3-3 tie..“I am very disappointed for the justice system, as well as the health system, that the court can take the position that we, this court, gave Quebecers the right to private insurance. We don't want to even hear whether everybody else should have the same rights. It's bizarre. It's almost unbelievable.”.The orthopedic surgeon opened the Cambie Surgery Centre in 1996 and treated BC residents until the court decision confirmed in 2020 that it was illegal for them to do so. However, MPs, judges, workers comp claimants, prisoners, and Canadians outside of BC can still be patients at his clinic..“The thing that bugs me the most is these judges are exempt themselves. I have treated and been paid by the federal government for treating judges privately. So this is hypocritical,” Day said..“The defendant in our trial was the Office of the Attorney General of BC. Their office used to send us private patients. The BC nurses union intervened against us in the case. The BC nurses union used to send us private patients. The Canadian Doctors for Medicare intervened against us in the case. Two of their executives used our clinic, privately.”.Day, a former head of the Canadian Medical Association, says Canada is so unusual he gave the opening address at an international health conference in Budapest “because they found this astounding that Canada would outlaw private health insurance.”.Five delegates from Beijing told Day the Chinese government would not dare ban private medical care because one hundred million people would protest in the streets.
