The difficulties faced with this kind of legislation are within jurisdictional powers. To which, as you probably know, healthcare is in the purview of the provinces.

I’ve said this before, but I think Sections 91 and 92 of the Constitution Act 1867 are probably the most antiquated and off-base for our contemporary issues in Canada. Those are the sections that enumerate which powers fall to the federal government and which fall to the provincial governments. It’s probably the section I want to see amended the most out of the original Constitution Act. There are so many problems today that are related to poor jurisdictional divisions, not to mention, municipal governments aren’t actually recognized as their own legislative jurisdiction in the Constitution at all.

Our ability to manage information and logistics has drastically improved since 1867. Our need to have healthcare organized by local regions has diminished. In fact, it has often been to its own detriment that our healthcare isn’t national.

What I want to know is if there would be support for nationalizing healthcare. Provincial governments themselves would likely be against it, but what about popular support? In terms of amending Section 91 and 92, the general procedure (7/50 rule) would be sufficient. Could 6 provinces plus one of Ontario or Quebec go along with such a plan? Personally, I think it would be worthwhile, but that’s just my opinion.