Canadians don't care for Sicko Peter Howell Michael Moore is handing out fake bandages to promote his new film Sicko, an exposé of the failings of the U.S. health care system. But he may feel like applying a couple to himself after the mauling he received yesterday from several Canadian journalists – present company included – following the film's first viewing at the Cannes Film Festival. "You Canadians! You used to be so funny!" an exasperated Moore said at a press conference in the Palais des Festivals. "You gave us all our best comedians. When did you turn so dark?" We Canucks were taking issue with the large liberties Sicko takes with the facts, with its lavish praise for Canada's government-funded medicare system compared with America's for-profit alternative. While justifiably demonstrating the evils of an American system where dollars are the major determinant of the quality of medicare care a person receives, and where restoring a severed finger could cost an American $60,000 compared to nothing at all for a Canadian, Sicko makes it seem as if Canada's socialized medicine is flawless and that Canadians are satisfied with the status quo.... Toronto Star
When I first heard that Michael Moore was going to do a documentry dissing healthcare in America I knew he was going to overhype the government run systems around the world. He seems to assume that just because the gov't provides healthcare in these countries that means that they aren't only free but problem free also. He seems to either ignore or downplay the problems with universal government run systems.
I think this is the major problem with healthcare in Canada. People keep saying "at least it isn't America", as if having the second worst system in the developed world is good enough.
Michael Moore is not to be taken seriously about anything anymore. The man is a complete hypocrite who has a socialist agenda. That's why his movies are allowed on the big screen but others are not. I frankly think most mainstream medical treatment is terrible, aside from certain routine surgeries, no matter where you go. But if anyone wants to see what socialized medicine would be like in the US, just look at the VA hospitals. I also hear that Moore, being the propagandist he is, in his latest movie, uses his typical deceptive tactics by visiting a Cuban hospital for the "elite" of Cuba, and portrays it as being the same type of hospital ALL Cubans get treated in.
Moore has been exposed ad nausea for years. He is a hypocrite who pretends to fight for the little guy in America than comes to Europe and talks massive amounts of crap about America. He owns stocks in companies he openly denounces in movies. He edits his films to the extreme and uses one example, that he picks to make his point, to speak for a vast array of things, without touching the vast array.
Haliburton - He supposedly has a few shares in that company - So he can go to the board meetings - work from within rather than peering in from the out side. http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/november2005/021105ownsstock.htm
Not just Halliburton, but Eli Lilly, Sunoco, Boeing, as well 8,000 shares of Bank One... among a few others. On top of that, the man is incredibly wealthy, though perhaps maybe not enough to continue satisfying his unsatiable urge for consuming ungodly amounts of fast food, Coca-Cola and pork rinds. He needs to keep churning out his propaganda films to fund his eating habits alone.
Yet we are made to believe that poor old Moore is from working class Flint Michigan. Even something like that, where he is from, has been put into question. He owns a mansion there, but thats about it.
even with their long lines, Canadians will answer that they are satisfied with the medical care they recieve, while most americans won't.
Daisie,Eugene I'am sure many individual Canadians will say that they are satisfied with their healthcare but I'd think this would be determined more by what people's medical needs have been for them. The point is that healthcare reform has been a big issue in Canada for several years and this is what that Canadian critic of Michael Moore felt he was ignoring about Canadian healthcare. Medical tourism: Need surgery, will travel Across Canada, thousands are on waiting lists for surgeries. In some cases those waits can last for years. "I had almost 20 to 40 painkillers a day," she says. Her doctors in Alberta said there would be a three-year wait for corrective surgery... CBC.ca " The health-care system is about to embrace the baby-boom generation and a recent symposium at Queen's University forecast that, at best, the results will be problematic. At worst, our system may implode... " The Star
I have personally never waited in any kind of line for basic care. I have the same doctor since I was born, and when you call the office you can get an appointment with-in days. Again, since these are my own personal experiences I can say that, yes I am satisfied.
Interesting article on Cuban healthcare. '' The treatment Moore and the rescue workers receive in the film was done specifically for them, because they knew it would make great propaganda,'' says Alfonso, a general practitioner in Little Havana. ``The medical centers in Cuba that treat tourists and government officials and VIPs are very different than the ones that treat the general population. If you're a Cuban citizen and need a prescription drug, most doctors either tell you to ask your relatives in the U.S. to ship it to you or recommend alternative herbal remedies. That's the degree of scarcity on the island....'' Miami Herald
