Supreme Court dismisses appeal challenging public healthcare system

Now that Canada’s highest court has refused to hear an appeal, Day said that long wait times had been “forcibly embedded” into the medicare system.

“As a result of the Supreme Court’s failure to even consider the rights of Canadians suffering on wait lists, Canadians, such as the patient plaintiffs in our case who suffered such outcomes as permanent paralysis and death as they waited for care and justice, are being denied access to both,” he said in a statement via The Canadian Press.

Day also emphasized the need for reform, stating that Canada needs to bring itself in line with other publicly funded systems worldwide that offer complementary healthcare through legal private insurance.

“In a way, it’s a very sad day for Canadians,” he said in a separate statement to CBC News. “Wealthy Canadians have always gone down to the United States [for care], but where do middle income and lower income Canadians go? The answer is they’re not allowed to go anywhere. They stay and suffer and die on wait lists.”