Talking things over.

At the Canadian Medical Association conference in August 1996 doctors voted 95 to 90 to "lead national discussions and debates on the appropriate place of regulated private insurance for medical services." The doctors called for an examination of the principles of the Canada Health Act, the law that says medicare must be universal, and for a limit on the types of medical services paid for by the public system. They defeated several motions that would show support for a two-tiered medical system, but said they should be allowed to charge patients the difference if provincial governments limit the amounts paid for services.

The doctors also approved a motion to discuss "the appropriate balance of the roles of the public and private sectors in the funding and delivery of medical services."

One Newfoundland doctor likened the federal government's cuts to health care spending to its ending or railway subsidies, predicting a similar outcome: Rich provinces would develop a private system while have-not provinces would be left without necessary services.

At the same meeting the federal government said it had no intention of permitting privatized medicine in Canada.