Choice won’t destroy systemby Lorne GunterThere are now lawsuits in two provinces – British Columbia and Alberta – that seek to break the monopoly those provinces’ governments maintain over health care. In short, in both of Canada’s westernmost provinces it is illegal – as it is in nine of 10 provinces – to buy private health insurance for procedures supposedly covered by the public health system.The only exception to this rule is Quebec where, in 2005, a successful lawsuit forced that province’s government to let citizens buy insurance for private procedures offered within Quebec.Quebecers no longer have to go elsewhere (usually to the United States) and pay out of their own pockets if they get tired of Canada’s endless waiting lists for specialized care.In Alberta, there are two legal actions against the province, both brought by men suffering horrible back pain that the provincial health care system was unable to treat in a reasonable amount of time

Link - 

COLUMN: Gunter – Time for health care choice in Canada