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Canadian Health Care

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Jessie B. Bennett

Published: February 19, 2009

Reference the letter by Jim Vokes on Feb. 9: I read with interest the part about Canada's health care system. I would like to chat with whomever wrote the letter Mr. Vokes refers to.

I am Canadian and definitely am not a socialist; however I do wholeheartedly support our universal health system. No one, and I mean no one, has to do without medical care. As for wait times, I know of no one who has waited years (awaiting an organ maybe, but that is a lack of donors,) two or three months perhaps but that would be rare indeed.

Since I am in my 80s, a lot of my acquaintances require a variety of operations and treatment, so I am well acquainted with medical services. As for taxes, the Ontario sales tax is 8 percent, the federal is 5 percent and both taxes are not applied to all items. Twenty percent? Where did that come from? My income tax is definitely not 51 percent, I could not handle that. I do believe our taxes are higher than here but so is our wage scale.

So Mr. Vokes, don't be misled. Our health system may not be perfect (what is) but we Canadians don't want to do without it. We don't have to go into a heavy debt load or sell our homes to pay for medical treatment as I know some Americans have had to do. A universal health care system is worth exploring

Jessie B. Bennett
Sebring

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