According to a poll, Canadians are dissatisfied with their provinces' health care systems
Key Takeaways:
- The majority of Canadians are unhappy with how their provincial governments oversee health care, according to a recent Angus Reid Institute survey.
- In every province, at least two-thirds of survey respondents said their governments' management of health care was disgraceful.
As per the recent Angus Reid Institute survey, most Canadians are dissatisfied with how their provincial gov'ts manage health care.
More than 5,000 Canadians were surveyed by the nonprofit research organization earlier this month, and the results displayed that 72% had negative opinions of their province governments' handling of health care. The lowest percentage in Angus Reid's eight years of monitoring, only 25% of respondents thought their provinces were managing health care well.
Shachi Kurl, president of Angus Reid, said to CTVNews.ca, "Provincial governments are signaling by their words as well as actions (such as lifting COVID-19-related laws) that the pandemic is over." It is not surprising that their constituents started to demand primary medical care that is at least as dependable and easily accessible as before the pandemic.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, provincial healthcare systems have been under heightened stress due to the virus and personnel shortages, which have resulted in ongoing challenges, including postponed surgeries and extended wait times in emergency rooms.
Only the growing cost of living and inflation, which were of concern to 63 percent of survey respondents, were cited by more than half of respondents as the top provincial issues Angus Reid.
The only other issue to make the top three was housing affordability, cited as a major provincial issue by 31% of respondents. Only 7% of respondents listed COVID-19 as a major provincial issue, down from 33% last year, perhaps indicating that the epidemic is no longer on Canadians' minds.
According to the Angus Reid research, "as panic about COVID-19 fades, Canadians' focus is shifting to a healthcare system, and most are not impressed by what they see." Health care is the only other problem that receives top-three consideration for at least two out of five in every province, despite affordability and the rising cost of living being on many Canadians' minds as rampant inflation drives up the price of practically everything.
At least two-thirds of survey participants in each province believed that their governments' handling of health care was appalling. The most critical respondents were New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Labrador, where 83% said their provincial governments were doing a terrible job.
The two provinces that received the highest praise were Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, where 30% of respondents agreed with how their governments handled health care. However, even in these two provinces, the ratio of unfavorable to positive attitudes was two to one.
Women were more critical than men, with at least three-quarters reporting their provinces were performing poorly, compared to two-thirds of males, even though a majority in every demographic stated their provinces were failing health care.
While other age groups identified the cost of living and inflation as their top concerns, respondents 55 and older were more likely to regard health care as the most important provincial issue.
Kurl stated, "Health is something Canadians coast to coast holds dear." And they have a serious problem with how their provincial governments handle this important matter.