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The downside is that without federal pressure, we may never have gotten universality, reciprocity, and transferability for programs like Medicare and CPP/QPP. I

The downside is that without federal pressure, we may never have gotten universality, reciprocity, and transferability for programs like Medicare and CPP/QPP. I'm sure provincial governments would love it. But we the citizens would have been worse off.

908B64B197 6y ago
Some provinces would have. It's up to the citizens of each province to vote for the laws that serves them better, not some overarching central bureaucracy desperately trying to illegally acquire more powers.
- smnrchrds 6y ago
  1) It is legal. The whole point of Quebec wanting to change the constitution is to make it illegal. If it were already illegal, there would be no point in making it illegal again. 2) It is up to the citizens of Canada to vote for laws that serves them better, and they have voted for federal politicians who created, expanded and maintained laws such as Canada Health Act (CHA). The democratic voice in federal election is no less democratic than the provincial election. 2) I don't think any provinces would have created reciprocal systems. Case in point: CHA mandates reciprocity for the services provided under CHA. That is to say, if you are an Ontario resident and you get into an accident in BC and have to go to the hospital, you would not have to pay for the stay. Most provinces offer extra services that are not mandated by CHA. For example, prescription drug coverage and ambulance services. Since these services are not under CHA, there is no obligation for their reciprocity. Lo and behold, none of the provinces reciprocate these services. It is strongly recommended to purchase travel insurance for out of province travels for this very reason—a call in another province may cost you 1000's or 10's of thousands of dollars. Considering that the provinces are doing the very bare minimum they are legally obligated to do by the federal government in terms of reciprocity, I do not believe we would have gotten any reciprocity at all without the federal mandate. Also, Alberta would most probably have US-style healthcare system with US-level prices.

908B64B197 6y ago

Some provinces would have. It's up to the citizens of each province to vote for the laws that serves them better, not some overarching central bureaucracy desperately trying to illegally acquire more powers.

smnrchrds 6y ago
1) It is legal. The whole point of Quebec wanting to change the constitution is to make it illegal. If it were already illegal, there would be no point in making it illegal again. 2) It is up to the citizens of Canada to vote for laws that serves them better, and they have voted for federal politicians who created, expanded and maintained laws such as Canada Health Act (CHA). The democratic voice in federal election is no less democratic than the provincial election. 2) I don't think any provinces would have created reciprocal systems. Case in point: CHA mandates reciprocity for the services provided under CHA. That is to say, if you are an Ontario resident and you get into an accident in BC and have to go to the hospital, you would not have to pay for the stay. Most provinces offer extra services that are not mandated by CHA. For example, prescription drug coverage and ambulance services. Since these services are not under CHA, there is no obligation for their reciprocity. Lo and behold, none of the provinces reciprocate these services. It is strongly recommended to purchase travel insurance for out of province travels for this very reason—a call in another province may cost you 1000's or 10's of thousands of dollars. Considering that the provinces are doing the very bare minimum they are legally obligated to do by the federal government in terms of reciprocity, I do not believe we would have gotten any reciprocity at all without the federal mandate. Also, Alberta would most probably have US-style healthcare system with US-level prices.