A Health Export Industry as Big as Autos

Friesen, Henry, Canadian Speeches

Canada spends $8 billion a year on net imports of health care products and services, supporting 80,000 jobs in other countries. Instead, we are urged to use our publicly-funded health care system as a lever to capture a growing slice of the annual $1 trillion global health services market, expanding an industry here that could employ as many Canadians as the auto sector. Award acceptance speech at the Public Policy Forum 16th annual testimonial dinner, Toronto, April 10, 2003.

So much of our cultural identity and national pride are wrapped up in the icon of medicare; indeed in a recent survey identifying institutions of symbolic importance to Canada, medicare outstripped the Charter of Rights, the RCMP, the Maple Leaf and hockey. The latter by a two to one margin.

Hardly surprising, therefore, that Canadians so strongly urged compliance to the ideal of medicare on our political leaders and …

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Publication information: Article title: A Health Export Industry as Big as Autos. Contributors: Friesen, Henry - Author. Magazine title: Canadian Speeches. Volume: 17. Issue: 2 Publication date: May-June 2003. Page number: 46+. © 1998 Canadian Speeches. COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group.

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