Class of 1970 Commemorative Biographical Book

C H A R L E S S . S H AV E R

Continued

My wife majored in political science at Queen’s, and worked for the federal government until her retirement at age 55. Her main hobby is painting. Our three grown children all live in Ottawa. Though I never took a journalism course, over the past three decades, nearly 700 op-ed articles and letters of mine have been published in over 50 Canadian newspapers from coast to coast including the Yukon. Many were translated into French. Just prior to the 1995 Quebec referendum, I wrote articles (and paid to have half a dozen translated into French) demonstrating that in the event of Quebec independence, its citizens would lose their portable hospital benefits, and face daily hospital charges of several thousands of dollars per day. Those with pre-existing conditions might be unable to purchase travel insurance, and would be precluded from visiting friends and relatives in the rest of Canada. These appeared from Vancouver to St. John’s, and in most major Quebec newspapers. The referendum was won by a margin of 54,000 votes –about 0.5%! In 2014, the Liberals and the separatist PQ were initially tied in the Quebec provincial election. I wrote several articles showing that in the event of independence, Quebecers needing care in the ICU in another province would face charges of over $15,000 per day. Perhaps partially as a result, the Liberals eventually won by a margin of 70 to 30 seats.

In late April 2003, an article of mine in the Toronto Star was instrumental in forcing the Ontario Conservative government to grant financial compensation to persons placed in quarantine due to SARS. I have urged the Federal Health Minister to amend the Canada Health Act so as to mandate binding arbitration for disputes between MDs and their provinces. I have written a critique about a proposed national pharmacare program. Drug shortages are not only a problem in the U.S. but in Canada. I have discussed various consequences of these shortages and how this problem will be exacerbated if Canadian pharmaceuticals are exported to the United States. Most recently, I have written articles concerning issues that should be addressed by the new federal health minister, Ms. Patty Hadju. Unlike in the U.S., there are virtually no uninsured patients. However, wait times for many procedures are excessive. At the same time, many surgeons (especially in orthopedics) leave the country for lack of OR time and hospital privileges. The Canada Health Act prohibits private health care for most patients. However, I believe that Ms. Hajdu should be open- minded and be willing to borrow ideas from countries with more efficient blended public/private health delivery systems such as Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, and most European countries.

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