Most Canadians I’ve spoken with are honest enough to admit that it’s not “free”. They pay a substantial amount of taxes for it.
As an ex-canuck, Just ask me and I’ll tell you horror stories...I moved from that socialized sh*thole to the greatest country on earth.
Reminds me of a travel program we were watching at a relative's home many Thanksgivings ago.
Oprah was in one of the nordic countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden--I can't remember which) doing a travelogue to show how socialism worked so well for them.
She was in a local's home interviewing them and having them show the TV audience their home.
The home was nice but very sparse of "things" and "stuff" most people in America have in their homes. Knick-knacks, pictures on the walls, collectables, etc. things that make a house a home. Oprah was going on and on about the people in this country got everything for free basically and lived comfortably.
But she was bothered by the lack of anything in the home but the sparse, bare necessities. She asked the woman if that was the custom in the country or was that just her choosing not to have "things".
The woman spoke up and replied that their taxes were so high that they had no money to buy anything but the bare essentials.
It took Oprah all of 2 seconds to end the interview and clear out of the home.
Why? Because it went against her premise that these people lived grand lifestyles with the government paying for free this and free that.
Basically, the woman told her they were taxed so much that they were poor.
As for wait times, this occurs mainly in large urban centers where there are a lot of overdoses and a lot of refugees and "new Canadians" clogging the emergency rooms and the health care system in general with real and imagined ailments. I live in a small city in Northern Ontario with a new hospital. There are, seemingly, no waits here for tests or a hospital bed or to get treated in the ER. Not a lot of refugees or new Canadians here either. Coincidence?