DCHP-3

universal health care

DCHP-2 (Jul 2016)
n. & adj. Administration, Law

a government-sponsored insurance program providing medical care for all residents.

Type: 4. Culturally Significant Universal health care was adopted in 1966 with the passing of the Medical Care Act. The concept has since become "enshrined" into the collective Canadian consciousness (see the 2015 quotation) and is considered one of the most distinct markers of Canadian identity (see, e.g. the 2008 quotation from a CBC radio discussion).
The federal health care scheme derives from the provincial insurance plan developed in Saskatchewan, which was introduced in 1962 by then-premier Tommy Douglas against fierce resistance from the province's doctors. Then known as medicare (see the link below for details), the most widespread term for the concept today is universal health care or just "health care", which as the default option is, when needed, pitted against "private health care", which is not paid for by the public insurance scheme.
COD-2 does not list the term; it includes "health care" as a concept, but without mentioning a Canadian dimension.

Quotations

1964
Ontario Health Minister Matthew Dymond said yesterday that he and health ministers from other provinces will discuss medicare when they confer with Federal Health Minister Judy LaMarsh on July 20 and 21. But he declined to commit himself on whether Ontario will be willing to go 50-50 with Ottawa in launching a universal health care plan - a plan that would be, by implication, compulsory.
1965
Prime Minister Pearson today laid down the conditions for a universal health care plan for Canadians to be operated by the provinces and subsidized by Ottawa. The prime condition was universality of standards and coverage for the plan, but the provincial method of financing costs is to be left to the provinces. "We are ready to regard medicare as a part of Canada's basic social standards," said Mr. Pearson [...].
1973
In my view, this is a society in which [...] men and women whose talents have become obsolete by rapid technological change can be retrained, where they can obtain adequate housing, legal aid, and universal health care; a society that encourages a constructive spirit of interdependence, community and a sense of belonging, rather than alienation and the jungle law of survival of the fittest.
1982
However, Nancy Kotani of Friends of Medicare said FOM supported doctors' claims. She said if it took a 33 per cent fee schedule to provide universal health care, then that was fine.
1997
Katherine Scott, a senior policy analyst with the independent Ottawa-based council, said Prime Minister Jean Chretien and his 10 provincial counterparts must use a meeting later this week to move beyond talk about child poverty, youth unemployment, rising student debt loads and ways to protect the universal healthcare system. "The time for action is here," Scott said.
2004
It's not uncommon to hear people in the U.S. talking about Canada's education system, lower crime rate, universal health care, tough gun-control laws, social tolerance, softer marijuana laws and same-sex marriages.
2008
[...] we [Canadians] believe in universal health care [...]
2015
When universal health care was adopted in 1966 with the passage of the Medical Care Act, it signified a profound moment in Canadian political history. Rarely before had an alliance of ideologically opposed figures -- the socialist Tommy Douglas, Progressive Conservative John Diefenbaker and Liberal prime minister Lester Pearson -- delivered legislation that would enshrine in collective consciousness the universal values of health and dignity; touchstones that still define this country and its society today.
2016
Many seniors are on fixed income, with pensions that barely cover expenses. I was shocked to see the changes from the provincial government in drug coverage. These changes add to the financial burden of retirees and others in need of medication. It is an affront to universal healthcare in Canada.

References

  • COD-2