Re Let The Canadian Health Council Games Begin (May 22): John Ibbitson's article is a timely warning to all Canadians that the Romanow commission and Senate committee's call for a Health Council has become a political football.
This is an unacceptable development. More than $30-billion in new federal funds for public health care are poised to flow to the provinces over the next five years. But there is no independent, evidence-based source that can show Canadians how this money will go to improving health care.
We know this is needed. In the aftermath of the 2000 accord, the only spending anybody could identify from billions in new federal funds for health care was the purchase of some lawnmowers.
What business would spend $100-billion a year and do nothing to determine if the money is being spent efficiently and effectively, and intended outcomes achieved?