Crazy how some would rather continue have people dying on waiting lists than see any amount of private capital enter the healthcare system. Canada is the only developed nation with an effective ban on private options. Hard to argue our peer nations don’t do better on an entire array of metrics. Omission bias plays a big role here imo because it’s clear the status quo isn’t a harmless option — it kills people — yet politicians still dogmatically reject reform.

This pathetic attitude is among the worst things about our political culture in Canada and I cannot reject it enough. It gets cloaked in the language of progressivism but it is deeply cynical, ugly, and regressive. Story time! Growing up, I was hugely inspired by RIM (BlackBerry). It was one of the reasons why I wanted to go to Waterloo. I thought it was so cool one of the most innovative companies on earth was an hour away from home. In fact, my program, Nanotechnology Engineering, was able to exist in part due to the philanthropy of Mike Lazaridis, who funded the Institute of Quantum Computing and Nanotechnology (along with the Perimeter Institute for theoretical physics, which is a brilliant asset for the province and country). Balsillie, for his part, has spent tens of not hundreds of millions of his personal wealth on advocacy and institutions to make Canada a better place. But he too was castigated in our media. Through high school, I saw how Canadas media took an axe to RIM founders (Mike and Jim), and basically cheered on the decline of the business against competition from Apple and Google. It was a complete disgrace. Well, in 2013 I got my second co-op job there, just as they rolled out BB10 (the QNX operating system). 6 weeks into my co-op, my entire department was laid off (Modems/Semiconductors). Nearly every one of my colleagues ended up moving to the US. Some of the most capable talent on earth, poached in weeks. It was loss that was absolutely devastating to witness. I have no doubt people like Bruce cheered on the spectacle, just like he would cheer the downfall of Shopify if it were to ever happen; despite the champion it’s been for the country, the thousands of good jobs it’s created, and all the spin-off businesses that have created huge wealth for Ontario. Well let me be clear that I will have none of this nonsense.