Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

From George Smitherman, Ontario's Minister of Health, in today's National Post:

"I will never support the outsourcing of those knee surgeries to any private, for-profit-motivated organization," George Smitherman, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, said. "Our government fundamentally believes that the public health care system, the not-for profit public health care system, is the best expression of Canadian values."

The article indicates that the wait time for a knee replacement in Ontario is 307 days, though the target is 182 days.

Wait time is defined as follows:

A wait time is the amount of time you have to wait for a procedure. Your wait is measured from the time your procedure is booked until the time you receive it. If you need several procedures for your condition, each one can have its own wait time.

A wait of almost a year for a single knee replacement. It's a bit rude rude to invoke "Canadian values" as an excuse to make people wait in pain for treatment that they could easily receive through perfectly legal and approved means. Though it is almost impossible to determine in the current system, the cost might actually be less too.

Isn't it possible that Canadian values could occasionally include compromise?