Universal health care is one of the most valued institutions of Canada, and we all brag about its virtues. So why am I sitting here at work in pain from a major toothache, and an irritating rash on my leg for the past month? Why haven't I seen a doctor for a general check-up in the past year, and why haven't I see a dentist in the past ten?

The reason is this- contrary to what the immigration officer tells you, health care isn't REALLY free! And not only that- it's superfluous, complicated, ineffective, and SLOW! For every minute I spend inside a doctor's room, I generally spend 30 mins in his waiting room. So a 6 min examination of a rash could potentially take three hours of wait. Now the question I ask is this.. what in the world is the doctor doing 95% of the time that I'm waiting? Sometimes.. NOTHING! One time in a drop-in clinic, I overheard the nurses explaining to a disgruntled patient that ALL the doctors were watching a VIDEO! Now for the guy with broncitis coughing his brains out, or the lady clenching her seat because of a unbearable cramp- isn't that UNSETTLING? And for me, with the rash on the leg.. in the three hours of waiting for the doctors to finish watching Titanic, I could literally watch my rash spread up into my groin and see my dreams of watching my future son play soccer disappear before my very eyes.