Updated post:
We had over 400 people view the live event on a variety of platforms. Thank you!
Here’s the edited video (front end trimmed, etc):
Opening Remarks by
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- Brian Lee Crowley, MLI’s Managing Director
- Dean Baxendale, President and Publisher, Optimum Publishing International
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Book Reading
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- I will read a very short section. We really want to focus on the panel discussion.
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Panel
We have three outstanding panelists, who were able to sacrifice their time for this event.
They speak from across the political spectrum, which should make for a lively discussion. Just so you know, we invited 5 experts, and 2 were unavailable (both women).
Event Details
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- Date: December 14, 2020
- Time: 2 pm – 3:30 pm ET
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Book Blurbs
“In Canada, socialized medicine has been exalted to the status of a sacrament, and to criticize it, either in theory or in practice, is tantamount to heresy. Dr. Whatley dares to do both, and with such clarity of argument and abundance of evidence, that no reasonable or fair-minded person could fail to be convinced. What Dr. Whatley has demonstrated, in this beautifully written and engaging volume, is that socialized medicine fails to meet the most fundamental moral obligation of health care: to place the patient’s interests above all else.”
Dr. Harley Price, University of Toronto
“Whatley… insists that our focus should be on the patients, the people the system is supposed to serve but whose interests are too easily sacrificed in the name of some pretty but ineffectual or even destructive bureaucratic theory. I have been thinking about the health care system for thirty years yet I found Whatley’s book packed with new insights and courageous thinking. A cure for what ails us.”
Brian Lee Crowley, Managing Director, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute
“When you are getting a diagnosis from your doctor, you want the truth. If you want a truthful diagnosis about our health care system, you must read this book. With precision, wisdom, and verve, Dr. Shawn Whatley has fearlessly dissected the rot that plagues Canadian socialized medicine. Can you handle the truth?”
Bruce Pardy, Professor of Law, Queen’s University
“For someone like me who operates at the other end of the political spectrum, reading Dr. Shawn Whatley’s latest book and its wholesale bludgeoning of the concept of socialized medicine is an uncomfortable experience… You may not agree with his politics, but Dr. Whatley asks uncomfortable questions that deserve serious answers.”
Pat Rich, (Veteran) Medical writer, editor and social media commentator, Former Editor-in-Chief, The Medical Post and Publisher, CMAJ
“Brimming with tangible examples of system failure that make you want to pull your hair out, Dr Whatley’s new book outlines the case for large scale reform of Medicare. It’s a must read for anyone interested in improving healthcare in Canada.”
Christine Van Geyn, Litigation Director, Canadian Constitution Foundation
“Canada’s health care system is sick, and it will only get worse as our nation reels with the fallout from COVID-19 and growing pressure from our nation’s aging population. Canadians need to pay more attention to our underperforming system and the need for reform. Dr. Whatley’s book is a great place to start.”
Colin Craig, President of SecondStreet.org
“For decades, medicare has been dependent upon its unexamined historical myths and a protective anti-Americanism in order to excuse its terrible performance, and Whatley leads the charge at demolishing these myths and attitudes in order to clear the way for change.”
Shane Neilson, Poet, physician, critic, MFA MA PhD CCFP FCFP, Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct), McMaster University
“In this caring and clearly-written book, Dr. Whatley performs precision surgery on Canada’s failing public health care.”
Dr. William Gairdner
“We cannot fix Canadian healthcare until we admit that it needs fixing… You need to read this book… before you or someone you love gets sick.”
John Robson, Journalist
Amazon reviews so far:
I wanted the Amazon links to be working properly before telling you about the launch. It looks like the hardcover button is finally live again this morning. Shipping times will drop dramatically as people start to order.
Thanks so much for checking this out!
We plan to record the event, so you can watch it later.
Good for you.
Primary care was stumbling and staggering prior to COVID …with COVID it has been turned on its head…and post COVID it will be found flat on its back….even now 70% of all interactions are virtual with practitioners practicing in an almost heretical manner that would have been condemned in the past, with “ FAILED” stamped on ones forehead.
There will be required rebuilding, restructuring, after the inevitable debacle …in particular where the public health care system is concerned …in the neglected field of primary care , hopefully the government won’t resort to quick fixes …that’s where your next book , an instructional manual, comes in.
Get ready to write your follow up book….
Hey Andris,
Great points, as always. I think the collapse of LTC will become the main policy issue for the next year (or three). My worry is that policy makers will look at the massive drop in primary care services as solid evidence that the public does not need anywhere near what it was getting pre covid. It could get grim quickly as governments look for ways to ‘find efficiencies’.
Thanks again for taking time to read and post!
Be well
Just wondering… Are you going to send a signed complementary copy to Bernie Sanders?
So how come 20 yrs ago, we were able to see and say this system was unsustainable but no one would listen?
Bernie would hate it.
Public health…primary care…Long term care…quite triad…are they not like mountain climbers attached together by ropes on the North face of the Matterhorn, as one slips it drags the others down?
Great analogy of those all tied together. I fear you are right.
Ha! Great questions. I doubt Bernie would bother reading it. But it would be fun if he did.
Your question about anyone listening is solid. It might be that it seemed too obvious to some of us. It’s like seeing someone walking on thin ice: the correct response is to yell, “Watch out!” But that doesn’t work in public policy. Instead, we need to say, “Given the recent above-normal temperatures, and the pounds per square inch applied to the ice under your shoes, based on your ideal body weight…” My book tries to take this painful (but irresistible) approach to explain why walking on thin ice does not turn out well. Hopefully readers will finish it feeling more confident in yelling, “Watch out!”
Thanks again for posting!
Hi Shawn, I just ordered the book and looking forward to the big launch on Monday. I wish you every success and I hope it contributes to changes in the way things are done. I know you put in a great deal of work. Congratulations.
Thank you, Gordon!
Really appreciate this. It’s actually hard to find, so I’m impressed you found a copy. Hopefully, supply chains will start smoothing out soon. But to your point about change, I’m really hoping it sparks conversation. It seems to have done a bit so far, which makes it all worth the effort.
Thanks again!
Your book launch webinar was excellent and informative. I want to commend you on your choices of panelists…the diversity of thoughts and opinions was particularly enriching. It really is too bad that the women you invited to be panelists could not attend…it would have been very interesting (and even more enriching!) to hear their perspectives.
Thanks Paul!
Agree, re female panelists. We hope to have an all-female cast soon! Will try again in the new year. Maybe we will only invite women…then wait to see if they can attend…if not, ask more…wait for them…and so on until we have a slate of women.
Cheers