@maporsche,
Instantaneous in political time
____
Saskatchewan completed implementation in less than a year from the election that brought it into force.
https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/the-birth-of-medicare
There's a actually a great old thread here at a2k, which is the transcript of cavfancier's grandfather's memoirs. He was one of the doctors who played a significant role in the implementation of medicare in Saskatchewan.
( wow - google is my friend -
https://able2know.org/topic/7047-1 )
Amazing what they got done without computers/current levels of technology.
The process for the balance of Canada
Quote:By 1964 the pro-Medicare forces in the country were riding the crest of public opinion during a period when the political culture was moving to the left. The political alignment of national parties saw six years of minority governments over three elections between 1962 and 1968, and this favoured those political forces attempting to move the country in a more progressive direction. The NDP was growing and this strengthened left Liberals who argued that their party must protect their left flank. This in turn encouraged the red Tories within the Progressive Conservatives, who argued that the party must move left to remain electorally competitive. All of this was occurring during a minority situation when an election might occur at any time and no party wanted to be caught on the wrong side of a popular issue like public Medicare.
It took fierce struggles within both the Liberal and Progressive Conservative parliamentary parties, but in the end the party whips forced the right wing into submission. The National Medical Care Insurance Act was passed in the House of Commons on December 8, 1966, by an overwhelming vote of 177 to 2. The starting date was July 1, 1968, and the Act provided that the federal government would pay about half of Medicare costs in any province with insurance plans that met the criteria of being universal, publicly administered, portable and comprehensive. By 1971 all provinces had established plans which met the criteria.
once medicare started in July 1968, it took less than 18 months to have systems set up and running in 13 provinces and territories.
