As a former health care professional in Canada, I can say that yes, there are long waits but that is because people in Canada don't think twice about seeking medical treatment. If you have a funny cough that doesn't go away after a couple of days, you go to see a doctor. You don't wait another couple of days until you get paid, you don't wait another couple of days because you don't want your insurance to go up, you don't wait another couple of days until you can borrow some money from a friend, you go and see a damned doctor about it. That is the difference, the mindset that we have up here and it saves lives.

The other side of the coin is that people call 911 for the stupidest things and lots of money is wasted on transporting people by ambulance to get to emergency so a doctor can look at their stubbed toe, but that is the small bad part of the awesomely huge good part.