Public's "muted reaction" to Stronach story a sign of change: National Post

The Toronto Star's scoop on Belinda Stronach's decision to have breast-cancer care in California rather than in Canada failed to cause much of a stir, the Star has admitted.

The acceptance of so many Canadians of Ms Stronach's choice is a sign of "the coming health revolution" when Canadians will cease to be prevented from leaving the public system if they want to spend their own money on healthcare, writes the National Post's editorial board:

Last Friday, the left-leaning newspaper sought to goad its readers into righteous fury with a front-page story reporting that Liberal MP Belinda Stronach recently had sought treatment for breast cancer at a U.S. medical clinic. Ms. Stronach, who's become a political punching bag in recent years for a variety of unrelated reasons, clearly was being set up for a cascade of abuse and accusations of hypocrisy.

But that cascade never came. Instead, Star readers told the newspaper's editors to butt out. "Far from outrage, early reaction seems to be heavily on Stronach's side," a Star writer reported in a follow-up article. "Star readers, responding in a Web forum, were largely saying yesterday that it was no one's business where the Magna executive decided to pay for her own treatment outside Canada's medicare system. The Star's 'Speak Out' forum received comments such as: 'Good for Belinda,' and 'There's no issue,' and 'Please, please, please, leave her alone.' At least a couple of readers questioned the Star's judgment in making this front-page news."

You can read the Star's follow-ups on readers' reactions here and here.

For Canadian Medicine's earlier coverage of this story, see this post.

Check out our website: www.nationalreviewofmedicine.com