When Jack Cutler was admitted to hospital on Tuesday morning, he was already a Canadian citizen. He was born on Canadian soil and had lived in Canada his entire life - all 90 or 120 seconds of it.
He was also born at about 50 kilometres per hour, as his father Kevin drove with his left hand and caught his newborn son with his right. His mom Chelsea had her feet up on the dash of the family Subaru, breathing hard and unable to stop the stabs of love ache from her stomach.
She probably wasn't paying attention to the song on the car stereo but it might as well have been "Born In the USA" for all the service the Cutlers were getting from the legendary healthcare system of Chelsea's adopted homeland. Tuesday was a cold, clear, winter morning in the Great White North but the bill for childbirth service at University Hospital of Northern BC was as American as if she had been rushing to Fairbanks Memorial or Ketchikan General back in her home state.
Her nationality was the only reason this full-moon car ride was happening. She had every intention of bringing Jack into the world the same way she did her first two children. However, the Canadian immigration system stamped "No" on her and Kevin's dreams, although they came wrapped in the simplest of expectations.
Partly it was her husband's fault. He had the audacity to not only be Canadian but think like one as well. He had never paid a direct cent of healthcare in his life. His bumps, bruises and sniffles were cared for on the big prepaid gift card every Canuck gets when they are born.
It's far from a perfect system, with plenty of bungles, bad news and bills. And of course the cost to heal a broken Canadian bone is exactly the same as the bones of foreigners. It's just that we pay for it the way we pay for maple syrup when we order pancakes - it's all lumped into the bill at the end. We cover it together in our taxes and MSP premiums. When it comes to pain, we share the pain.
When Kevin was told those heartswelling words "I do" by his American beauty, he was sharing Canada with her. She willingly moved in and settled into Prince George with him. Canada is calling long and hard for people to come over our borders and stay, and Prince George has one of the loudest voices. Why then, they suddenly wondered, did the sharing suddenly stop when Chelsea offered Canada a baby?
Thanks, the immigration system told her, but that'll cost you at least $10,000 cash up front and, who knows?, maybe a lot more if there are complications.
They couldn't afford it. They had to scrape up the money to pay for a midwife - another free service to those whose passports aren't offside - and arrange to have the baby at home.
No problem. Plenty of Canadian babies are born at home. Many families will tell you it's preferable. In this case it wasn't - those complications came up but instead of having the freedom to seek medical attention to guide them through, the Cutlers had to feel along on their own and it didn't work. They came to the sudden realization Tuesday morning that they needed the hospital, but it was too late, Jack was three street corners quicker than they were.
It seems that a fair gesture now would be for the healthcare system - the one stuck holding the immigration system's soiled laundry - to remember its Canadian manners.
You see, Jack arrived at the hospital already an actualized human being out in the wide world. All the bills for care should therefore be applied to him. Chelsea shouldn't have to pay a loonie for the efforts she has already invested in being a resourceful and contributing member of our society.
Obviously someone is going to find a line item on a ledger and politely sputter some passive-aggressive protest about peace, order and good government. This isn't good government. Chelsea is not a medical tourist here for the cheap meds and free beds. There are ways of ensuring those people don't come over our borders to take undue advantage of our training and ethics. If Chelsea and Kevin Cutler are not clearly Canadian, then we all best advise any other foreign families among us to check the yellow pages under V for all their medical needs. Canada also has excellent veterinarians.
-- Prince George Citizen
