by Rick Jensen

Canada is often touted in the United States as the panacea of health care, leadership, love, peace and thick bacon.

Listening to Democrats Bernie Sanders, Maxine Waters and Chuck Schumer, one would think there are no Canadians waiting longer than Americans for life-saving surgeries or just to see a doctor in an emergency room.

Canada is perfect!

Since liberals enjoy the comparative phrase, “industrialized nations,” there may be some angst or denial in the fact that the Canadian Institute for Health Information has given their emergency room rating a failing grade.

According to the independent non-profit, established to provide actionable information about the nation’s health care system, “…. compared to other industrialized countries, Canada has the highest proportion of patients reporting excessively long waits in an emergency department.”

On average, it takes nearly four hours to see a doctor after you’ve arrived at a Canadian emergency room. In fact, 29 percent of Canadians checking into emergency rooms have to wait four hours or longer before being seen by a practitioner.

Last year, Quebec’s health and welfare commissioner reported 35 percent of patients in the province have to wait five hours or more for care. That’s not just bad, it’s the very worst in the western hemisphere.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control reports the average wait time to see a doctor in U.S. emergency rooms is 30 minutes.

Canada also topped the list for having the highest proportion of patients with long delays to see specialists, with 56 percent waiting longer than four weeks, compared with the international average of 36 percent.

In the U.S., which liberals have been telling us has the worst health care in the “industrialized world,” half as many people having to wait that long to see a specialist.

OK, so their health care system might not be perfect, but at least Canada has liberal heart-throb Justin Trudeau.

Rolling Stone magazine, the politically liberal firebrand that has a dicey relationship with truthful reporting, poses Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau as the western world’s last great hope.

They were obviously impressed with his tweet paying tribute to Fidel Castro, a man who denies the poor health care as good for the ruling class and imprisoned fellow Cubans whose politics differed from his own as “larger than life leader who served his people…”

This is the same Trudeau who awarded a convicted terrorist who murdered Americans, Omar Khadr, $10.5 million as restitution for Omar being held at Guantanamo. 

Trudeau made no similar payments to the families of the soldiers murdered by Kahdr.

All of this makes Canada so appealing that the Trump election drove Lena Dunham, Neve Campbell, Barbra Streisand, Raven-Simone, Whoopie Goldberg (who was last seen at Disney World, where U.S. citizen employees were forced to train their cheaper immigrant replacements or be fired immediately), Chelsea Handler, and Breaking Bad’s Bryon Cranston to move there…

… or not.

Yeah, wait. The latest is that none of them kept their word.

Even Amy Schumer backed down, claiming her promise to move to Canada was “a joke.”

Bummer.

But… Canada!

It’s the perfect western country! Every liberal loves Canada!

That’s why is rather odd that the Canadian LGBT Pride march in Calgary banned police officers from attending the parade in uniform.

If Canada is so wonderful, what’s the problem with spiffy red-uniformed hunks marching or just guarding the marchers?

The president of Calgary Pride, Jason Kingsley, claims the symbols of law enforcement could be “triggering” to attendees, comparing it to PTSD.

“It’s that symbol, that authoritative symbol, that weapon that can actually be triggering and traumatic for individuals who have faced oppression or faced issues. So it’s similar to things like PTSD, where sounds or sights can actually trigger these emotions or these responses, where they can relive these kind of traumatic episodes or situations that they’ve experienced in their lives.”

To the organizers’ disappointment, the Calgary police will still provide security to protect them.  Some will march in civilian clothes.

Some marchers will likely faint at the horrible sight of Calgary police stoically protecting their right to march.

For their sake, let’s hope none of the marchers twist an ankle and need to check in to a Canadian emergency room.

RICK JENSEN is Delaware’s award-winning conservative talk show host on WDEL, streaming live on WDEL.com from 1 to 4 p.,m. EST. Contact Rick at rick@wdel.com, or follow him on Twitter @Jensen1150WDEL.