Did you receive a health care survey Recently, the Ontario government mailed it to an estimated four million homes. If you haven't received one, surf by www.gov.on.ca/health to obtain a copy. The glossy eight-page booklet contains four pages of questions designed to elicit your thoughts on the state of our health care system, your personal experiences with various aspects of the system and some general non-identifying demographic data.

Of course the opposition parties were right out of the gate criticizing the initiative as wasteful and pointless. One critic went so far as to dub it the "beginning of Health Minister Tony Clement's leadership campaign."

Upon hearing this, CTF staff immediately scanned back issues of a swath of Ontario newspapers for the last month. Did the Premier resign And if so, why As well, when did Mr. Clement announce his campaign for leader But alas the Premier has not resigned and there is no leadership campaign underway.

Are we to assume that the opposition parties believe consulting taxpayers/ health system consumers on the most pressing provincial and national issue is futile The CTF believes it's about time somebody asked the funders of Ontario's $24 billion health care system ($32 billion if you include private and employer contributions) how they think it's performing.

Apart from our constitutional battles, the health care debate is the only other public policy issue where one simply adds water, stirs and voila, a variety of stakeholders (doctors, nurses, unions, allied health pros, pharmacists, hospital administrators, advocacy groups, politicians, etc.) appear to press their case for improving our health care system. But in this "instant" debate mix, none of them truly speak for patients or their families (read: taxpayers).

This is why it is critical that Ontarians take this health survey seriously. Above and beyond the check-off box questions, the survey provides numerous open-ended opportunities for Ontarians to convey their own opinions on a variety of health issues including satisfaction with local hospitals, emergency room service, access to diagnostic imaging, doctor quality, long-term care and others. If folks run out of space on the survey, they can simply add extra pages of responses. Why not The government has already provided a postage paid envelope.

Both the Premier and the Health Minister have indicated their willingness to put everything on the table for an encompassing and rational debate about the future of our health care system. This courage to consider all options (ie: a greater private sector role and alternative funding models) is in stark contrast to Roy Romanow. His limited vision of health care will limit the work of the federal commission on the future of health care.

If Ontarians believe that the principles of the Canada Health Act (universality, public administration, portability, accessibility and comprehensiveness) should be upheld, then this survey is the vehicle to express this desire. Alternatively, if taxpayers want to see the Act modernized to include principles such as quality, choice, accountability, sustainability and have public administration changed to public governance (all of which the CTF advocates), again, the survey must be completed to get this message across.

Only by completing the survey will the government have a clearer indication of the stance it should take in federal-provincial discussions on health care and what areas are priorities for the allocation of scarce health budget dollars.

In the current political system, public input is sought once every four years. So Ontarians should make the most of this rare opportunity, take ownership of the health care issue and complete a survey. The health of our health care system depends on it.