cal, yes, we are free to choose our own doctors, clinics, treatments, etc. Canadian healthcare is among the best in the world - only that doctors and nurses earn less money than their American counterparts, and treatments costs less, too. Bear in mind what is being proposed in the US is nothing like what we have in Canada. It is the health insurance biz in the US that is the problem - and what is being proposed there is a monopoly of health insurance companies. You guys are being conned (again) by your government - a government even more socialistic and totalitarian than Americans claim is in Canada. At least we value the quality of our lives more than dollars. We don't speak much about freedom here because for the most part, we have little reason to complain - after all, we are free to move to the US and make more money if we wish - but we like it here better. We don't vote for money here - we do our best to look out for ourselves and each other. We pay more in taxes than Americans, but look around and you can see that it is going to good use. I suggest you get out of the US every now and again and see how the rest of the world sees the US - we see you because you are very loud, you do not see us because you do not bother to look. :-)