On the one hand there's the right to a speedy trial, and on the other we're entitled to universal health care. The first is a Charter right based on long historical precedent. The second is a modern service provided by the government. Note that few of us will need the former whereas we all need the latter. Have we misplaced our priorities? Possibly.

Thankfully, the days of absolute monarchs and arbitrary arrest are in the distant past. We should be sure they never come back, but but there seems little danger of that happening. Today the greatest risks the average person faces, by a very wide margin, are health related. Diseases, injuries and other infirmities are what trouble most of us, not lengthy delays in our trial for smuggling cocaine.

I'm asking. Why do we guarantee a Charter right that benefits but a relative few, while making universal health care just another government service?