Cardston Medical Contracts and Canadian Medicare‪.‬

"The present system is running itself into discord. The poor people, because of their very poverty Are the very most likely to be ill ... If it means state medicine, then it means state medicine ... We have nationalized our educational facilities, So why not take the next logical step And nationalize medicine?" (Wight, 1931) On January 4, 1932, an Oxford-Style debate on "State Medicine" was held in the southern Alberta town of Cardston. Two hundred and fifty ratepayers listened to the affirmative argument by newspaper editor D. O. Wight, and the negative by school teacher J. A. Low. The affirmative side was declared the winner. As unlikely as it may seem, this debate turned out to be a significant step on the road to Medicare in Canada.