Access to universal health care in Canada has become a symbol of national identity and, as such, has also become a highly contentious and politically charged question in the field of public policy. The extent of the passion and disagreement that health care issues provoke is evident in the simple fact that although Canada has undergone dramatic changes in citizenship development since the early 1980s, the health care system has changed very little.

Candace Johnson Redden examines the theoretical dimensions of citizenship and rights in Canada as they intersect with health care politics, and offers possible answers to questions concerning the philosophical and political meanings of the right to health care in advanced industrial societies, the equitable distribution of health care resources in those societies, and the effects of globalization and fractured patterns of citizenship on discussions of entitlement, universal human rights, and bioethics.

Redden asserts that this new change in citizenship development will require a health care system that is capable of recognizing the different citizenships across Canada, flexible enough to accommodate many different citizenship claims, and consequently able to facilitate interaction between communities and governments. This interdisciplinary study examines epidemiological, technological, and political patterns, and will appeal to anyone interested in Canadian politics, policy, citizenship and health care.

Candace Johnson Redden is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at Brock University.

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