Mark Kennedy / Ottawa Citizen

Former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow, who led a federal inquiry into medicare more than a decade ago, says the public health care system is deteriorating and close to a “tipping point.”

This past week, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall took to Twitter to ask the question: “Is it time to allow people to pay for their own private MRIs in Saskatchewan like they can do in Alberta?” This came after a radio show in which he’d received a call from a patient who’s been waiting three months for an MRI — one of many Saskatchewan patients who are, understandably, frustrated by long waits for essential imaging services.

These wait times are a real problem. For that reason, we should be very wary of false solutions, and look first to evidence before rhetoric takes over.