"Ontario will add $50 million a year to the $20 million it already spends on 'assisted reproduction.'"Kathleen Wynne, despite running horrific deficits and apparently unconcerned about the possible appearance of a conflict of interest, will now use additional tens of millions of taxpayer dollars annually to subsidise in-vitro fertilisation.
Obviously, one of the significant demographics interested in IVF will be women suffering from so-called “social infertility” - that is, women who reject the increasingly obsolete and icky idea of male-female procreation... (which would've absolutely, positively in no way influenced Ontario's first gay Premier).
But, hey... let's look at the numbers.
IVF currently accounts for about 2% of live births in Ontario. With only a 30% success rate and an estimated 4000 women taking advantage of the Premier's largesse, this would result in 1200 births annually at a additional cost of $58,000 per Corningware baby.
For the religious and ethically sensitive among us, note that multiple eggs are removed for each procedure and extra fertilised embryos are routinely destroyed if not used.
Now, call me a middle aged, non-disabled, caucasian, Christian male... but surely there are better ways to serve the greater good?
How about 70 million dollars a year to find families for the 47,885 Canadian children in foster care, 62 per cent of whom were aged 14 and under. (source 2011 Census)
That's 12 choices apiece for each of those 4000 Ontario women. Of course, that'll never happen.
Sorry kids, Kathleen Wynne has 1200 hypothetical babies per year who are apparently more important than you.
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POSTSCRIPT: If you build it...
...they will
Note that the province of Quebec which pioneered IVF in Canada, is shutting down after demand and costs soared much higher than expected.
Surprise, surprise.