Vaughn Palmer: B.C. NDP cross a political Rubicon by sending cancer patients to U.S.

VICTORIA — Health Minister Adrian Dix tried to put the best face on his decision this week to send almost 5,000 B.C. cancer patients to the United States for needed radiation treatment.

He acknowledged up front the embarrassment for a party that routinely makes political hay disparaging the U.S. system.

“I understand the political challenge,” Dix told Katie DeRosa of Postmedia News. “But if you care about health care and cancer care, it’s not really a difficult question.”

At the same time the NDP health minister tried to play down the significance of the decision to rely on the American system, referring to “sending a relatively small number of patients to Washington state.”

Not so small, according to Dix’s own numbers.