It’s not testing that’s the issue, at least as far as I understood from @elbows and @Horatius. Elbows was suggesting that non-vaxxed patients should pay $100 / day for their hospital treatment, and Horatius was suggesting that they should pay full freight, “no medicare for you!”
The problem is that those approaches would completely undercut the basic principle of Medicare: any Canadian citizen or permanent resident has a right to go to any hospital and get medical treatment, without paying. It’s a basic right, without any moral judgment about how you got there:
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long-term smoker and need cancer treatment? Medicare covers you.
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engaged in risky or even illegal physical activity, like rock-climbing or elevator riding, and got hurt? Medicare covers you.
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drove drunk, got in an accident, killed someone, and got hurt yourself? Medicare covers you.
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tried to rob a bank, got shot and rushed to the hospital? Medicare covers you.
That’s one of the rock-solid foundations for the Canadian medicare system: if you arrive at a hospital and need medical treatment, Medicare covers you.
The proposals here would drastically change that basic principle: Government gets to decide if you’re morally worthy to get hospital care, in a system where Government has an effective monopoly on medical care.
That’s different from testing. If a test is ordered in a hospital setting, it’s covered by Medicare, as a result of the Canada Health Act’s funding conditions.
If a test is ordered by a physician outside a hospital setting, the provinces have discretion whether to cover those tests, because they’re not part of the core of Medicare: medical treatment in a hospital.
But as I understand it, Elbows and Horatius are not talking about covid tests; they’re talking about charging patients in a hospital for medical treatment. That goes contrary to the fundamental principle of the Canada Health Act. It imports a moral judgment into access to health care.