Anne McLellan, the Chretien government’s new health minister, has performed a major policy flip-flop when it comes to her position on private hospitals and user fees.

During the debate over the Klein government’s controversial Bill 11, McLellan and fellow Edmonton-area MP David Kilgour distributed a joint leaflet to thousands of household in the capital region expressing their opposition to privatization in health care.

In the leaflet, McLellan and Kilgour said they had "grave reservations about investing public funds in private, for-profit facilities."

They even went so far as to say that Bill 11 would probably contravene the Canada Health Act – especially because it opens the door to patients paying out their own pockets for medically necessary treatment.

But that was then, this is now.

Within days for being appointed as the new federal Health Minister, McLellan reversed her previous position on privatization.

Instead of opposing private health care, McLellan now says that all options for reform should be considered – including allowing private companies to run public hospitals and allowing provincial governments to introduce substantial user fees.

In an interview with CTV News in early January, McLelland said that Canadians have to be "open-minded" when looking for ways to improve Medicare. As an example of this kind of flexibility, she said she sees nothing wrong with private corporations running public hospitals – as long as most services are still covered.

Aside from being an almost complete reversal – some would say betrayal – of her previous position, McLennan’s new approach also suffers from the problem of being based on myths and misconceptions.

All the evidence from around the world shows that public-private partnerships in health end up eroding public health care, not strengthening it.

Given that McLellan only won her Edmonton seat by a few hundred votes (and given that many voters supported her specifically because of her stated opposition to private health care) it is clear that the new health minister is skating on some pretty thin ice.

If she stands by and allows the Klein government to continue dismantling Medicare, that ice might start to crack under her.