TORONTO (CP) -- It's enough to make Tommy Douglas spin in his grave: Canada's cherished public health system is destined to collapse because it's missing out on the competitive benefits of being run by the private sector.

Then again, no one will ever accuse John Stossel of being a conformist.

Stossel, a celebrated author, journalist and well-known contrarian, spent Wednesday in Toronto promoting his latest book, called Myths, Lies and Outright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel -- Why Everything You Know is Wrong.

"Somebody stopped me on the street in New York and said, 'Are you John Stossel? I hope you die soon,' " the ABC News correspondent said during a luncheon speech in Toronto hosted by the right-wing Fraser Institute.

"In Manhattan, to be a conservative is akin to being a child molester. But I'm not much of a conservative, I'm a libertarian. But liberals call me a conservative and hate me because I defend business."

Stossel told his audience he believes Canadians are missing out on many economic and competitive benefits by eschewing private health care.

"Isn't choice what Canada is supposed to be about?" he asked. "You don't even have the freedom to buy private health care . . . you don't know what you're missing."

Stossel is fond of attacking both the political left and the right in the U.S. He has won 19 Emmy awards for his television work and hosts the popular "Give me a Break" segment on ABC's newsmagazine show 20/20.

He's known for advocating small government and supporting capitalism, something he said is an unpopular concept among American and Canadian journalists.

Stossel compared the structure of some of Canada's social programs to those of the former Soviet Union, and warned that socialism does not work.

"It takes a long time for socialist systems to break down," he said, noting that Canadians are already travelling to U.S. cities like Buffalo for medical treatment that they can't get in a timely way at home.

"At first they work . . . but it's a slow breakdown."