One of the reasons ER wait times are high in Canada is because people go there for non-emergency situations. Would you go to the ER on Christmas Day to have stitches out? Or for a tummy ache? People did. They had long waits.
That can cover some pretty serious situations. But I assume you're talking about people going for gas pains or something like that.
My first exposure to the effects of "socialized" medicine was 43 years ago in the U.S. Air Force. My wife and I took our three month old daughter to the base hospital because we suspected she had a hernia. The waiting room was jammed with young mothers with kids with the sniffles taking advantage of the "free" medical services. As it turned out we were eventually seen by a doctor who was getting out of the service in 6 weeks for his new job at the Mayo Clinic as a pediatric surgeon. He said that this was a normal day except for our situation which turned out to be a double hernia. He was actually happy that there was someone he could help in his chosen specialty. He said the reason the services couldn't keep doctors on staff in peacetime conditions was the daily monotony of dealing with people who really shouldn't be at the hospital. He operated on our daughter three weeks later and we were very grateful that we lucked out in finding a really qualified doctor to take care of our precious daughter who had a legitimate problem.
The ER needs to refuse treatment for non-emergency situations.