“Health care is being attacked through politics—in Ontario, Doug Ford has been championing “innovative channels” and “alternate health facilities” for months. He hasn’t spelled out what he means by this—this could mean diverting our tax dollars—and eventually our savings—into for-profit companies.”
An Urgent Message from Broadbent Institute founder and Canada’s former federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent
Posted September 20th, 2022 on Niagara At Large
Ed Broadbent
Sixty years ago this summer, Canadians fought and won the campaign for medicare.
It wasn’t a given, and that’s still the case.
Opponents have spent decades trying to dismantle what we achieved together. And now, they’re treating our emergency room crisis as an opportunity to advance their cause.
Conservative think tanks and lobbyists are weaponizing the Emergency Room crisis across the country to push their agenda to privatize and undermine medicare. We need to act together to defend our public healthcare system before it’s too late.
Will you stand with thousands of other Canadians to demand the protection and expansion of <https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/healthcare-crisis>Yes I will <https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/healthcare-crisis>
Public health care has been under attack for decades. The current crisis isn’t new—it’s by design. And that’s why it’s so urgent for us to act now.
Health care is being attacked through politics—in Ontario, Doug Ford has been championing “innovative channels” and “alternate health facilities” for months. He hasn’t spelled out what he means by this—this could mean diverting our tax dollars—and eventually our savings—into for-profit companies.
Similar rhetoric is being used by conservative politicians in Alberta, New Brunswick and beyond.1 The decisions of these politicians to break up and sell off our system would shatter the gains we have made over the past decades.
Health care is being attacked through the courts—in 2020 the Cambie Surgeries Corporation took the province of British Columbia to court with three objectives: to allow physicians to charge patients more than the public health plan, to introduce cash-for-healthcare “queue-jumping” through private health insurance, and to allow preferential access to the highest bidders.
Fortunately, the courts ruled that the Cambie Corporation’s objectives “discriminate against the poor and ill… [and] exacerbate existing health inequities.” But how much longer can our underfunded public health system withstand aggressive campaigns to sell it off to the highest bidder?
Canadians are right to demand changes to our healthcare system. The status quo isn’t working—our nurses and doctors are straining to meet increasing demands amidst an onslaught of cuts and restructures.
That’s why progressives need to band together to protect the underlying principles of Canadian Medicare.
Moneyed interests and conservative ideologues haven’t given up. We’re in the same fight that started 60 years ago to protect the most vulnerable and realize a social democratic society. We must continue organizing and pushing Medicare further, and that means building power around practical solutions—not Conservative ideology—to the emergency room crisis.
Will you join together with thousands of other Canadians to defend our public health care system and deliver more equitable and effective care for all Canadians? Please sign our petition now. <https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/healthcare-crisis>
Sincerely, Ed Broadbent. Founder and Chair Emeritus, The Broadbent Institute
Who we are and what we believe – The Broadbent Institute, founded in 2011, is Canada’s leading progressive policy and training organization. With offices across the country, we champion change through excellent research and analysis, educating and supporting a new generation of leaders, and the publication of innovative journalism through our media division, PressProgress.
Our work is guided by the Broadbent Principles for Canadian Social Democracy – we believe all people have equal worth and equal rights, and that we all benefit from living in an increasingly equal society.
We are committed to realizing the promise of Canada as a diverse, just, and inclusive society. These values matter to us today and they matter to our future. The vast majority of Canadians share these progressive values.
For more information on the Broadbent Institute, click on – https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/
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