Health Ministers from across the country are coming to Winnipeg this week, and health advocates are calling on them to speak out against health care privatization and Alberta’s Bill 11.
The Manitoba Health Coalition (MHC) is demanding stronger action from the Federal government to stop privatization and invest in public health care across the country. In the wake of ongoing threats to Canada’s economy and sovereignty, investing in our public programs, especially Medicare, must be of top concern.
Chronic underinvestment in public health care has weakened provincial health systems, and many forms of harmful privatization have been permitted to take root.
In Manitoba, millions of public dollars go to paying private, for-profit staffing agencies to fill gaps in the public system every year. The lack of pay equity for laboratory professionals working in community labs for the private, for-profit company Dynacare led to a day-long strike and is contributing to ongoing recruitment and retention challenges for lab workers in our province. Paid plasma collection centres in Winnipeg, operated by the private, for-profit company Grifols have been connected to the deaths of two Manitobans. One of these locations recently had its license suspended by Health Canada for failing to address serious non-compliance issues at the site.
The message from the Manitoba Health Coalition (MHC) is clear: profit has no place in the delivery of health care. Health care must be public, and access must always be based on medical need, not the ability to pay.
“We need to see stronger action from the federal government to enforce the Canada Health Act and keep profit out of health care, including our blood and plasma system. Canadian Blood Services must end their contract with Grifols and invest in a fully public, voluntary plasma collection system across Canada,” says MHC director Noah Schulz.
Across Canada, public health care is under attack like never before due to Alberta’s Bill 11. To address health care privatization and access issues here at home and to stand up for public health care across the country, MHC is hosting a town hall on October 15th at the Union Centre (275 Broadway) from 6:30pm to 8pm in room 103. We will be joined by Alberta’s Friends of Medicare’s Chris Gallaway.
We are also participating in a joint ad campaign with the Canadian Health Coalition with billboards across Winnipeg calling on Premiers to stop privatization and speak out against Alberta’s Bill 11.
Defending public health care takes political will and action. The federal government must show leadership in this time of economic crisis and threats to Canada’s sovereignty by defending the Canada Health Act and investing necessary funds to back up the principles of universality, accessibility, and comprehensiveness enshrined in the Act. The future of Medicare across this country depends on it.