Photo: Maude Barlow speaking in Oshawa last night. Photo by Tracey Newman
The Council of Canadians and the Canadian Union of Public Employees hosted a town hall meeting last night in Oshawa to discuss the $14 billion cut to health care funding in Ontario over the next ten years by the Harper government. The gathering featured Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow, CUPE president Paul Moist, and Ontario Health Coalition coordinator Natalie Mehra.
Last night, Barlow tweeted, “In Oshawa with Paul Moist and Natalie Mehra at a public event to fight for public education. Great turnout.”
Barlow has stated, “With fair federal funding, we can create the health care system we need, with quality public health care for every Ontarian and every Canadian. But when the federal government let the 2004 Health Accord expire and refused to negotiate a new agreement with the provinces and territories, it walked away from its responsibility to protect our public health care system.”
Our CUPE ally Mary Catherine McCarthy tweeted, “Maude Barlow in Oshawa – we need a national pharmacare program – CETA trade deal makes it harder to get”. And Council of Canadians Board member Pam Beattie tweeted, “Maude Barlow warns of the rising cost of drugs if CETA is signed.” Beattie also tweeted, “Maude Barlow ‘Harper gov’t has an agenda to privatize health care. It has to be our vow we are not going to let it happen'” and “Maude reminds us that every generation had to fight for public health care”.
Barlow and Moist will also be speaking at upcoming public forums in:
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Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario – September 18 -
Campbell River, British Columbia – October 20 -
Courtenay, British Columbia – October 21
To date, there have also been successful town hall meetings in Winnipeg, Moncton, Bridgewater, Regina, North Bay, and Charlottetown.
For more about the Council of Canadians campaign to defend public health care, please see our campaign web-page.