The Council of Canadians South Niagara and Hamilton chapters took part in a protest at Liberal MPP Jim Bradley’s office in St. Catharines today.
Today’s protest was part of an Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) call for regional days of action to stop health care cuts and privatization.
The OHC says, “In this, the eighth consecutive year of real-dollar decreases to community hospitals’ global budgets, cuts are happening everywhere. Maternity wards are under threat of closure; entire community hospitals serving hundreds of thousands of patients being closed down; outpatient clinics are being privatized, small town hospitals losing entire wards; large hospitals are facing deficits in the millions of dollars; and thousands of nurses, health professionals and hospital support staff positions being cut and eliminated. As public hospital services are being slashed, ownership and control over vital care is being privatized to for-profit companies, patients are hit with new user fees and two-tier health care is taking over. And with the recommendations of the government’s panel on home care, the last remaining public and non-profit home care services are under renewed threat of privatization.”
In the media release for these days of action, Toronto-based Council of Canadians health care campaigner Michael Butler says, “We must send the message to all political parties that our health is not for sale. Too many people have fought too hard and too long to end up being left with so very little. Unlike like this government, the people of Ontario think access to quality health care in their community is right and not a privilege. These hospital cuts are about two different sets of values, ours and theirs.”
The next regional days of action will take place in Ottawa on June 12 and in London on June 26.
For more details on those days of action, please click here.
For more on the Council of Canadians campaign to defend and expand public health care, click here.
Further reading
South Niagara chapter campaigns to keep Welland hospital open (November 2014 blog)
Peterborough-Kawarthas chapter opposes for-profit health care clinics (November 2014 blog)
Windsor-Essex chapter opposes closure of Leamington hospital’s obstetrics unit (January 2015 blog)
London chapter protests closure of Leamington hospital’s obstetrics unit (March 2015 blog)
