Dear Members,
On February 7, Prime Minister Trudeau is hosting a meeting with provincial leaders to negotiate a deal on health care funding.
Will you take action today to ensure that deal helps build a stronger, public health care system?
Unifor launched a petition to send a message to provincial and federal decision-makers ahead of this meeting, and on February 7, union leaders and members will rally in Ottawa to protect the future of public health care.
We need your support to send a loud message that our public health care system needs to be protected and expanded and that we will not accept the privatization of the vital services that we rely on.
Join the Canadian Heath Coalition Rally.
Rally at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, ON
Tuesday, February 7, 2023, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET
Terry Fox Statue, Wellington St. & Metcalf St.
Look for the Unifor flags
For more information visit savehealthcare.ca
This meeting comes after months of negotiation, and in many provinces, decades of damage to public care.
Throughout the pandemic, hallways were overcrowded with patients, Intensive Care Units were full to capacity and many lost their lives in long-term care homes. Across the country, hospital emergency rooms closed due to staffing shortages.
Now, a renewed push by provinces to privatize hospital services is threatening to worsen the crisis by pulling even more staff out of the public system, and putting patients’ access to care at risk – especially vulnerable communities.
Keeping health care public must be the goal. Public health care is centred on the profoundly important principle of equality and accessibility. That commitment to equality is what makes these public systems superior to any other, and worth fighting for.
For years, Canadians have been demanding that federal and provincial governments put people before profits. It’s time to work together to address the crisis and improve our public health care:
- Increase federal transfer funding to provinces and territories, with accountability measures to ensure all funding for health care is invested in public, not-for-profit delivery, and to ensure adherence to the Canada Health Act.
- Implement a comprehensive strategy to retain and recruit healthcare workers and end the staffing crisis.
- Ensure funding is appropriately allocated and committed to fulfill the promises of creating national Pharmacare and dental programs.
- Phase out for-profit long-term care homes and transition toward community-based, publicly owned or non-profit homes.
The time to act is now. Sign the petition and join the rally.
In solidarity,
Lana Payne
Unifor National President