Hundreds of health-care workers and public health officials gathered in Halifax on July 16 to demand action on health care as Canada’s premiers met for the annual Council of the Federation meeting. The rally, organized by the Nova Scotia Health Coalition and the Canadian Health Coalition, of which Unifor is a member, sent a strong message at a time when more and more provincial governments are opting to privatize health services rather than address long-standing problems and funding shortfalls in the public system.
Workers, unions, patients and patient advocates agree on their message: the privatization of Canada’s valuable public health system is a poison pill and must end.
Unifor National President Lana Payne addressed the crowd gathered at Peace and Friendship Park.
“The sad reality is that every single generation of Canadians in this country has had to fight for public health care,” Payne said. “It is our responsibility as the current generation to fight for it and defend it and build it back better for the next generation of Canadians.”
Payne spoke about the financial pressures Canadians are currently facing, reflected in a dramatic increase in industrial action in the public and private sectors.
“When you experience a crisis of financial inadequacy like we are currently experiencing, health care is even more important because it provides a balance,” she said.
Amid loud shouts and cheers, Payne told premiers that we needed their commitment to public health more than ever and that the teams saving lives and defending our dignity every day deserved the support of our public input.
Unifor Atlantic Regional Director Jennifer Murray mobilized workers from across Nova Scotia to attend the rally and spoke to members about the importance of this fight.
“There is nothing we will do as a group that compares to protecting and expanding public health care for all,” Murray said. “The greatest gift we could ever give ourselves and each other was free and fair access to diagnostics, support and care, to medicines – to our own well-being. We will not allow that to be taken away from us so that our existence can be monetized and exploited for profit.”
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Photos from the rally can be found on the Unifor Facebook page.
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