The Windsor-Essex Health Coalition is hosting what it’s calling an emergency town hall over the privatization of public health care.
The coalition will be hosting a public town hall Saturday in partnership with coalitions across Canada, including the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) and Canadian Health Coalition (CHC), to fight against the privatization of public health care, hospital funding cuts, and challenges to the Canada Health Act.
The group is advocating for the federal government to enforce the Canada Health Act and take steps to ensure private, for-profit, U.S.-style health care is kept out of Canada.
The coalitions point to Alberta’s Bill 11, which took effect this year and allows physicians to charge patients for medically necessary healthcare services while also billing the public healthcare system.
Health coalitions across the country say the changes could lead to a two-tier healthcare system.
Windsor-Essex Health Coalition Co-Chair Patrick Hannon says the Canadian Health Act guarantees every Canadian access to health care, regardless of income.
Hannon says we must do something now.
“Otherwise, we will lose our publicly funded health care services slowly, slowly over time. Wait times will get longer,” he says.
Hannon says there will be a discussion and a chance for public engagement during the meeting.
“We’ll have a panel style so that people can ask questions of either local interests, federal interests, or provincial interests. Also, about what we’re doing as an organization fighting for people for public health care,” he says.
The town hall meeting is set for Saturday, November 14, at 1 p.m. at the Giovanni Caboto Club at 2175 Parent Avenue, Windsor.
The speakers at the meeting will include Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition, and Haylee Keyes, Director of Development and Community Engagement of the Canadian Health Coalition.
The panel discussion will include Mehra, Keyes, Hannon, and Windsor West New Democrat MPP Lisa Gretzky.