National

NDP want emergency debate on private health care

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Jan, 2023 10:54 AM

OTTAWA - Federal New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will call on the House of Commons to hold an emergency debate on the privatization of health care.

It’s a top priority for the leader as members of Parliament return to the House Monday following a holiday break.

Singh spent some of that time away holding round table discussions on health care in British Columbia to discuss emergency room overcrowding and worker shortages.

Singh says health care is already understaffed and he believes for-profit facilities will poach doctors and nurses away from hospitals.

Today I am calling for an Emergency Debate in Parliament.

Conservatives govts are planning US-style privatization.

Justin Trudeau is on board with them.

I want to strengthen, protect and expand our public health care system.

I'm fighting back - for you and your loved ones. pic.twitter.com/YzcBoVpVLv
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) January 30, 2023

When you rush into an ER, health care workers should be ready. There should be enough of them.

Conservatives want to hand health care to American-style for-profit corporations, taking nurses and doctors out of hospitals.

Justin Trudeau is siding with them.

I won't.
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) January 30, 2023

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government announced earlier this month that it’s moving some procedures to publicly funded, private facilities to address a growing surgery waitlist, which worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan have already made similar moves.

“Health care is already dramatically understaffed, and for-profit facilities will poach doctors and nurses — cannibalizing hospitals, forcing people to wait longer in pain and wracked with anxiety,” Singh said in a statement to The Canadian Press.

The NDP say they're also concerned that private facilities will upsell patients for brands and services not covered by the province, and tack on extra fees and services.

On Saturday Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said his Liberal government will ensure people don’t use their credit cards for health-care services and health care will remain universally public.

If Singh’s request for an emergency debate is granted it could go ahead as early as Monday evening.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Union wants national transit safety task force

A task force should consider whether de-escalation training, harsher penalties, increased mental health funding, better housing supports and greater police presence could help prevent violence on transit. The call for a task force came after a number of violent attacks targeting workers and riders on the Toronto Transit Commission.

Union wants national transit safety task force

U.S., Canada unveil details of new Nexus scheme

The biggest change, to take effect in the spring, will allow U.S. border agents to interview Nexus applicants at select Canadian airports before boarding a U.S.-bound flight. That will happen only after applicants take part in a separate, appointment-only interview with Canadian agents at a Nexus airport enrolment centre.

U.S., Canada unveil details of new Nexus scheme

What methods does Ottawa want RCMP to stop using?

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino directed Commissioner Brenda Lucki to bar Mounties from using the method in a mandate letter last year. The fact that he also asked RCMP to stop using two other tools — tear gas and rubber bullets — has received less public attention.

What methods does Ottawa want RCMP to stop using?

66 more potential graves at former B.C. school

In addition to the reflections found in a technical survey, she said interviews with survivors and searches through archival records revealed that babies born as a result of child sexual assault at the mission were disposed of by incineration. Spearing said their work found "a minimum" of 28 children died at the mission, many of them buried in unmarked graves around the site.

66 more potential graves at former B.C. school

Famed Canadian skating coach guilty of sex assault

Richard Gauthier was on trial on three charges in connection with crimes he committed in the 1980s involving a teenage male skater whom he trained. Gauthier, 61, was found guilty on two charges, in a ruling rendered in Montreal by Quebec court Judge Josée Bélanger. He was acquitted of a third count of indecent assault against the victim, whose identity is covered by a publication ban.

Famed Canadian skating coach guilty of sex assault

'Take action,' drivers urged man on bridge: police

Police say drivers on the Alex Fraser Bridge outside Vancouver honked and yelled at a man in a mental health crisis standing outside the safety rail, with some encouraging him to "take action." According to a police statement, some drivers walked up the bridge deck, interfered with the negotiations, and videoed or photographed the man.