Town Halls on the Future of Health Care

The Nova Scotia Citizens' Health Care Network invites you to attend a town hall meeting on the 2014 Health Accord and the future of public health care. There are four town halls: Bridgewater, Truro, Berwick and Tatamagouche.

The 2014 Health Accord is a negotiated agreement between the provincial, territorial and federal governments on funding for public health care into the future. The federal government has announced they will be unilaterally reducing funding for public health care after 2017, with major implications for our province.

The public is invited to attend to learn more about the 2014 Health Accord and the campaign to Protect, Strengthen and Extend Medicare. Folks will also be encouraged to give their feedback on what public health care should look like in the future.

BRIDGEWATER TOWNHALL

• Where: Girl Guide Cabin, 93 Dominion Street in Bridgewater
• When: Thursday, January 19, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

TRURO TOWNHALL

• Where: Best Western Glengarry in Truro
• When: Thursday, January 26th, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

BERWICK TOWNHALL

• Where: Berwick Fire Hall
• When: Wednesday, February 1st, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

TATMAGOUCHE TOWNHALL

• Where: Tatamagouche Fire Hall
• When: Monday, February 13th, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

These events are free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. These are the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh events in a series of town halls being held across the province. Town halls have previously been held in Yarmouth, Sydney and Halifax.

For more information please see our website or call our office at (902) 406-9422.

Hundreds of people took part in a town hall meeting Nov. 24 to show their support for an expanded public health care system

Public Health Care Is Best. We Must All Demand That Our Politicans Ensure It Is Protected And Expanded

A group of nearly 300 people, including a large contingent of NSGEU members led by President Joan Jessome, gathered in a church hall on Nov. 24 to talk about the importance of protecting and expanding our public health care system.

"This might be the most crucial conversation we've had about health care in canada since Medicare was created," well known activst Maude Barlow said during the meeting. "If we don't offer our own narrative about the future of health care in this country, we risk losing what we've fought so hard to build."

Organized by the Nova Scotia Citizens' Health Care Network, the town hall meeting occurred in conjunction with a two-day meeting in Halifax of the country's health ministers to begin sketching out the details of the 2014 Health Accord, which will set the priorities and funding levels of the health care system after the 10-year 2004 Health Accord runs out.

"This might be the most crucial conversation we've had about health care in canada since Medicare was created," well known activst Maude Barlow said during the meeting. "If we don't offer our own narrative about the future of health care in this country, we risk losing what we've fought so hard to build."

Organized by the Nova Scotia Citizens' Health Care Network, the town hall meeting occurred in conjunction with a two-day meeting in Halifax of the country's health ministers to begin sketching out the details of the 2014 Health Accord, which will set the priorities and funding levels of the health care system after the

10-year 2004 Health Accord runs out.

The 2004 Health Accord set out 10 years of stable funding for the health care system, including annual increases of six per cent. The Harper government has said it intends to provide similar funding to 2016, but has so far refused to make any committments beyond that.

Barlow warned that Harper's penchant for privatization could spell disaster for the health care system, saying that any time a service is privatized, it becomes suject to Canada's trade agreements, leaving us vulnerable to lawsuits from foreign countires and corporations hoping to bid on those contracts. It would mean losing control over our own health care to those who consider profits more important than care.

Barlow was joined on stage by Elisabeth Ballermann, the co-chair of a national organization of health care workers (including thousands of NSGEU members) called the Canadian Health Professionals Secretariat (CHPS). Ballerman challenged the widespread rhetoric that the costs of public health care are soaring out of control. She said it's the private health care services, such as pharamceuticals and for-profit clinics, where costs are exploding.

She also debunked the assertion that health care funding must be cut because it has been growing as a percentage of provinces' budgets. She said it's true that health care's percentage is growing, but that's only because the budgets of other public services are being cut. "It's like a family of four in which one of the kids moves out," she said. "Imagine the parents then saying to the child who's still at home: 'We have to cut the amount we spend on your food because yesterday it was a quarter of our budget and today it's a third!'"

The large turnout at the health care meeting reflected the widespread support public health care continues to enjoy in Canada. A national poll released on Nov. 24, for example, shows that 94 per cent of Canadians, including Conservatives, don't believe privatization is the answer.

But the meeting's speakers stressed that we must all be vigilant in communicating this to politicians. Citizens must write to their politicians demanding that the public system be maintained and strengthened.

The 2014 Health Accord, and Why It Matters To Every One of Us

The next chapter of Canada’s remarkable healthcare story is about to be written, and later this month, Nova Scotians will have a unique opportunity to say what we think should be included.

On Nov. 24 and 25, the health ministers of all 10 provinces and three territories will be meeting in Halifax. They’re getting together to begin sketching out their priorities and demands for the 2014 Health Accord, the Harper government’s promised follow-up to the landmark 2004 Health Accord which guaranteed 10 years of stable healthcare funding from the federal government.

In return for the stable funding, the provincial health ministers all agreed to maintain public systems that ensured access to all of their citizens regardless of where they lived or how much money they had. They provinces also agreed to:

• Reduce wait times
• Expand home care
• Bolster training programs for health professionals
• Establish electronic medical records
• Begin planning a national pharmacare program

Although challenges remain, it is widely acknowledged that the progress has been made on all of the 2004 Accord’s goals. Wait times have been reduced, home care has been expanded, and electronic records and pharmacare are in the works.

What will the 2014 Accord set out to accomplish? Will it guarantee affordable medicines by actually establishing a universal Pharmacare program similar to Medicare? Will it strive to further shorten wait times? Guarantee 24-hour emergency care to people living outside big cities? Push the healthcare system to begin properly addressing mental health? Or will it open the door, as many believe the Harper government wants, to privatization and two tiers of healthcare?

It’s all on the table, which is why it’s critical for Canadians and Nova Scotians to clearly tell government what they want.

To help do just that, NSGEU is joining forces with the Nova Scotia Health Citizens Health Care Network, the Council of Canadians, and the Canadian Health Professionals Secretariat to host a number of events coinciding with the health ministers’ meeting, including a press conference, a rally, and a town-hall meeting.

NSGEU is encouraging as many members as possible to take part in these events. Members who work in health care have a unique perspective on what the system needs and their participation would be incredibly valuable. But we all have a stake in a healthy health system, and every member should feel empowered to lend their voice to this incredibly important discussion.

You can also have your say by writing directly to Nova Scotia Health Minister Maureen MacDonald (and the two opposition health critics) by visiting the Nova Scotia Citizens Health Care Network website and filling out the form they've provided.

What I Can Do To Ensure Our Health Care System Gets Stronger

What will the 2014 Accord set out to accomplish? Will it guarantee affordable medicines by actually establishing a universal Pharmacare program similar to Medicare? Will it strive to further shorten wait times? Guarantee 24-hour emergency care to people living outside big cities? Push the healthcare system to begin properly addressing mental health? Or will it open the door, as many believe the Harper government wants, to privatization and two tiers of healthcare?

It’s all on the table, which is why it’s critical for Canadians and Nova Scotians to clearly tell government what they want.

To help do just that, NSGEU is joining forces with the Nova Scotia Health Citizens Health Care Network, the Council of Canadians, and the Canadian Health Professionals Secretariat to host a number of events coinciding with the health ministers’ meeting, including a press conference, a rally, and a town-hall meeting.

You can have your say by writing directly to Nova Scotia Health Minister Maureen MacDonald (and the two opposition health critics) by visiting the Nova Scotia Citizens Health Care Network website and filling out the form they've provided.

NSGEU is also encouraging as many members as possible to take part in these events. Members who work in health care have a unique perspective on what the system needs and their participation would be incredibly valuable. But we all have a stake in a healthy health system, and every member should feel empowered to lend their voice to this incredibly important discussion.

• Press Conference on Thursday, Nov. 24, 10:00 a.m. at Province House to promote the need to protect, strengthen and extend medicare. All Welcome!
• Town Hall Forum on Thursday, Nov. 24 at St. Andrew’s Church (corner of Robie and Coburg, I think they said). Doors open at 6 pm, the forum starts 6:30 pm. Maude Barlow will be the keynote speaker. Elisabeth Ballermann (Co-Chair of Canadian Health Professionals Secretariat) and Linda Silas (president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions) will also be speaking at the forum. There will also be breakout groups and people will be asked to help draft a “Citizens agenda for the future of health care.”
• Public Rally for Medicare on Friday, Nov 25 at 12 pm at Victoria Park. If there are enough people (at least 500) there will be a march to the site of where the Health Ministers are meeting.
   

Links To More Information About Canada's Changing Health Care System

Nova Scotia Citizens' Health Care Network

Canadian Health Coalition

Canadian Health Professionals Secretariat