TORONTO, Oct. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- At a press conference in front of the Toronto Public Health building in downtown Toronto, dozens of organizations announced a large rally on Saturday, November 9th at 11:30 am at Nathan Phillips Square. More than 50 organizations have come together to stop the cuts to and eliminations of local health care services by the Doug Ford government. The groups include students, seniors, community agencies, faith and social justice organizations, health professional organizations, unions, nurses, doctors, patients and representatives of City Council.
The Doug Ford government is planning to:
- Cut Public Health funding & eliminate 25 out of 35 local Public Health Units, reducing them to 10.
- Eliminate 49 out of 59 local ambulance services, reducing them to 10 & eliminate 12 of 22 local dispatch centres.
- Make real-dollar cuts to public hospital funding, even though we have the fewest hospital beds left per person of any province in Canada and a crisis of hospital overcrowding. More cuts mean more services & staff cuts, less services, longer waits, more privatization & higher death rates.
- Make real-dollar cuts to long-term care homes, forcing municipalities to either raise taxes or cut services for elderly & chronic care residents.
Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition pointed out that, “The Ford government has appointed a facilitator to try to modify the cuts, but still move them through. This is not good enough. The Ford government has no mandate to cut Public Health, ambulance services, hospitals and long-term care.” She went on to affirm that, “There is no evidence to support the elimination and cuts to these vital local services.”
Speaking at the campaign launch, City of Toronto Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam noted that, “The City of Toronto will be disproportionately impacted by the Public Health cuts.” She went on to say, “As far as we are aware, we are going to be seeing about a billion dollars of funding cuts over the next five years. This is going to have tremendous impact on the residents of Toronto. It is not going to be good.” She called on residents to join the rally in the thousands or tens of thousands, in order to save the services.
Cathryn Hoy, First Vice-President of the Ontario Nurses Association described the vital work done by Public Health nurses, which includes health promotion programs and infectious disease prevention. She noted that Ontario hospitals are already suffering from underfunding and overcrowding and said, “Doug Ford promised to end hallway medicine, but these cuts will mean that more people will end up in hospital emergency departments and will do nothing to improve hospital overcrowding. In fact, they will make matters worse”
Ester Dubali a student at UofT who leads the UofT Health Coalition and the Legal Literacy Club emphasized that, “Students are already being impacted by OSAP cuts at school and now by these dramatic service cuts outside of school. We know how important these services are. Students are mobilizing to join the rally to send a strong message to Doug Ford.”
Dave Mitchell, President of CUPE Local 79, representing more than 20,000 municipal employees impacted by the cuts, including Public Health workers and long-term care workers asserted that, “These cuts that Premier Ford has announced and is pushing forward are unreasonable. They are unfair and they do not help residents of Ontario and the residents of Toronto. They are cutting services that protect and save people’s lives.”
The Ontario Health Coalition, which is sponsoring the rally, asked for Torontonians to come out to the rally, and to volunteer and donate if they can, to help make it a success. For more information on how to donate or volunteer with us, visit our website. Also, visit our website to find a comprehensive list of health care cuts by the Ford government to date. www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca
For more information: Natalie Mehra Executive Director at the Ontario Health Coalition (416) 230-6402.