By Tami Eagen – Sydenham Current
The Wallaceburg-Walpole Island Health Coalition is organizing a free bus trip to Queen’s Park in Toronto in an effort to rally for public healthcare in the province.
Shirley Roebuck, the coordinator for the group, told the Sydenham Current the trip is taking place on April 30, with the pick-up taking place in the NcNaughton Avenue Tim Horton’s parking lot at 7:30 a.m.
“We are going to join with thousands of other Ontarians who are upset about Doug Ford’s plan for restructuring healthcare,” Roebuck said.
“We will be holding a rally and then immediately boarding the bus again and coming home. Our new government created Bill 74, The People’s Health Care Act, which gives the Government and the Minister of Health sweeping power to restructure healthcare through privatization, amalgamation, integration and closures of healthcare. It will allow for profit companies to access the public healthcare market and it will allow for profit companies to change public healthcare services into for profit. It will also allow mega mergers of hospitals.”
Roebuck said when Mike Harris was Premier, he spent $3.8-billion to save $1.8 million.
“The Bill that Mr. Ford is supporting certainly is much more sweeping and in our opinion, much worse,” she said.
“People of Ontario want public healthcare to remain.”
Roebuck said this will likely impact smaller communities like Wallaceburg.
“Mr. Ford has stated that he is going to save half a billion dollars for OHIP,” she said.
“There is simply no way that our community would escape cut backs and closures being as that is the amount of dollars that must be saved. As far as what will happen locally, obviously nothing has been announced yet, but I foresee small rural hospitals like Wallaceburg being on the chopping block. I foresee services that our community can access in Chatham being moved to a larger centre. I foresee user fees and other types of fees stringing up at private clinics such as ophthalmology clinics and other types of healthcare clinics.”
Roebuck added: “This is not what the public wants and this is not what was good for Ontario.”
Roebuck said she is asking anyone interested in taking the bus to contact her ahead of time.
“Please don’t show up the morning of. We may or may not have an empty seat. The response has been quite positive,” she said.
Roebuck can be reached at 226-402-2724 and by email at goddess@bell.net.
“This bus trip is totally free,” she said.
“The bus is a coach bus. It is equipped with a washroom and a light lunch will be provided and it is totally free. Come out and join us. Take one day out of your life, please and come and help us save public healthcare.”
Roebuck said for people who can’t come on the bus trip, there are other ways to show your support.
“I know it is a rather difficult journey to make, write to your MPP or call your MPP or even email your MPP and say you want healthcare services to remain public and you want the hospitals in Chatham-Kent, the hospital in Chatham and the Wallaceburg campus, to be left alone,” she said.
“No closures, no cuts.”
