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November 28, 2014 - Vol. 4
No. 2
Defeat the Austerity Agenda!
Defend the Right to Health Care!
Queen's Park, November 21,
2014 (OFL)
Defeat
the
Austerity
Agenda!
• Defend the Right to Health Care!
• Rally and March Demand End to Wynne
Government's Systematic Dismantling of Public Community Hospitals
• The Fight for Health Care as a Right Must
Look
to the Future, Not the Past
• Oppose Harper Government's Attack on
Refugees' Right to Health
Care
Defeat the Austerity Agenda!
Defend the Right to Health Care!
On November 21, the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC)
organized a mass rally and march at Queen's Park to save local
hospitals.
One of the main features of the event was the
determination of the
working people of Ontario to fight to ensure that health care is a
right and that a modern society like Canada and province like Ontario
guarantee that right with a well-organized, accessible, modern health
care system that meets the needs of Ontarians.
The rally and march expressed the determination of the participants to
fight for this right and defeat the austerity agenda of the rich in
Ontario and Canada.
 In the call for the action,
OHC Executive Director Natalie Mehra
stated, "Ontario's government is forging ahead with the most aggressive
plan ever to strip local community hospitals of services and cut or
privatize them. If we do not take action now, it is no exaggeration to
warn that community hospitals as
we know them will be totally dismantled.
"Ontario's hospitals have already been cut for 20 years.
We have
suffered the deepest cuts in Canada. We actually have the fewest
hospital beds left per person of virtually every country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
"Despite the deepest hospital cuts of all peer
jurisdictions in
Canada and internationally, our government continues to plan to
eviscerate hospital services. The Ontario government is already
systematically closing down outpatient services: physiotherapy, labs,
pain clinics, fertility clinics and so on. Their written
plan is to close all outpatient services. They will go to private
clinics.
"They now plan to cut as many surgeries and diagnostic
tests from
local public hospitals as possible, and contract them out to private
clinics.
"Draconian cuts to chronic care (complex continuing
care) beds are
planned -- in some areas, the government is planning to cut 50% of the
remaining beds.
"Patients are faced with driving further for care as it
is taken out
of local hospitals and centralized into one factory-like private clinic
per region.
"Local community hospitals are told to shrink the scope
of the
services they provide and specialize in only a few things. Patients
will have to drive from site to site to get care.
"User fees and co-payments are required for virtually
every service
moved out of our public hospitals. Private clinics are charging user
fees in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars for extra add-ons, in
violation of the Canada Health Act and the principles of
Public Medicare in Canada.
"Even most politicians do not realize the full extent of
the plan to
dismantle our community hospitals. As we have seen for decades, it will
not save money -- at least not for patients -- but it will fragment
care, worsen access, lead to wholesale privatization and two-tier
health care.
"Our response must be commensurate to the threat and the
threat is at an all-time high.
"Regular Ontarians from
every walk of life -- local
businesses,
seniors, care workers, health professionals, students; all of us who
care about equal access to health care based on need not wealth -- we
all have a vital interest in saving our community hospitals."
 At the rally a number of
speakers spoke to the need to unite to
lobby the Wynne government to stop the privatization of health care.
Others also spoke about the need to defeat the Harper government whose
brutal anti-social agenda since coming to power in 2006 has cut social
programs and privatized them,
reduced transfer payments for social programs to the provinces and
created an untenable situation for the people.
What is important to take up for solution on the
question of health care is to create a society which recognizes it as a
right. The newest neo-liberal assaults on health care claim that so
long as it is pubicly financed, it can be privately delivered and the
competition amongst the health care monopolies is very sharp. As is the
case across the country, the working people in Ontario must work
out how to put political initiative in their hands. Raising the banner
of their rights within the context of fighting for the rights of all is
an important starting point. To prepare for the federal election an
agenda can be set to keep the parties out of power which refuse to
recognize that the people have rights by virtue of being human.
It will be important for the working people of Ontario
who participated in this rally-- health care workers, teachers, public
sector workers and those in other sectors -- as well as seniors,
students and others to think about how to intervene in the upcoming
federal election. By raising high the banner of their rights and
working together in a manner that advances the fight to defeat the
anti-social austerity agenda of the rich, headway can be made.
Rally and March Demand End to Wynne Government's
Systematic Dismantling of Public Community Hospitals
Some 3,000 people -- seniors, health care professionals
and advocates, along with students, workers and their unions --
travelled to Queen's Park from across Ontario to participate in a noon
time rally on November 21, opposing the Wynne government's cuts to
public health care. They came from Ottawa, Sudbury,
Owen Sound, Windsor, Peterborough, Oshawa, London, Welland, St.
Catharines, Stratford, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Hamilton, and other
communities to demand that the Wynne government defend public health
care and oppose the austerity agenda of the rich.
Speakers and participants alike at the action organized
by the Ontario Health Coalition, denounced the destruction of the
public health care system, built on the basis of the people's struggle
to provide health care as a basic human right for all -- whether rich
or
poor and no matter their status in society. Each community
delegation carried signs for a "parade of cuts" that highlighted the
particular attack on public health care they are facing, often in the
name of "fiscal responsibility and efficiency." Five hospitals are
slated for closure in the Niagara Region alone and the fight to keep
them open has been going on for many years.
The rally denounced the austerity agenda of the Wynne
government as funds continue to be diverted from community hospitals
and health facilities into the private sector and the building of P3
hospitals. The secret nature of many of these cuts, with decisions
being made behind closed doors was also condemned.
It was pointed out that Ontario's funding of hospitals is the lowest in
all of Canada and the more than 1,000 private clinics operating in
Ontario today are charging ever larger user-fees, while at the same
time bilking the Ontario Health Insurance Program. The rally condemned
the Ontario government for its plans
to close outpatient clinics and cut chronic care beds by as much as 50
per cent in some areas and cut back on surgeries, contracting them out
to private clinics. Speakers too raised the need to get rid of the
Harper government, which is withholding transfer funds to the
provinces, thereby squeezing the provincial governments
of much needed funds for health care.
No Liberal minister or MPP dared to accept the
organizers' invitation to speak to the rally.
Participants marched down "hospital row" on University
Avenue following the rally, demanding Health Care For Everyone! Stop
the Cuts! Many cars and passers-by expressed support for the action.
Who Said What
Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health
Coalition
These are not hospital cuts as usual. It is the
systematic dismantling of public community hospitals all across this
province. We are seeing the death of community hospitals and we must
take a stand to stop these cuts and privatization
now if we are to save our local public hospitals and preserve care in
our hometowns.
Ross Sutherland, Registered Nurse and Chair, Ontario
Health Coalition
We are experiencing the most aggressive moves to
dismantle local community hospital services in decades. As care is
moved out of our hospitals it is being privatized and patients face
higher costs, user fees and worse access
to care.
Sue Hotte, Chair, Niagara Health Coalition
Our communities fundraised, volunteered and worked to
build up our local hospitals for more than a century. Now the
government is wiping out more than a hundred years of dedicated work by
community members to build our towns and take care of
each other. We must stop them before it is too late.
Vicky McKenna, Ontario Nurses' Association
The cuts to
nursing staff have had a serious impact on our health care system. Over
1,700 nursing jobs have been cut over the last two years.
Fran Moreau, Nurse, Penetanguishene
I have worked for 35 years as a nurse at the
Penetanguishene General Hospital and we have an efficient hospital for
the community with rehabilitation, palliative care and other
facilities. Tomorrow they are going to start moving patients from our
hospital because
they want to close it down in 2016. We must try and stop them.
Sid Ryan, President, Ontario Federation of Labour
For years public health-care funding in Ontario has been
frozen. Ontario ranks second last in terms of 47 jurisdictions in the
industrialized world when it comes to investing in public health care
and this must stop. More than 1,000 private
clinics have been opened in Ontario as part of privatization.
Warren "Smokey" Thomas, President, OPSEU
What do we do next? We will have build up opposition --
the labour movement, the Ontario Health Coalition and the citizens --
to let all MPPs know that we will not accept the cuts to health care.
Hassan Yusseff, President, CLC
We must resist the cuts to health care. In the next
federal election we will choose a new government. We must defeat the
Harper government, which has caused cuts in elder care, in pharmacare.
It is the national government that must protect health care in the
provinces.
Fighting for health care is not an easy fight, but it is a worthwhile
one. It is time to grow our health care system, not shrink it.
Paul Moist, National President, CUPE
Health care workers make health care work in Ontario.
Ontario is one of the provinces that invests the least in public health
care. Private health care does not work. P3s do not work. We say
no to private health clinics in Ontario. We stand together as
Canadians.
We want public health care.
Darryl Dular, Older Canadians Network
I came to Canada 48 years ago. One of the things I
appreciate about being in Canada is Medicare and public health care. It
is not uncommon in the United States where I am from to see for houses
being sold to cover medical bills. We don't want that in Canada.
We might fight to keep our health care system public.
The Fight for Health Care as a Right
Must Look to the
Future, Not the Past
 One of the common
misconceptions about health care and other social
programs in Canada is that they existed in an ideal form at some point
in the past and the fight today is to return society to that time.
Following the Second World War, certain arrangements
were put in
place as part of the post-war social contract, in part to ensure labour
peace but also to make sure the monopolies received a healthy
workforce free of cost to themselves. Today, neo-liberal
governments at all levels are dismantling all those arrangements
because the private interests want to receive public funds to enhance
their competitive position to be number one in their field. Health care
is no exception. The fight is in the here and now, for a modern health
care
system based on new pro-social arrangements and a modern definition of
rights -- that everyone has the
right to health care by virtue of their
being human.
A recent item published in the Globe and Mail,
entitled, "Five Things Most People Get Wrong about Canada's Health-care
System," by Kathleen O'Grady and Noralou Roos, shows some of the
shortcomings of the present system
that must be addressed. The article refers to the recent court
challenge before the British
Columbia Supreme Court which threatened "to change the rules of the
game for
the Canadian health-care system -- should the challenge have made its
way to the Supreme Court of Canada and found success there. Dr. Brian
Day of The Cambie Surgeries
Corporation is contesting the ban against 'extra billing' for
privately-provided health services, and for the right of doctors to
work simultaneously in both the public and private health spheres."
The judge has now permitted an adjournment of
the case to
March of next year "to allow those involved the possibility to resolve
some of the issues before the court -- so it is not likely to be the
game changer that some Canadians hoped and many Canadians feared."
The authors point out that there are many misconceptions
about the health care system as it presently exists, which those who
are fighting the anti-social changes to health care, through court
challenges and other means, often overlook. They cite five common
misconceptions.
Protest against
for-profit health care,
Cambie, BC, August 20, 2012.
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The first is that doctors are not government employees
but self-employed professionals who bill the provincial governments to
earn their income. Thus, the authors point out, this already makes
system "a mix of private providers billing
governments for publicly funded services."
The second common misconception is that there is one
Canadian health care system, when in fact there are actually 15
systems, one for each province and territory. While Canada Health
Act states that physician and hospital health services should be
universal and accessible
across the
country, how this is implemented "including
what is covered and how, are determined provincially. In addition, the
federal government has responsibility for aboriginal and veteran health
care." Therefore, coordinating health reforms across the country is not
straightforward.
Following on the second point, they authors' third point
is that what are considered "essential health services" are defined
differently in each provincial/territorial system. "For example,
Quebec's publicly-funded system includes
fertility
treatments, while most other provinces do not. Some provinces,
including British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, pay for births
delivered by licensed midwives, while several provinces and territories
do not. Eligible funded therapies for autism vary
widely across the country. Abortion services are not equally accessible
across the country.
"The Canada Health Act does not cover
prescription drugs,
home care or long-term care, and as a result, there are widely
different approaches for these services in each province."
The fourth point is that user fees are not permitted for
services covered by a publicly funded health care system. However,
"some physicians get around the letter of the law by
charging 'annual fees' as part of a
comprehensive package of services they offer their patients. Such
charges are completely optional and can only be for non-essential
health options." Other incidental charges might include a fee for
missed appointments, doctor's notes or over-the-phone prescription
refills.
Lastly, the authors point out that "Canada does not
truly have
a 'single payer' system
meaning a significant portion of Canadian health care comes from both
public and private financing. Notably, most people pay for eye and
dental care themselves, and more than 60 per cent of presciption
medicines are paid for privately. In fact, "Canada is the only country
with a universal health care
system that
does not include prescription drugs," they note. Therefore, a similar
percentage to Canadians hold private health insurance as do Americans.
Oppose Harper Government's
Attack on Refugees' Right to Health Care
Opposition to the Harper government's odious attempt to
deny
refugees the right to health care by changing the Interim Federal
Health Program in April 2012 is one of the important aspects of the
fight to defend the right to health care for all. These anti-social
changes have been vigorously opposed by those
in the health care sector, refugee advocates and all justice-minded
people. In July, Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish ruled that these
changes were unconstitutional on the basis that cutbacks had the effect
of being "cruel and unusual," rejecting the government's claims that
the system is being abused. In her 268-page
decision, Mactavish stated: "It puts their lives at risk and
perpetuates the stereotypical view that they are cheats and
queue-jumpers." She gave the government until November 4 to revise the
policy. The Harper government asked for a stay while it appealed the
decision. This request was denied on October 31. In his
decision to deny the stay, Justice Wyman W. Webb, wrote that the harm
from reverting to the pre-2012 program is outweighed "by the harm that
would be suffered by those who would have reduced health coverage."
Health care workers in
Mississauga participate in third annual day of action
to stop cuts to refugee
health
care, June 16, 2014.On November 4, the Harper government implemented revised
health
program measures, which include medication for children and prenatal
care. While it has now complied with the Justice Mactavish's July
ruling, the Toronto Star points out that the temporary
measures do not restore the program
that was in place prior to 2012: "The previous [Interim Federal Health
Program] provided access to medical care, diagnostic services and
laboratory testing very similar to what is provided by provincial
health plans. It also provided access to medications, emergency dental
care and vision care similar to what is available
to people on provincial social assistance plans."
The Harper government's changes will be in effect only
until it
exhausts all legal avenues as to whether denying health care to refugee
claimants is unconstitutional. Despite being chastised twice by the
court, the Harper government has affirmed that it will continue its
narrow agenda to deny rights. Immigration
Minister Chris Alexander emphasized that new measures are temporary.
"Our government is complying with the recent federal court decision by
implementing new measures under the [Interim Federal Health Program].
Our position has not changed," he said in a statement. "The court's
decision is offside with Canadians'
views on this issue and will cost Canadian taxpayers $4 million more
per year. We will continue vigorously to appeal the court's decision
and defend the interests both of Canadian taxpayers and genuine
refugees who need and deserve Canada's protection."
The Harper government's attempts to deny international
refugee law and treat refugees with respect is based in part on the
anti-social propaganda that the society
does not produce enough wealth to provide for the needs of its members,
whether they be citizens or otherwise. The misappropriation of public
funds through pay-the-rich schemes, Canada's involvement in unnecessary
wars
and government's that defend
monopoly right not public right are covered up as is the fact that
Canada's working people produce more
than enough for pay for health care and other social programs. The fact
is that the Harper government is racist to the core and only wants
refugees from those areas where it feels it can control them.
In a modern society health care is a right and rights
belong to
people by virtue of their being human, without consideration as to
one's status as a citizen, refugee, landed immigrant, etc. Not only
that, but public health requires that everyone, whether they are
citizens or not, be treated for health problems, otherwise
untreated conditions can become broader public health problems. To
claim that
some people should not have their right to health care recognized
because they are refugees is an attack on the rights of all and must
not pass!
For further discussion of this matter, Ontario
Political Forum is
posting below
a commentary by Jennifer Bond, an Assistant Professor of Law at the
University of Ottawa, originally published in the Toronto Star,
as
to
why
the
government's
position
is not only unjust but in contempt
of the law.
***
The Harper government's recent decision to
continue denying health care benefits to certain groups of refugees is
deeply problematic not only because it means vulnerable people in this
country will continue to suffer, and possibly die.
Toronto, June 16,
2014
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All Canadians -- regardless of their views on refugee
health care --
should also be deeply alarmed by the fact that this week our government
chose to blatantly ignore an explicit court order. This type of action
cuts directly against the rule of law, one of the most fundamental
principles in any democracy. Canadians
need to know that this has happened. And they need to care.
In the refugee health care cuts case, the government
lost in court.
In July 2014, Justice Anne Mactavish of the Federal Court determined
that cuts to refugee health care amounted to cruel and unusual
punishment that could not be justified. She found that changes made in
2012 are putting lives at risk in a way
that is unconstitutional.
The rule of law requires that we all obey court rulings
-- even when
we lose or disagree. Respect for the rule of law makes sure that no
person, organization or government is above the legal regimes that
enable our society to function. It is a key mechanism for ensuring that
the power we give to the powerful
does not become absolute.
The rule of law does not mean that every court decision
is always
right. When parties lose in court, they have a right to appeal the
decision through legal channels. When a government loses in court, it
also has the right to propose new laws that aim to meet the same
objectives or, even, to trigger a constitutional
mechanism that allows it to proceed notwithstanding a rights violation.
No party, however, has the right simply to ignore what a
court has required them to do. Even the government.
In the refugee health care cuts case, the government has
chosen to
appeal its loss to the Federal Court of Appeal. While some may find
this decision disappointing, it is absolutely within the government's
right to do so.
The government's decision to appeal the case has no
impact, however,
on the validity of the Federal Court's original decision. After
concluding that the 2012 changes to refugee health care were having a
"devastating impact," Justice Mactavish ordered that the legal
instrument that changed the refugee health care
scheme in Canada would stop having legal force on Nov. 4.
Once that instrument (an order in council issued in
2012) became
legally "void," it ceased having any effect on the laws that existed
before it was passed. As a result, the government has, since Nov. 5,
been legally required to provide refugee claimants with the same
coverage it had before the 2012 changes.
To be clear, the government still has the power to
change the scope
and content of the health care coverage it provides to refugees. It can
pass new laws or repeal the old scheme. It has done neither, which
means it is bound by the legal order that existed before the changes in
2012.
The government also had the right to ask the Federal
Court of Appeal
to put a temporary "freeze" on Justice Mactavish's order until after
its appeal of her decision has been heard.
This freeze is called a "stay" and it ensures that a
party is not
required to comply with a lower court order that would cause it
irreparable harm if the decision ends up being reversed on appeal.
The government chose to exercise this right and asked
for a stay in
the refugee health care cuts case. It lost this request: on Oct. 31 the
Federal Court of Appeal confirmed that the government had to follow
Justice Mactavish's order beginning [November 4].
It has not done so. While certain refugee claimants have
had their coverage restored, others have not.
Since the 2012 changes creating different levels of
coverage for
different people became void on Nov. 4, the government has no legal
authority to draw these distinctions.
Its public statements that it is following the court's
order are blatantly false.
The result is that our government is now ignoring a
court order and
acting outside of the law. When individuals do this, there are severe
consequences, including potential jail time. Canadians need to pay
attention to what is happening and make sure there are consequences
here too.
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