Letter: It’s time governments look after Canadians over corporate bottom lines
By Letter to the Editor on March 5, 2021.
Dear editor, The pandemic has wreaked havoc across society in all areas. Among other things, physical and mental health has suffered, frontline workers have been exposed to hazards without proper protective equipment, small businesses have suffered losses or closed, and workers have lost their jobs. It can only be hoped that we have learned some valuable lessons from all this. Two obvious things that could be implemented are a national pharmacare program and ending for-profit long-term-care homes. Both of these issues are essential for a just recovery, and yet governments either ignore these issues or pass the buck to another level of government. Just last week a motion to implement a pharmacare program was defeated in the House of Commons even though an Angus-Reid poll in October showed nearly 9-in-10 Canadians supported the idea. The Liberals say the Bill infringed on provincial jurisdiction, but this is not true. It is largely faithful to the 2019 report Trudeau commissioned from former Ontario Liberal Health Minister Eric Hoskins. They had an opportunity to co-operate with the NDP to implement something very similar to their own recommendations and they failed to do so. Apparently, the lobbying of big pharma overrides the needs of Canadians. The second issue is to deal with the tragedy of for-profit LTCs. Funding cuts, privatization and weakened regulations have left seniors who live in long-term and assisted living seniors’ homes, and the people who work there, vulnerable. Outbreaks at seniors’ homes have been linked to the overwhelming majority of the COVID-19 deaths in Canada. The federal government needs to commit to working with provinces to bring all long-term care homes into public hands in line with the Canada Health Act. It’s time we had governments that look after Canadians not corporate bottom lines. David Condon Council of Canadians Medicine Hat 9-8
