there’s no way to sugarcoat it: Canada’s healthcare system is collapsing. [1]
It’s dominating the news. In Fredericton, a patient died in the ER while waiting to be seen. Disabled Quebecers risk losing their benefits due to a lack of doctors able to sign the necessary paperwork. Emergency rooms across the country are being forced to close due to staff shortages. [2-4]
Here's where you come in: Canada prides itself on our public healthcare system — and Trudeau doesn't want to be the Prime Minister responsible for it falling apart. A massive open letter, signed by tens of thousands of people across the country — calling on the federal government to shore up our crumbling healthcare systems — could force them to stop dragging their feet and invest in public healthcare before it's too late.
The crisis is far-reaching. Ontario’s average ER wait time is 20 hours, the longest ever recorded — and up from the previous average of 2.1 hours. Saskatchewan’s ER’s are about to burst. Manitoba has had to call in paramedics to support their hospitals. [5-7]
Not only are we unable to deal with emergencies, preventative care is also out of reach. Nova Scotia has its longest waitlist ever for family doctors. Almost a million B.C residents have no family doctor. A man in PEI has been waiting for a family doctor for 11 years. [8-10]
Nurses, unions, and healthcare professionals have been sounding the alarm for months. We're joining their calls for:
- Predictable and sustained public funding
- Immediate introduction of universal pharmacare
- Implementation of long-term care standards and funding to enforce them
Our lives, and the lives of our loved ones depend on a strong, well-funded public health care system.
So if you agree that when any one of us gets sick, we all deserve to get the care we require, will you add your name to the open letter now to call on the federal government to protect public healthcare?