03) TELL THE POLITICIANS: CANADIANS DEMAND BETTER UNIVERSAL MEDICARE!
Statement by the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, July 2013
"Let us take the private economic profit out of medicine" ‑ Dr. Norman Bethune, pioneer of the movement for universal health care in Canada, 1936
When Canada's provincial and territorial premiers gather July 24‑26 at Niagara‑on‑the‑Lake, Ontario for their Council of the Federation meeting, the future of health care will be a crucial topic. Almost fifty years after Medicare was adopted by Parliament, the fight for universal, public health care is far from complete. In fact, the Canada Health Act faces serious threats from corporations and governments intent on turning our health into a source of enormous private profit.
As the "Call to Care" by the Canadian Health Coalition says, "Health care in Canada is a fundamental right without distinction of race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, political belief, immigration status, and economic or social condition." But as renewal of the National Health Accord looms, mobilizations by the labour and democratic movements are necessary to defend this right from the "medical‑industrial complex" private interests.
It took similar public pressure in 2004 to force the First Ministers to boost federal support for healthcare by $41 billion over the following decade. That deal narrowed a huge funding gap created by Liberal cutbacks during the mid‑1990s, but did little to block the invasion of private profiteers into the public health system.
Canadians are justifiably proud of Medicare and the Canada Health Act principles of universality, accessibility, comprehensiveness, portability, and public administration. But Medicare has been badly undermined for many years, as provinces turn over chunks of the system to big business. Core hospital services such as laundry, housekeeping and meals have long been contracted out, and many clinics and hospitals are being turned into profit‑making operations.
As the Communist Party stressed in 2004, "this process has been devastating for the most important element of the system: healthcare workers who provide front‑line care. By treating valuable, skilled workers as disposable, governments and administrators have weakened the entire system, with negative results for patients."
While the 2004 accord increased the federal share of funding, other elements of the agreement have been sabotaged by the Harper Conservatives.
Progress on reducing wait times for diagnostic tests and surgeries has fallen far short of expectations in most provinces. The National Pharmaceutical Strategy, aimed at cutting overall drug costs through bulk buying and better co‑ordination, has been effectively killed by the Harper government. Plans to create a pan‑Canadian home and continuing care strategy have stalled, leaving huge numbers of people with heavy expenses for post‑hospital prescriptions and rehabilitation. The closure of tens of thousands of hospital beds over the past 20 years has dramatically strained access to acute and chronic care in hospitals, prematurely forcing many patients into nursing homes and home care. Many of these public services have been taken over by for‑profit companies that maximize user fees in pursuit of higher profits. Nor did the 2004 agreement end the racist underfunding of health care for Aboriginal peoples, who were shut out of the negotiations at that time.
Even as the burden of health care is shifted onto patients and their families, the federal Conservatives refuse to discuss a pan-Canadian drug program and home care, or to meet with provincial governments about renewing the health care funding formula.
In fact, the Harper Tories aim to slash funding by $36 billion over the next several years, reversing the gains in the 2004 health accord. The latest federal budget includes big cuts to the Health Council of Canada and health services for veterans and refugees. The Tories blatantly refuse to uphold single‑tier Medicare in provinces such as British Columbia, where private clinics openly break the law by extra‑billing patients.
As the Canadian and Ontario Health Coalitions warn, if the premiers allow the health accord to expire without comment, they will have betrayed a public trust to defend our public healthcare system.
The sad reality is that these governments are accomplices in a drive by the ruling class to shred the social safety net achieved through decades of struggles by working people. This neoliberal agenda deliberately targets job security, pensions, social assistance, affordable housing, public education, child care, labour rights, health and safety ‑ everything which makes it possible for working people and their families to have a decent life. Instead, acting at the direction of the "one percent", governments trample the interests of the vast majority of the people. This pattern is a global trend, as a capitalist ruling class mired in economic crisis seeks to protect the bloated profits of transnational banks and corporations by driving down the economic and social conditions of working people.
It's time to put the heat on the politicians through mass struggle, including strike action. When the Health Accord is discussed, Aboriginal people must be at the First Ministers table. Health care must be recognized as a fundamental human right and a public good, delivered on a not‑for‑profit basis, not privatized and contracted out. The federal government must fully assume its responsibilities for funding and enforcement of the Canada Health Act. The system must be expanded to include universal pharmacare, home care, long term care, opticare and denticare, and a mental health strategy. Decent wages and working conditions for health care workers must be recognized as essential.
Mass, united action is needed to drive the profiteers out of the public health care system. It's time to put the health of the people before the profits of the corporations!
(The above article is from the August 1-31, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)