Joe & Jagmeet on HEALTH CARE

Canadians are proud of and thankful for Tommy Douglas, founding father of the NDP and the leader who gave us public hospital and medical care. The legacy continues.

In the most recent Parliamentary session, it was New Democrats who led the expansion of public health-care insurance to bring comprehensive Dental Care to millions of people and lay the foundation for Pharmacare as well.

Just a few days ago, party leader Jagmeet Singh reaffirmed New Democrats’ role as protector of and advocate for Canada’s health-care system. Speaking about Trump’s trade-war bullying, Singh referred to the threat of Americanization of services, promising “We will fight like hell for your health care—and we’ll build a Canada that puts working and middle-class people first.”

New Democrats have a solid plan to protect public services from privatization threats. Jagmeet has committed to:
Ban U.S.-style private health-care clinics and corporate takeovers of public services.
Strengthen Medicare by expanding pharmacare, dental care, and mental health supports for Canadians.
Resist cuts to public services that working families rely on—ensuring Canada remains strong in the face of external threats.

Even without the Trump menace, Joe Byrne is keenly aware of the threat of creeping privatization right here on PEI — for-profit medical clinics, ambulance/emergency, costly travel nursing, and such. Joe also knows that our Canadian health-care coverage is incomplete: we need to extend it to broader Pharmacare and also to other essential services such as eye care and audiological benefits including hearing aids. “Health care that is universal, comprehensive and public is the Tommy Douglas legacy,” he says, “It’s the Canadian way!”