The Ontario Health Coalition is calling on the Ontario government to repeal a bill that could introduce more privatization in the province's health care system.
Tracey Ramsey Co-Chair of Windsor Health Coalition said the government's focus should be on fixing the current situation in long-term care homes not pushing Bill 175 through the legislature. They say the bill will dismantle public governance in-home care and remove any public oversight.
“Bill 175 is so misguided and flawed that it is irredeemable. The process by which this bill was created was profoundly undemocratic. Key advocacy groups, client representatives, workers’ and health professionals’ representatives were not included in consultations prior to its drafting. The Bill as written reflects the interests and priorities of provider corporations over and against the public interest," said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the coalition in a written statement.
Ramsey said based on the what is happening in private, for-profit long-term care homes in the province during the current pandemic now is not the time to be re-examining home care.
"The last thing that is needed in-home care, community care and hospitals in Ontario is significant destabilization and more privatization. Given the terrible experience of COVID-19 in long-term care homes and other congregate care settings, and in the for-profit homes, in particular, we cannot understand how the government could countenance the expansion of another tier of congregate care without any clarity about the purposes; total permissiveness regarding for-profit privatization; no regulatory, inspections and enforcement system; and no governance regime," said Mehra.
Local branches of the coalition are reaching out to the community to ask they write their local members of provincial parliament to repeal Bill 175.