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NUPGE praises Manitoba for defending public medicare
 'We
fully support your government’s determination to enforce Manitoba's
health-insurance law against the Maples clinic.'
Ottawa (22 Dec. 2005) - The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)
is praising the Manitoba government for taking a strong stance in
favour of defending public medicare.
NUPGE president James Clancy has written to Manitoba Health Minister
Tim Sale applauding the government's forceful opposition to the
establishment of a private MRI clinic (the Maples Surgical Centre)
in the province.
While reducing waiting times is a top priority for all Canadians,
all available evidence shows that private clinics and private
services are not the way to go, Clancy argues.
"The Romanow Royal Commission carefully explored the experiences of
jurisdictions around the world with a parallel private system and
found no evidence to suggest that creating this type of system in
Canada would deliver faster, cheaper or better care," he told Sale.
"More to the point, we all know that the principles upon which a
parallel private system rest simply can’t be reconciled with the
values at the heart of our public Medicare system, or with the
tenets of the Canada Health Act, which Canadians overwhelmingly
support.
"The government of Manitoba is doing the smart thing and the right
thing by taking a stand against the private MRI clinic known as the
Maples Surgical Centre. We fully support your government’s
determination to enforce Manitoba's health-insurance law against the
Maples clinic."
Enemies of medicare
Clancy said the ideological enemies of public medicare are using
wait times as a lever to push forward their private agenda and to
undermine Canada's public health care system.
"It is critical that governments like yours continue to demonstrate
the political will required to safeguard the integrity of our public
Medicare system and strengthen its capacity to deliver timely care
based on need, not ability to pay," he told the minister.
"Once again, I want to applaud you and your government for showing
leadership on this fundamental issue."
Sale, a member of the NDP cabinet of Premier Gary Doer, has spoken
out strongly against the establishment of private clinics.
"The Canada Health Act says that you can't charge for a medically
necessary service," he has argued. NUPGE
Web posted by NUPGE:
22 December 2005
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