| HOME | ABOUT US | CAMPAIGNS | MEDIA | PUBLICATIONS | CHAPTERS | JOIN US | FRANÇAIS |
|
MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 22, 2002 Groups Take Feds to Court for Failure to Enforce Canada Health Act OTTAWA - Fed up with federal inaction in defence of our public health care system, a coalition of social groups is taking the Chrétien government to court for its failure to comply with the Canada Health Act. The Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Health Coalition announced today that they are filing an application with the federal court to force the federal government to live up to its responsibilities under the Canada Health Act. Last year CUPE and CEP successfully blocked the privatization of Hydro One with a court challenge. "Clearly this government acts only when it's forced to, so we're taking them to court," said CUPE National President Judy Darcy. "Their inaction is jeopardizing our ability as Canadians to get health care when and where we need it. We can't let this negligence continue." In a letter to federal health minister Anne McLellan (see below) , the groups point out that the federal government has failed in its statutory responsibilities under the Canada Health Act. "The Chrétien government has failed to set in place the checks and balances that would protect our right to an accessible, universal, portable, comprehensive and publicly-administered health care system," said Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians. "They're fiddling while Rome burns." The groups are not alone in their criticism. Members of parliament and the Auditor General have condemned the federal government for not living up to its obligations under the Act. But they are the first to challenge the federal government through the courts. "There's no proper monitoring, reporting or enforcement and as a result, provinces across the country are thumbing their noses at the federal government and the principles of the Canada Health Act," said Brian Payne, president of CEP. "The minister and the prime minister can't dodge this responsibility any longer," said Kathleen Connors, president of the CFNU. "Canadians want an open, accountable health care system that assures them top quality care and good value for their tax dollars." The groups indicated they would be filing their application in the federal court within six weeks. Letter to Health Minister Anne McLellan November 21, 2002
The Honourable Anne McLellan Dear Minister, We are writing, on behalf of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Council of Canadians, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and the Canadian Health Coalition to advise that we have retained counsel to initiate legal proceedings concerning your failure to comply with the requirements of the Canada Health Act. We have decided on this course of action only after repeated and less formal efforts failed to persuade you and your officials of the need for concerted action to defend our public health care system. Not-for-profit health care is under unprecedented attack. It is clear that certain provinces are taking advantage of the hiatus in federal health care policy to accelerate their efforts to undermine our public system. With plans to establish for-profit hospitals and clinics underway in several provinces, the privatization of health services has now reached epidemic proportions. Unfortunately, not only have you failed to defend the public system against these incursions, you have yet to even speak out clearly against them. In fact, your government's failure to respond decisively to this challenge reflects a general neglect of the entire system. In addition to the problem of chronic under-funding, the Auditor General has recently, and for the second time in recent years, documented the failure of Health Canada and its Ministers to comply with, and take adequate steps to enforce, the requirements of the Canada Health Act. Yet, when we met with senior Health Canada officials soon after the Auditor General released her highly critical report, they were adamant that no further steps were necessary to address the deficiencies she had documented. We appreciate that Mr. Romanow is scheduled to report next week. The thrust of his proposed reforms will surely be to build on, not detract from the current framework of public health care. The need for expanding the current framework cannot be an excuse for further delaying the action urgently needed to preserve the foundations of public health care which must support future reform. In fact, continued neglect of the public system may result in it being so fundamentally undermined that the prospects for progressive reform will become academic. This risk is particularly acute in light of Canada's international trade obligations, which prevent it from retracing its steps if public services are abandoned to for-profit providers and foreign investors. To compound this problem, your government appears determined to forge ahead with its trade agenda, whatever the impact on Canadian health care. In this context, the consequences of proceeding further along the path of privatization, may prove fatal to not-for-profit public health care. We are committed to doing everything in our power to defend the integrity of Canada's most important social program. But our efforts, overwhelming public support for a strong public system, and repeated criticisms by the Auditor General have failed to convince you of the need to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the Canada Health Act. Accordingly, we have decided to take the next step, which is to seek a judicial order requiring that you do so. We have attached a memorandum setting out our concerns in more detail. You will be familiar with most of these. We have also identified ten specific actions urgently needed to restore Canada's public health care system to good health. We urge you to quickly develop a plan for putting them into place. Sincerely,
|
||||||||
MEDIA ARCHIVESHealth care |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
