MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2006

Council of Canadians to step up outreach to doctors

Charlottetown – The Council of Canadians announced it would step up its campaign to reach out to doctors on the need to protect public health care as a result of the CMA election of Brian Day, staunch advocate of for-profit health care, as their 2007-2008 president earlier today.

“We respect the CMA’s decision, but this means we will need to work harder to impress upon doctors the consequences of increased privatization on their patients,” Guy Caron, Council of Canadians’ health care campaigner told reporters gathered outside the CMA meeting today.

The citizens’ advocacy organization spent the last few days campaigning in Charlottetown to ask doctors to support public health care and have been disappointed with the results so far.

In addition to the election of Brian Day, 80 per cent of CMA delegates voted in favour of removing barriers preventing doctors from practicing in both the private and public sectors. “We see these developments as an expression of doctors’ frustration with the shortcomings of the current system,” said Caron. “But parallel private systems have not worked in countries like Great Britain where privatization has actually lengthened wait times.”

The Council of Canadians announced it would address the issue by facilitating greater dialogue between doctors and concerned Canadians throughout the country.

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For more information, please contact:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249; 1-800-387-7177, ext. 249; .