Council Activists Tell the B.C Government that Profit is Not the Cure

With the B.C. government’s health care consultation process wrapping up in July, the Ministry of Health will be hard pressed to say that citizens don’t support public health care. Launched in early February, the Conversation on Health visited 16 communities in B.C. to discuss citizens’ perspectives on public heath care.

From the outset, many British Columbians were suspicious that the “conversations” were a part of a public relations campaign to bolster the provincial government’s privatization agenda and legitimize politicians’ claims that public health care spending is “unsustainable.”

But thanks to dedicated Council of Canadians chapter members, the Campbell government heard the message loud and clear that public health care needs to be protected and expanded in B.C. In 14 communities across the province, chapter activists joined with members of the B.C. Health Coalition to speak against forprofit health care, and spread the message that citizens deserve a say in the future of our health care system.

– Carleen Pickard, B.C./Yukon Regional Organizer

In this issue

updated July 19, 2007