Responding to today’s appointment of
David Caplan as Minister of Health, three of
Ontario’s largest health care unions are warning
that they will fight any attempts by the new
minister to privatize health care services.
The Canadian Union of Public
Employees (CUPE) Ontario, Ontario Public Service
Employees Union (OPSEU) and Service Employees
International Union (SEIU) say the “minister of
privatization” has just become the new minister of
health and vow to draw a line in the sand to defend
publicly funded and delivered health care.
“We’ll take this fight to the people
of Ontario should Caplan carry his privatization
ideology further into the most cherished of our
social programs,” said CUPE Ontario President Sid
Ryan.
As Infrastructure Minister, Caplan
engineered the largest privatization of public
hospitals in the province’s history, the results
proving disastrous. The Brampton P3 hospital allowed
the private sector to plunder $500 million in
profits and deliver fewer hospital beds than
promised. More than 30 Ontario hospitals are
scheduled to be built under the scheme.
“Premier McGuinty specifically
promised SEIU that his government would build a
positive rewarding and stable working environment
for home care workers. The Premier must instruct the
new minister of health to end competitive bidding in
the home care sector once and for all. The former
minister recognized that there needs to be a
stronger relationship that lasts longer between the
home care client and caregiver,” said Sharleen
Stewart, President of SEIULocal1.
“At a time when we need a defender
of publicly-provided health care, Premier McGuinty
has let loose the fox in the chicken compound,” says
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of OPSEU.
“Privatization has never worked in Ontario. It has
driven up costs while driving down quality of
services. The privately-funded and operated
hospitals Caplan is already responsible for will be
a drain on health care for a generation.”
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For more information, contact:
Valerie Dugale (CUPE Communications –
647-225-3685),
Sid Ryan (President, CUPE Ontario -- 416-209-0066),
John Van Beek (SEIU Government and Public Affairs --
416-805-0670)
Sharleen Stewart (SEIU President 416-209-7741)
Rick Janson (OPSEU Communications 416-525-3324),
Warren (Smokey) Thomas (OPSEU President –
416-443-8888).
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