The Government May Be Silent. We Are Not.

4,359 kilometres travelled.
13 provinces and territories represented.
200 advocates.
100 meetings with Senators and MPs.

One question: will the end of universal public health care be met with government silence?

Alberta’s two-tier health agenda is not reform. It is an existential threat to universal public health care in Canada.

So we went to Ottawa. The BC Health Coalition joined hundreds of health care advocates at the Canadian Health Coalition Lobby. We filled the halls of Parliament. We rallied at its doors. We made it impossible for decision-makers to ignore what is at stake.

At Davos, Prime Minister Mark Carney told the world that “collective investments in resilience are cheaper than everyone building their own fortresses.” Nothing embodies that principle more clearly than universal single-payer public health care.

It rests on a simple idea: illness and death are burden enough without a bill at your most vulnerable. When we band together so care is based on need, not wealth, everyone is stronger.

Yet here at home, Carney remains silent as Alberta introduces U.S.-style two-tier health care, paving the way for American for-profit hospital and insurance corporations to use our trade agreements to move in and permanently reshape our system. 

Read the Policy Note: The End of Canadian Medicare? Alberta Legislation Opens the Door to U.S. Health Care

We need public health care improved, not dismantled.

The push for two-tier care will not stop at Alberta’s border. These efforts are accelerating across the country. To stop them, we must confront privatization and rebuild our public system.

While we stand in solidarity with our allies in Alberta and across Canada, we are also taking action here in British Columbia. We are documenting how for-profit delivery is eroding care in our province.

Have you been illegally billed for medically necessary health services? Please take our survey and share your story.

4,359 kilometres brought us to Parliament Hill. Now the fight continues here at home.

 In solidarity,

Ayendri 
Director of Policy and Caampaigns
BC Health Coalition

If you believe public health care should be based on need, not wealth, please make a donation today. Your contribution will help us organize, investigate, and fight back against privatization in British Columbia and across Canada.

We cannot do this without you.