Singh warns against boosting private health services: ‘We can’t allow that to happen’ – National

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is raising strong objections to moves by some provinces to increase publicly covered health services offered by private, for-profit companies in response to major backlogs and interruptions in health-care services.

Taxpayer dollars should be used to improve services and pay competitive salaries in Canada’s public health-care system, not to enrich corporations that are charging governments a premium to gain profits, Singh said during a press conference in Toronto Wednesday.

“It’s becoming very clear now that we are in a very serious crisis and it is not good enough for premiers to start talking about creative solutions when their solution is to privatize our health-care system,” Singh said.

“We’ve got a mixed system — our public dollars, our taxpayer dollars, end up going into the pockets of rich corporations, enriching people instead of going to the care of our loved ones. And we can’t allow that to happen.”

Singh’s concerns stem from the unveiling late last week of Ontario’s plan to address significant pressures within the province’s health system. These pressures have led to multiple emergency department closures over the last two months and what front-line workers describe as a mass exodus of health-care workers, notably nurses, due to heavy workloads, burnout and concerns about a one per cent wage cap on health workers imposed by Doug Ford government’s controversial Bill 124.

As part of its plan, the Ford government said it plans to increase publicly covered surgeries at private clinics, citing the need to be “bold, innovative and creative” when looking for ways to improve the health system.

In addition, Ford travelled to New Brunswick earlier this week for a meeting with the three Progressive-Conservative Maritime premiers. After this meeting, the four provincial leaders stressed the need for health-care delivery to “fundamentally” change in Canada.

When asked if this means adopting measures now being pursued in Ontario, including hiking public funding for private health services, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said “all options are on the table.”