May 8, 2023
Bill 60 is the end of Medicare as we know it
France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, rose this morning in the Legislature to urge government members of the Legislative Assembly to vote down Bill 60.
“Today is a sad day, a day that will go down in the history of our province as the day the Ford government delivered a fatal blow to our treasured Medicare. Today, this Conservative government will say “goodbye” to care based on needs and “come on in” to investors who want to make money off the backs of sick people. Because make no mistake, Speaker, there is a lot of money to be made off of people who are sick, who are desperate for care in the hope of getting better. Investors know that. They know that sick people are at a vulnerable time in their lives, and it is easy to abuse that vulnerability to increase profits.
The Minister says that we need the changes in Bill 60 to decrease wait times but look at our hospital job boards: there are over 36,000 health-care-job vacancies in our hospitals right now. How are they supposed to recruit when for-profit clinics will offer a Monday-to-Friday, 9 to 5 jobs? It will make the wait for hospital care increase tremendously. But the rich and powerful friends of our Premier, they will have faster access, using their credit cards to get to the front of the line, while the rest of us hold our hats.
To my MPP colleagues: Do the right thing. Vote down Bill 60. ”
The NDP put forward 74 amendments to Bill 60, which aimed to improve transparency, accountability, protect patients and ensure that the Colleges that regulate Ontario’s healthcare professionals will be able to maintain professionals’ oversight. The government voted down all these amendments.