GUELPH – Mike Schreiner released the following statement in response to the Premier’s announcement that the government will increase the number of surgical procedures conducted in private for-profit clinics.
“Everywhere you look in Ontario, the government is on a mission to ensure that private interests trump the public good.
We see it in the scheme to carve up the Greenbelt, in the proposed privatization of Ontario Place, and now in the commercialization of healthcare.
This government’s rule of thumb: it doesn’t have to make sense for the average person, if it makes cents for conservative insiders.
Increasing the number of surgical procedures conducted in private for-profit clinics makes no sense at a time when our hospitals face an ongoing crisis caused by lack of staff.
The Premier’s scheme to privatise healthcare delivery will only make the staffing crisis worse. Where does the government think the nurses and doctors to run these facilities will come from?
The government needs to get to work fixing our crumbling public healthcare system instead of working so hard to convince Ontarians that privatization is the only solution.
That means stop wasting taxpayer dollars defending Bill 124 and immediately implement a nurse retention strategy that includes permanent raises, and better benefits and working conditions for all healthcare workers.