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Québec City – A wide coalition of organizations including autonomous community organizations, human rights groups, labour unions, and medical associations came together today in front of Québec’s National Assembly to urge Quebecers to sign “Le privé, tout sauf santé” (“The private sector: it’s about anything but health”). This declaration opposing the role of private companies in Québec’s health care system is supported by more than 540 organizations. Today’s event, opening the signature drive to all Québec citizens, is a pivotal moment in a mobilization campaign to defend the public system that was initiated after the Dubé reform was introduced.

Faced with the continued erosion of the public health and social services system by policies that increase the space assigned to the private sector, dozens of organizations had previously met on February 21 and 22 to denounce the impact of the political choices in question. Direct consequences of this worrisome trend include longer wait times, increasingly precarious working conditions, excessive centralization, and the erosion of locally available services. At the same time, the government was pushing things even further off course by setting up Santé Québec.

“It’s time to stop pushing the idea that the public system doesn’t work,” said APTS vice-president Émilie Charbonneau, speaking for unions in health and social services. “Our governments are underfunding it, neglecting its workers, and quietly masterminding the shift to the private sector. There’s nothing inevitable about this – it’s a political choice, and Quebecers are bearing the brunt of it.”

“An overwhelming majority of Quebecers believes in the priceless value of our public system,” said Sophie Verdon, coordinator of the Coalition solidarité santé. “What we urgently need is to provide massive reinvestment that will make it stronger, instead of undermining it by relying on private interests whose profit margins are causing our public finances – and ultimately the services provided by the system – to atrophy.”

Vania Wright-Larin, coordinator of RÉPAC 03-12, emphasized the crucial role played by community organizations: “Community groups are directly witnessing the devastating impact of a two-tier health care system. As the public system is deliberately weakened to make way for the private sector, our organizations, which are largely underfunded and were never designed to make up for the failures of the health care system, are facing an unprecedented surge in demand. To improve our society’s overall health, it is crucial that we respect the specific role of the community sector and recognize the value of its social contribution.”

The citizens’ gathering was an opportunity for Quebecers and civil society actors to express their opposition to unbridled privatization. Representatives of opposition parties were also present to officially launch the campaign by being the first to sign the declaration. This public commitment was designed to send a strong message that health is a basic right and must not be treated as a commodity.

The coalition calls on Quebecers to support this initiative by signing the declaration online (in French) and participating in the various mobilization activities that will follow.

Source:

APTS, CSN, FIQ, FSQ-CSQ, SCFP, SQEES-FTQ, SPGQ, TRPOCB, RÉPAC 03-12, Coalition solidarité santé