‘The people have spoken’: Windsor-Essex voters opposed to privatized health care, according to OHC survey
Almost 99 per cent of voters in Windsor and Essex County are opposed to privatization of public hospitals, according to the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) referendum results revealed Tuesday morning.
Since April, the citizen-led group had been asking Ontarians to vote in person or online answering if they want public hospital services to be privatized to for-profit hospitals and clinics.
“In this referendum, the people have spoken,” said Patrick Hannon, co-chair of the Windsor-Essex chapter of the OHC.
Hannon said 98.8 per cent of people in just Windsor opposed privatizing public hospital services, with a total of 5,286 votes cast across the entire Windsor-Essex catchment area last week.
“When the number of ballots, the number of people opposed to privatization, when that is presented to the government, politicians need to hear what their constituents have to say,” Hannon said. “We've been very successful with showing the government the results and we anticipate to doing so again with this referendum.”
The vote was in response to the Ford Government’s implementation of Bill 60, which the advocacy group worries will only work for relatively healthy people, and those who can afford it.
They said there’s concern it could lead to people with minimal training put into health care positions.
“We also have not seen any piece in the legislation where there is a budget attached to the enforcement of the private clinic certifications, there's language for enforcement. We don't see a budget line item for this yet. And it's not real, unless there's money put to that,” Hannon said.
The OHC believes the Ford government will be forced to acknowledge the results, or potentially face fallout at the ballot box in the next three years.
Full results of the province wide campaign are expected to be announced and presented to the government at Queens Park on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Premier Doug Ford dismissed the OHC’s work.
“I don't call it a referendum, it was a political poll that was driven one sided,” Ford said on Monday.
He had his own thoughts on how the survey question should have been presented.
“Do you want to wait in line for a hip replacement that could take 18 months?” asked Ford. “Or would you like something that could be done in 60 days from the exact same doctor in a surgical clinic, in a centre?”
Meanwhile, a health ethics, law and policy professor at Western University in London, Ont., told CTV News surveys like this one are important public opinion measures.
“It shows that Ontarians are really not interested in the approach that Doug Ford is taking to privatize health care,” said Jacob Shelley.
“And without these types of measures or initiatives, we have a void. We don't know exactly what people are thinking. So this definitely gives us important context that people aren't actually happy with what Doug Ford is doing.”
Shelley expressed concern over the premier’s dismissive response.
“The government represents the people and the people are speaking and the government is choosing to ignore the people that are speaking by ignoring the results of these studies,” Shelley said.
“We know the public system is a more effective, more efficient and more equitable system. The privatized world does benefit some people. There's no question that there are benefits for some individuals, but it's not an equitable benefit. It's not a public benefit. It benefits those that have wealth, those that have opportunity and those that profit from illness and now we have to really question a government that's making health care profitable. What actual kind of consideration this government might have to ensuring that we remain healthy.”
Shelley added, “This is just not politically justified nor is this something that is evidentiary justified. This is merely opportunities to make people money.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Iraq investigates a blast at a base of Iran-allied militias that killed 1. U.S. denies involvement
Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they were investigating an explosion that struck a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias, killing one person and injuring eight.