Mr. Speaker, according to Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions,
As in the 1990s, as the percentage of federal funding declines towards historical lows, it may mean bed closures and drastic layoffs, all of which will dramatically affect the sustainability of Canada’s health care system.
We must not allow history to repeat itself. If the Harper era cuts are maintained, each province will be left to fend for itself as costs outstrip their ability to pay. We will not have national pharmacare, we will not have national home care, wait times will increase, and patient care will suffer.
Tommy Douglas once said, “unless those of us who believe in Medicare raise our voices in no uncertain terms, unless we arouse our neighbours and our friends and our communities, we are sounding the death knell of Medicare in this country”.
Canada's New Democrats will never sit idly by and see that happen. Will the Liberals?