On July 25, 2024, a delegation of healthcare workers in Cornwall participated in CUPE Ontario’s ‘Support Our Care’ campaign. This event, part of a series across Ontario, aims to gather 60,000 signatures to stop the privatization of health care and advocate for better funding and conditions in public health care.
“We’re trying to get 60,000 signatures across the province,” said Brett Geneau, an Ontario Health at Home representative. “We’re aiming to stop the privatization of healthcare and call upon the Ford government to fund public health care accordingly.”
Geneau highlighted issues with privatization in Ottawa hospitals, where surgeries are privatized on weekends, pulling resources from public hospitals. “They hire their own nurses from public hospitals and pay them twice as much at private centers,” he said.
Healthcare workers gathered signatures at First Street and Pitt Street for the Cornwall event. Geneau noted similar actions occurring across Ontario, with upcoming events in Sudbury, Hamilton, Kingston, and Mississauga.
According to CUPE Ontario’s release, the Support Our Care campaign calls on the Ontario Conservative government to invest in health care, raise wages, improve recruitment and retention, and strengthen workers’ rights. The campaign also aims to highlight the stress and burnout faced by healthcare workers.
