On November 4, the Ontario Health Coalition, alongside local healthcare advocates, staged a media event at Cornwall Community Hospital. A striking 15-foot Trojan Horse was at the heart of the demonstration, symbolizing what activists view as the hidden dangers of privatizing healthcare services. The wooden horse, reminiscent of the Greek myth where an apparent gift concealed soldiers who ultimately destroyed Troy, was intended to highlight potential risks such as added costs, compromised care, and extended wait times associated with privatized services.
The demonstration featured union representatives and coalition members, including Kevin Cook, First Vice-President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, and Cornwall Health Coalition Co-Chair Elaine MacDonald. Both addressed concerns that privatization could undermine Ontario’s public healthcare system. “The Conservatives have presented privatization as a gift, saying it will reduce wait times and ease the hospital crisis,” Cook said, “but we’re finding the opposite. People are paying extra for services they should get with their OHIP card, and it’s creating a two-tier system where the wealthy can jump the line.”
Elaine MacDonald, co-chair of the Cornwall/SDG Health Coalition, highlighted the deeper issues at stake with Ontario’s healthcare privatization. “Privatization is no gift. It hollows out the public system,” she stated, describing how private clinics pull resources away from public hospitals, leaving them stretched even thinner. “This isn’t just costly for individuals—it’s devastating for the entire healthcare system. As private clinics pull in more profits, public hospitals face budget deficits, stretchingresources thinner and thinner.”
MacDonald also pointed to broken promises by the provincial government, which had committed to protecting public healthcare before recent elections. “This government promised not to touch public healthcare, yet we’re seeing privatization accelerate at an alarming rate,” she remarked. “Privatization isn’t a relief; it’s a step backward, creating longer wait times for those who can’t afford to pay.”
This is not the first time the Trojan Horse has made an appearance in the region. “This wooden horse visited here over 15 years ago, and I was glad to walk with it then,” MacDonald recalled, noting how the threat of privatization has long loomed over public healthcare. “We were alarmed back then about privatization, but today it feels like privatization on steroids. Bill 60 has opened the door for corporations to profit off healthcare, putting financial gain over patient well-being.”
During the event, speakers provided concrete examples highlighting the disparities between private and public healthcare. Kevin Cook referenced a recent Canadian Medical Association Journal study showing that surgery rates in private clinics increased by 22% for the wealthiest Ontarians, while access declined by 9% for those with lower incomes.
“If you’re wealthy, you can jump the queue and get treated, but if you’re middle class or lower income, you’re waiting longer,” Cook explained. He also pointed out that some Ontarians have paid as much as $8,000 for cataract or hip surgeries at private clinics, costs that would be covered fully in public hospitals. “This policy is more expensive, wasteful, and it’s gouging the public,” Cook stated, urging theprovince to reverse its privatization initiatives.
Cook explained that privatization is driving up costs for various surgeries beyond cataracts, including knee and hip replacements. He emphasized that privatized clinics are drawing medical staff from public hospitals by offering 50% more in wages, worsening a staffing crisis and extending public wait times.
The event is part of a province-wide tour aimed at raising awareness about the potential impact of privatized healthcare, with the Trojan Horse making its final stop in Oakville on November 8.
