Friends,
Today is Tommy Douglas Day!
Every year, October 20 is a day for us to celebrate the contributions of Thomas “Tommy” Clement Douglas; the "Greatest Canadian" and the man who brought universal public Medicare to Canada. It is a day to recommit ourselves to protecting and strengthening our public health care system.
It also happens to be my birthday.
And what I really want this year, my birthday wish, is that you take a moment to join us in the fight to save our public health care system by buying or renewing your Friends of Medicare Membership for 2023 today.
I am so proud to be able to work at Friends of Medicare where every day we fight to protect and strengthen Tommy’s legacy; our treasured public health care system.
But our system is struggling right now under an ongoing pandemic, a series of crises and wide-spread short staffing. And it is under attack by a provincial government with an aggressive agenda of privatization.
With a provincial election on the horizon, the year ahead is a crucial year for public health care in Alberta. Which means we need your support more than ever before. We need to ensure Friends of Medicare can reach as many Albertans as possible over the coming months so that we can remain a powerful collective voice for change..
At Friends of Medicare we don’t just fight to keep what we have. We continue to work to achieve Tommy’s dream of a truly universal Medicare, which means finally including important things like dental care, pharmacare, and other necessary health care under the Medicare umbrella. I will be speaking more on our work to expand Medicare at an upcoming webinar next week, I hope you can join me.
Dental care and pharmacare are both within reach, closer than they have ever been. And a plan to strengthen our struggling public health care system is ready to go. We just need to do the organizing work to get us there. Together, I know we can achieve this.
I ask you to make my birthday wish come true and purchase your 2023 Friends of Medicare membership today.
In Solidarity,
Chris Gallaway
Executive Director
Friends of Medicare
P.S. And if you live in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Calgary, Red Deer or Edmonton, please come join us at a Better Way Alberta public townhall next week!