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Albertans to rally online in support of public health care: #HandsOffOurHealthCare! |
Today, Friends of Medicare is urging Albertans to take to social media to show our gratitude for our health care workers on the front lines of fighting the COVID-19 virus, and for the public health care system on which we all rely. “We want to take this opportunity to thank all Albertans who comprise our public health care system,” says Sandra Azocar, Executive Director of Friends of Medicare. “Albertans will be rallying together to remind our leadership that publicly funded and delivered health care is our best defense against this crisis and others like it, as this pandemic has made abundantly clear.”
The current health care crisis that we are living under presents a learning opportunity for our Minister of Health and government; rather than continuing along their set course of cuts and contract cancellations, they should acknowledge and recognize that a strong, well-resourced, well-funded, and appropriately staffed health care system is not only the first line of resistance in a health crisis, it is also essential in the best of times. Decisions that erode the stability and universality of our public health care system do nothing more than procure short-term bottom line gains, in exchange for long-term pain for each and every Albertan.
The true measure of a government's leadership will be made evident through the political choices they make as we deal with this world pandemic, and as we move forward to deal with the new political and economic reality that will face us after this is done.
“We are all doing our part to practice physical distancing to minimize the spread of COVID-19, but as a community and as a province, we are stronger than ever,” says Azocar. “That is why today, Albertans are coming together to show their recognition for the tireless efforts of our health care workers, and to urge our government to support our vital public health care system -- even while we can’t be together in person.”
Now more than ever, we cannot allow this crisis to be leveraged to dismantle our universal public health care. Instead, it has become especially timely that Alberta must fortify our commitment to a system based not on profit, but instead on the shared belief that health care is a human right.
We invite Albertans to raise their voices to say #HandsOffOurHealthCare, and join us in our virtual rally today: www.friendsofmedicare.org/VirtualRally
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