They cut health care to refugees
- Details
- Published on Saturday, 26 September 2015 18:00
- Written by editor
Concerned Canadians are calling on the federal government
to open the doors to refugees from Syria. What many people don’t know
is that not is the federal
government turning away people in need, they slashed refugee health
care too.
This means that when refugees finally
arrive in Canada after the harrowing experience of fleeing their
homes, many find they have no access to the health care services they
need. No coverage for life saving medications, no urgent
mental health care for traumatized children, and no prostheses and
therapy for war-related amputations and injuries.[1,2]
Now that we’re in the last weeks of the election,
vulnerable Conservative MPs are hoping Canadians have
forgotten about the cuts to refugee... health care. We need to
send a strong message now that we haven't forgotten and that voters
expect whoever forms government in October to restore health care for
refugees. Can you add your support for care for refugees
here: www.votepublichealthbc.ca/#pledge
Just
months after the federal cuts were made in 2012, the number of
refugee children admitted to Sick Kids, a Toronto children’s hospital,
doubled. That is no
way to treat vulnerable people just because of their immigration
status. [3]
Show the parties that you’re voting for candidates who will make sure everyone has access to the care they need by pledging to vote for health care in 2015.
The Federal Court ruled that the government’s cuts were unconstitutional, “cruel and unusual,” and they ordered the government to restore care. To-date, the current government has refused to do so, and instead, has spent 1.4 million fighting the ruling in court. [4]
Adding your name to the thousands of people who are voting for health care for refugees will send a clear message to the parties that compassion for refugees is a vote-deciding issue. Can you add your name here?
All of the provincial premiers and over 20 national health care organizations have joined the call for a reversal of the cuts to services for some of the most vulnerable people in Canada. Our next federal government must do the right thing for refugees.
With hope and determination,
Rick Turner, BC Health Coalition co-chair
References
1. http://www.doctorsforrefugeecare.ca/the-issue.html
2. http://www.macleans.ca/politics/harper-says-only-bogus-refugees-are-denied-health-care-hes-wrong/
3. http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2014/05/15/refugee_kids_hospital_admissions_doubled_after_ottawas_health_cuts.html
4. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/refugee-health-care-fight-cost-feds-1-4-million-in-legal-fees-1.2934601
British Columbia Health Coalition · 3102 Main St, 302,
Vancouver, BC V5T 3G7, Canada
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