About a protest: Emergency meeting to fight back against privatizing our public Hospital confirmation

 Event place: Online (By using Zoom)

Event Organizer: Ontario Health Coalition, protecting public healthcare for all.

Event Date:  January 31, 2023, 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Event Objective: The meeting's main objective is to Fight Back Against the Privatization of our Public Hospitals.

The premier of Ontario, Mr. Ford’s government, has announced their plan to build and expand new for-profit surgical and diagnostic hospitals and clinics when the public hospital’s operating room is closed in the evenings, on weekends, days, and months due to lack of funds and staff shortages. In this worsened crisis of public hospitals, the Ford government gave the solution of privatization. This is an old formula that creates a crisis and benefits private organizations. Canadian public hospitals have been made from donations and hard of communities since the last century. Canadian Health Care isn’t for dismantling and selling off to for-profit corporations. 

The event aims to create a massive campaign and organize a fightback to protect the local public hospitals.

The issues being addressed:

·         The Ford government isn’t doing anything to solve public healthcare.

·         The Ontario government policy is putting public healthcare in a worse position.

·         They are privatizing Ontario public health care.

·         Almost 100 emergency care is closed in Ontario.

·         The Ford government is continuously ignoring and downplaying the staffing crisis.

·         “Create a crisis and privatize” will destroy public health care.

Participation: Host: Natalie Mehra. Participants: Naureen Rizvi (President of Ontario Regional Director), Jon Cartwright (Councillor of Canadians), Ross Sutherland (Chair of Ontario Health Coalition, retired nurse), JP Hornick (President of OPSEU), Michelle Robidoux (Lawyer at Legal Aid), Carolyne Eagan, Marit Stiles (MPP), France Gelinas (Health Critics from NDP), John Fraser (Intern leader of Liberal Party), Michael Hurley (President of the Ontario Council Hospital, Canadian Union of Public employee), Shirley Roebuck (Local Coalition co-chair, Retired emergency department nurse), Angela Preocanin ONA (First Vice President of the Ontario Nurses Association), Fred Huhn (Canadian Union of Public Employees), Ed Cashman (Ottawa Health Coalition Co-Chair), Sara Labelle (President of the hospital professional division), and Patty Coats (President of Ontario Federation of Labour).

Reaction from the Community: The participants ask that if anybody sees any misinformation or disinformation, then that should be challenged immediately. They also compared the health system of the USA to that of Canada. A Nobel prize owner in the US had to sell their medal to bear the health cost. They mentioned that they are fighting for a different system that is not profitable for businesspeople. For example, in Canada, the old home system is private, and we have seen in the pandemic that 5000 body bags have come out from the homes. So, we all have to work together for success in the health system and not let anybody make it private.

Analyze and reflect: I like how many organizations from different sectors joined this protest. Because Health is a universal issue, we can’t ignore it. Canada is well-known worldwide for its universal health system. We can’t see it destroyed like this by a particular business group.

I felt that this coalition should be promoted more through the media because we must inform the general public that they are the ones who will pay the extra money and compromise the health benefits. This way, we can continue providing information to the media, especially news and social media. Then, more people will try to join and take action against the Ford government’s healthcare decision.

People from different races, classes, and genders joined the event and agreed to work together. People are together to fight this oppression.

As health is a universal issue, all community organizations can work together.  

Part 3: From this event, I have learned that different organizations exist for different community problems. But we needed to work together, and they all came together here. We also need to contact other community organizations so they can join us and work together. Community workers here work to make more people aware and work with them. Their focus was on community development. I want to encourage people to spread all messages through the news and social media. Because the government will change their decision only if it finds its vote bank is looking for something else.

Resources:

-          Ontario Health Coalition. Emergency Meeting to Fight Back Against the Ford Government's Privatization of our Public Hospitals. YouTube. https://youtu.be/vWgyL2B6lIc

Biography 43: Shekha

 When my youngest sister Shekha get born, I was staying at my mom's friend's house. There were few houses where Bangladeshi doctors and nurses used to live side by side houses. They had kids too. I found a couple of boys near my age. But when I tried playing with them, I found they like fighting games. That wasn't on my menu. No matter how much they fight with each other, they were nice to me.

One day my dad came from the hospital and told us, we have got a beautiful sister. I wanted to see her. But no, adults always prefer their way, they said, they will take me later. I told them, if they are not taking me now, I will go by myself. Allah knows, I told them the truth, I don't threaten anyone. Adults laughed at me. But my older sister kept an I on me so that I don't try to do that. I thought I know the path to the hospital, so I can go by myself. When my dad took me, I understood, I was wrong.

In the hospital, I saw my mom laying on the bed. There was a small baby bed is with her bed. My sister was sleeping over there. Then the nurse came and asked my sister's name, they will make the birth certificate. Here I should mention that in Saudi Arabia, people make names of the baby before they get born. But Bangladeshi culture was not like that. In those days, Bangladeshi parents took years to decide what will be kids' names. They first hear all suggestions from their relatives. 

But now in the hospital, they need the name right away. My mom thought, in Saudi people call Sheikh to honour men. So, she makes my sister's name Shekha as a female version of Sheikh. So, we got her name this way.

In this story, I would like to add about a Saudi woman. My mom told us the story. In the hospital, one day, my mom was washing her cloth by hands to remove stains. She was washing it in the attached bathroom near her bed. A Saudi woman came to the bathroom door and surprised. Probably her relative was in that hospital. She asked, what are you doing in this condition? My mom replied, what else I can do? The woman told my mom to go the bed and take a rest. Then the woman washed all clothes by her hand, without any hesitation. My mom doesn't know her name, never meet again. From the bottom of my heart, I salute that Saudi woman for helping an unknown woman.