Report Back: Our Rally in the Rain Forced a Response

We joined communities in more than 15 cities across the country taking action to stop the expansion of American style two tier health care. In Vancouver, that collective effort led to a breakthrough.

In a powerful show of solidarity, health care advocates, frontline workers, and community members gathered outside MP Hedy Fry’s office, calling on the federal government to enforce the Canada Health Act and defend Canada’s universal public health care system.

Despite heavy rain, demonstrators stood together holding banners and red umbrellas, a striking symbol of a public system that must be there for everyone, when we need it.

After months of federal silence, our action helped push a response. After hearing directly from advocates, workers, and community members, Hedy Fry addressed the crowd. In front of eight journalists, she confirmed what we have been warning: Alberta’s legislation would open the door to two tier health care.

MP Fry, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, stated:

“There is no doubt that Alberta’s Bill 11 absolutely contravenes the Canada Health Act.”

This is a clear public acknowledgment from a federal leader that this legislation violates the criteria meant to protect universal health care in Canada.

But acknowledgment is not action.

Recognizing the problem is only the first step. What we need now is decisive federal enforcement to uphold the Canada Health Act and stop the expansion of two tier care.

Alberta continues to move forward with plans that would entrench private, for profit insurance into our health care system. This would extinguish universal public health care in Canada.

It would turn back the clock on Tommy Douglas’s achievement of a single payer system, replacing it with a patchwork of private insurance and returning us to a system where access to hospitals and doctors depends on what you can afford.

Public health care belongs to all of us. This moment shows what’s possible when we act together.

If one day of action in the rain could force a response after months of silence, sustained organizing can go much further.