PR: BC Health Advocates Rally in Vancouver Calling for Federal Enforcement of the Canada Health Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2026

BC Health Advocates Rally in Vancouver Calling for Federal Enforcement of the Canada Health Act

Vancouver, BC — Health care advocates and frontline workers rallied this morning outside the constituency office of Member of Parliament Hedy Fry, calling on the federal government to enforce the Canada Health Act and defend Canada’s universal public health care system. Despite heavy rain in Vancouver, demonstrators held banners and red umbrellas symbolizing public health care.

Participants urged MP Hedy Fry, in her role as Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, to publicly defend and enforce the Canada Health Act as Alberta moves ahead with legislation that would allow doctors to bill patients directly and introduce private insurance for medically necessary care.

After listening to speakers at the rally, Fry addressed the crowd and clarified her position on Alberta’s proposed legislation. “I want to talk about Alberta’s Bill 11 here. There is no doubt that it absolutely contravenes the Canada Health Act,” she said. Fry spoke about the serious concerns a two-tier system would raise for equity and access in Canada’s public health care system.

However, Fry did not outline specific federal action the government may take in response to the legislation. When asked why the federal government has not publicly commented on Alberta’s proposal, she said the federal and provincial governments are currently in negotiations and that “when you’re negotiating with people, you don’t do it in public.”

The BC Health Coalition, made up of researchers, community organizations, non-profit service providers, frontline workers, unions, and individuals, says the federal government cannot remain silent as provinces move toward expanding private financing in health care, warning it threatens the future of universal public health care across Canada.

“We are here because the federal government cannot remain silent while public health care is dismantled,” said Barb Nederpel, President of the Hospital Employees’ Union. “When patients are billed at their most vulnerable, there is no real choice. Those who can pay move to the front of the line while everyone else is left behind. This is exactly what the Canada Health Act was created to prevent.”

Policy researchers also warn that Alberta’s reforms could open the door to American corporate interests in Canada’s health system.

“Alberta’s Bill 11 represents the greatest threat to public health care in Canada in a generation,” said Andrew Longhurst, health policy researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. “By allowing U.S. corporations to invest in Alberta’s two-tier system, Canada risks importing not just U.S.-style health care, but the U.S. health care industry itself. Once entrenched, international trade agreements could make it extremely difficult to remove these corporate actors.”

Longhurst and fellow researcher Rebecca Graff-McRae examine these risks in their report The End of Canadian Medicare? Alberta Legislation Opens the Door to U.S. Health Care, published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Parkland Institute.

Advocates also warn that introducing private financing in Alberta could destabilize public health systems across the country, including in British Columbia.

“International evidence consistently shows that introducing private financing increases wait times in the public system, widens inequities, and costs more overall than a single-payer system,” said Dr. Rita McCracken, family physician and Assistant Professor in UBC’s Department of Family Practice. “Health professionals cannot be in two places at once. For-profit systems tend to focus on simpler, more profitable care, while patients with complex conditions are pushed back onto the public system, leaving it with fewer staff and the most difficult cases.”

The rally is part of a National Day of Action taking place in more than 15 communities across Canada, where health coalitions are calling on Members of Parliament to break their silence and defend the Canada Health Act before the expansion of two-tier care becomes entrenched.

Advocates say the federal government has both the authority and the responsibility to enforce the Canada Health Act and prevent the introduction of patient charges and private insurance for medically necessary care.