Canada's Unions Welcome New Health Funding ? Now Make It Permanent

OTTAWA, March 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, made the following statement today on the announcement of $2 billion in new health care funding:

"Canada's unions welcome today's announcement of new funding to strengthen public health care, including to address backlogs that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. This new funding will be critical to helping provinces improve access to primary care and bolster mental health, long-term care, and home care.

"We also welcome new investment in better health data, which is a vital part of governments working together to start addressing the health care worker shortage.

"This is an important step forward and a clear sign of the benefits Canadians are going to see from the Liberal-NDP Confidence-and-Supply Agreement.

"But to preserve and protect our public system in the long run, and fight creeping privatization, we need permanent, accountable and consistent increased federal funding through the Canada Health Transfer. Working together with health workers, governments can build a stronger and more resilient public health care system ? and make sure that future generations of Canadians have access to the health care they need.

"Canada's unions have long said that our democracy works best when Parliamentarians work together and today's announcement is a clear sign of how we all benefit when parties put people before partisanship."

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