Chilliwack Votes: Question #6

The initiative Chilliwack Votes has been asking the six Chilliwack-Hope candidates a series of weekly questions about various issues in the lead-up to the October 19th federal election.  They have allowed us to post the candidates responses here.  Here is Question #6.

HOW WOULD YOU AS MP ENSURE NOT JUST THE AFFORDABILITY, BUT ALSO THE ACCESSIBILITY OF HEALTH CARE TO ALL RESIDENTS OF CHILLIWACK – HOPE? WHAT SPECIFICALLY CAN BE DONE TO ADDRESS THIS DIFFICULT REALITY?

Thomas Cheney (Green Party)

Our public health care system is Canada’s greatest achievement and a great source of pride for many Canadians, including myself. The Green Party will reverse the Conservative’s 36 billion cut to health care over ten years and shift the focus towards prevention.  Preventative care includes addressing the social context behind poor health outcomes such as poverty and lifestyle through a school lunch program, a guaranteed livable income, and a clean environment.

Even with the best prevention, people still need health care. The Green Party will introduce a federal Pharmacare system, saving Canadians billions of dollars as well as dental care for children. The Green Party alone opposes the Canada-EU trade agreement that will increase pharmaceutical costs by billions of dollars per year.

Our public Medicare system can be made more accessible by focusing on prevention and reasonable funding, not by cutting it

Louis De Jaeger (Liberal)

With last year’s expiry of the Health Accord, Canadians are right to be concerned about the future of our health care. The Harper government failed show leadership by allowing the Health Accord to expire and by extension created fourteen different health care systems. Your access to affordable and timely health care now depends on which province in which you live and how much you can afford.

The Harper government has refused to meet with the Premiers, has reduced transfer payments for health care, and jeopardized all provinces’ ability to provide basic services to Canadians. The Conservatives have failed to set minimum standards, shared objectives and universal principles to address our health care issues.

A Liberal government would make a new health care funding arrangement a priority. We would meet with all First Ministers and Aboriginal leaders to modernize our health care system to deliver high quality, effective and efficient care

Alexander Johnson (Libertarian)

By removing the Federal Canadian Health Act and allowing Provinces to manage their own needs rather than forcing them into a position where they must conform to receive federal transfer payments, the people of each Province would be able to set up a medical system that best suits them.

Allowing a private option for health insurance would not only alleviate wait time but also cut costs of the public health care system. For those worried a private option would cost too much, then there wouldn’t be many people opting out of the public system and the private options would fail.

For those worried it would put the public system out of work, then that means the private options available are less costly and more efficient than the public. Which means better service for a better price. The people win.

Seonaigh Macpherson (NDP)

Accessibility to healthcare is a source of tremendous frustration in Chilliwack and across B.C. We encounter problems with reasonable access to hospitals, family physicians and long-term care.

Addressing our aging population will be a challenge for the next government. Far too often, Canadians who could be cared for in their homes can’t get the support they need and wind up in hospital emergency rooms and hallways. We can do so better. Working with the provinces, an NDP government will invest in 5,000 new nursing home beds and help provide homecare for 41,000 seniors.

On physician accessibility, Tom Mulcair and the NDP have committed to spending $500 million over four years to help provinces build new clinics and hire new doctors, nurse practitioners and other healthcare providers.

Public healthcare is a core NDP value. Tom Mulcair will undo the damage Stephen Harper has done and improve access to healthcare in Chilliwack.

Dorothy-Jean O’Donnell (Marxist-Leninist)

First – reestablish appropriate generic drug legislation, and work to restrict the pharma monopolies. Two  – Investments in medical equipment to restrict monopoly control over this sector. Three – Direct engagement of doctors and health professionals in making decisions about how budgets are allocated in their sector.

Mark Strahl (Conservative)

Our Conservative government has funded our universal, public health care system to the highest levels in Canadian history, with record health and social transfers to the provinces reaching $40 billion by the end of the decade.

This year, British Columbia will receive over $4.4 billion in health transfers from the federal government, nearly a $1.6 billion –or 59 per cent increase, since we took office. Under a re-elected Conservative government, health care transfers will continue to grow each and every year to help fund our public health care system. This stable, predictable, ever-increasing funding should enable the Government of British Columbia to fulfill its constitutionally mandated obligation to deliver timely, accessible health care services to British Columbians.

As your MP, I will continue to respect provincial jurisdiction over the delivery of health care delivery and will continue to vote in favour of increased transfers to the provinces for health care.

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