In Ontario today, there’s a tempest brewing, a storm of decisions and policies that threaten the very fabric of our Canadian identity. At the heart of this storm stands Doug Ford, whose majority government, backed by a mere 18% of eligible voters in the 2022 election, is on a relentless march to dismantle the pillars of what it means to be Canadian—our education, our environment, and most critically, our healthcare.
On any given day, the barrage of concerning news makes it difficult to pinpoint just one issue to focus on. But for today, let’s zero in on healthcare.
Spoiler alert: It’s bad. It’s catastrophically bad.
Unpacking the Chaos: A Bird’s-Eye View of Ontario’s Healthcare Turmoil
The challenges we’re facing aren’t just numbers on a page or political talking points; they’re real, palpable issues that affect each and every one of us on a deeply personal level. Here’s a rundown of some of the pressing concerns that demand our immediate attention, and this doesn’t even cover it all:
- The Privatization Push: At the forefront of this healthcare crisis is the government’s aggressive move towards privatization. Surgeries and procedures, once the domain of public hospitals, are increasingly being funnelled into private clinics. This seismic shift threatens to erode the very foundation of our universal healthcare system, creating a divide where access to essential services is dictated by one’s ability to pay.
- Starving Public Hospitals: Our public hospitals, the backbone of our healthcare system, are in a state of financial starvation. Chronic underfunding has left these institutions scrambling to provide basic care, compromising the quality and accessibility of services that should be a given in a society like ours.
- Emergency Room Shutdowns: Imagine facing a medical emergency only to find your local ER closed. This nightmare scenario has become a disturbing reality across Ontario, with emergency rooms shutting down hundreds of times due to acute staffing shortages and insufficient funding.
- The Vanishing Family Doctor: The cornerstone of preventative healthcare, the family doctor, is becoming an endangered species in Ontario. A growing shortage means many Ontarians are left without essential primary care, a gap that only amplifies the strain on our already overstretched healthcare system.
- A Workforce Under Siege: Policies like Bill 124 put our healthcare workers in an impossible position. Capping wage increases for nurses and other frontline staff has not only demoralized our healthcare heroes but has also contributed to the exodus of talent we desperately need to keep our system afloat. Yes, it’s finally been ruled unconstitutional after 5 years of court battles fought with our tax payer dollars, but the damage is immeasurable.
- Corporate Interests Over Patient Care: The encroachment of corporate giants into healthcare raises alarming questions about the prioritization of profit over patient well-being. When corporations like Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart start dictating terms, it’s clear that the healthcare system is veering dangerously off course. There is no way the man behind bread fixing should be responsible for health care.
- Long-Term Care in Crisis: Perhaps nowhere are the consequences of current policies more heartbreakingly evident than in our long-term care facilities. The pandemic laid bare the grim reality of for-profit LTC homes, where inadequate staffing, subpar conditions, and a lack of oversight led to preventable tragedies. Despite promises of reform, meaningful change remains elusive, leaving our most vulnerable at risk.
These issues are not policy failures; they are a deliberate assault on the values that underpin our healthcare system. Let’s look at a couple of examples of how this could play out for the average Ontarian.
First Example: The Ignored Mole
Imagine you discover a small, oddly shaped mole on your skin. Without a family doctor to turn to—a reality for an increasing number of Ontarians—you brush off your concerns, assuming it’s nothing serious. Time passes, and the mole changes again. Consumed with worry, you visit a walk-in clinic, where the doctor shares your concern and refers you to a dermatologist. Here’s where the reality of our strained healthcare system really hits: your wait time to see a dermatologist stretches to an jaw-dropping two years or more, a delay that’s becoming all too common in Ontario. In total, Ontario has only 250 dermatologists to service 14.57 million people.
By the time you finally get your appointment for the dermatologist, the diagnosis is grim: the mole is cancerous, and due to the delay, it has grown and metastasized. What could have been a simple excision now requires extensive cancer treatment. Your cancer treatment will take on average 10.2 weeks before it begins. This scenario isn’t just plausible; it’s becoming increasingly likely as we lose the ability to catch illnesses early.
Second Example: The Emergency Appendectomy
Now, consider the terrifying scenario of your child needing an emergency appendectomy. In a well-functioning healthcare system, this would be a straightforward procedure with a high success rate. However, in the current climate of ER closures and hospital underfunding, what should be routine becomes a nightmare. You rush your child to the nearest hospital, only to find the ER is temporarily closed due to staffing shortages. In a panic, you’re directed to another hospital miles away, losing precious time.
This isn’t a hypothetical scenario at all; it’s happening here and now, to families across Ontario. The delay in receiving care in such critical situations can have life-altering consequences, underscoring the dire state of our healthcare system.
Healthcare on Sale: The High Cost of Low Deals
In the grand marketplace of Ontario’s public services, healthcare is just another item on the discount rack for Doug Ford. This shift towards treating healthcare as a commodity rather than a fundamental right is a dangerous game, one that prioritizes profit margins over patient care and undermines the very essence of our universal healthcare system. Tommy Douglas must be rolling in his grave.
Even more galling are Doug Ford’s continued populist measures that are so desperate and transparent at this point, that it’s only the wilfully blind who don’t see through it. His gosh-golly folksy demeanour has been leveraged to sell policies that do little to address the systemic underfunding and privatization efforts that threaten to dismantle our healthcare infrastructure.
Consider the array of distractions laid out for public consumption: the elimination of most highway tolls (conveniently excluding those on privatized highways), the freezing of drivers’ licence fees, and the scrapping of licence plate renewal fees. Then there’s the push to stock convenience store shelves with beer and wine, as if access to alcohol were a pressing public concern. These measures, while maybe appealing to some at a glance, do nothing to mend the cracks in our healthcare system. Instead, they serve as shiny distractions, luring the public’s gaze away from the crumbling infrastructure of our once-envied healthcare system.
As Ontarians, it is our duty, to ourselves and to future generations, to look past the surface appeal of these policies and recognize the real cost of commercializing our health: a system where access to care is dictated not by need, but by the ability to pay, and where the health of our citizens is secondary to the health of corporate balance sheets.
Hoarding Your Wealth…And Health
In a twist that borders on the absurd, the Ontario government, under Doug Ford’s stewardship, is sitting on a staggering $22 billion in excess funds. To put this into perspective, that’s roughly $1,509 for every single resident in Ontario, based on our population of 14.57 million people. Imagine the transformative impact this could have if invested in our beleaguered healthcare system.
Yet, here we are, witnessing a bizarre paradox where our public dollars are funnelled into private pockets, subsidizing private healthcare institutions at the expense of our public services. The irony is as bitter as it is infuriating: while public nurses, the backbone of our healthcare system, faced wage caps and battled on the front lines for fair compensation, private nurses hired through agencies are being paid upwards of $130 an hour. This isn’t just a misallocation of resources; it’s a glaring testament to the misplaced priorities of the current administration.
The money is there, sitting idly by while our healthcare system gasps for air. It’s a clear choice between bolstering a public system that serves all Ontarians equitably or continuing down a path that lines the pockets of a select few, leaving the rest of us to deal with the consequences.
Rolling Up Our Sleeves: The Ontario Healthcare Fix-It Guide
Yes, we’re stuck with Doug Ford and his merry band of fools until 2026, reaping the “rewards” of the lowest voter turnout in history. The sarcasm is thick, but so is the resolve we must muster to navigate through this mess.
But despair not! There’s still plenty we can do to turn the tide:
- Pressure the Politicians: Most MPPs probably don’t have Doug Ford’s knack for dodging accountability, and they do share the same air we breathe in our communities. They need to be able to look you in the eyes. Write to them, call them, make your voice heard. Let them know their job security is as shaky as the current state of our healthcare—if they don’t act. Remind them of the devastation their policies are causing, and dare them to retain their humanity amidst the chaos. I must also state that this all must be done with respect. Harsh language and threats is a great way to have your message immediately disregarded.
- Spread the Word: Share this article far and wide. The Ford government’s playbook is ripped straight from the Bannon strategy of “flooding the zone with shit”, but knowledge is power. Arm yourself and others with credible information, and let’s cut through the noise together.
- Stand with Unions: Now more than ever, unions are our frontline defense against the cuts and privatization schemes. For all of Ford’s disastrous decisions, be sure to bookmark the Ford Tracker from the Ontario Federation of Labour. Also follow and support the RNAO, CUPE, ONA, OTF, and OPSEU. They’re not just fighting for their members; they’re fighting for all of us.
- Make Healthcare the Talk of the Town: Don’t wait until you’re sick to care about healthcare. Bring it up at dinner parties, blast it on social media, make it the topic du jour. Awareness is the first step towards action.
- Vote Like Your Life Depends on It: Because, quite frankly, it does. With the next election looming, ensure you and everyone you know are registered to vote. Let’s not sleepwalk into another term of healthcare havoc.
- Follow the Ontario Health Coalition, a network of over 400 grassroots community organizations representing virtually all areas of Ontario, and support them. Read the latest on how Doug Ford is robbing from the public to pay the private.
We’ve got our work cut out for us, but remember: Ontario, (is) Yours to Recover.