New Hospitals for Hamilton.

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New Hospitals for Hamilton.
Build them right!
Last fall the provincial government announced its intention to privatize up to 24 new hospitals in Ontario through P3s - or "Public Private Partnerships". Hamilton's hospital redevelopments at the Henderson, General, McMaster and St. Jo's are slated to be some of these privatized P3 hospitals.
Highway 407 is a private public partnership. In a P3 hospital, the public pays for the hospital, but the financing, maintenance management and some of its services are turned over to profit-seeking companies to run for profit. Like in the 407 deal, the private sector profits and the public pays.
We can keep our hospitals public - if we act now!
Vote Saturday March 25th at voting stations all over the community:
All voting stations will be open at least from 9:30 am - 3 pm. Some will open for longer hours. Please call for details.
For a full list of voting stations near you, please call the Hamilton Health Coalition at 905-525-6673.

Our voting station is at the Dynes Tavern

Let's keep our hospitals 100% pubic
Vote March 25th!

 

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Almost 28,000 say no to private health

Kevin Werner, Stoney Creek News

(Mar 31, 2006)
Nearly 28,000 Hamiltonians can't be wrong.

Hamilton Health Coalition co-chair Lois Boggs called the results of their organization's plebiscite March 25 to keep the city's hospitals public "overwhelming."

"We took the vote to the streets to see what people would do," said Ms. Boggs. "It became the highest turnout of all of the votes. More than double (the others)."

The results of the one-day vote were that 27,995 people supported the ballot question: "All hospitals in Hamilton must be publicly funded, financed, owned, administrated and operated."

There were 664 people who opposed the question.

Residents 14 years of age and older could vote at one of the 85 polling stations set up throughout the city. Anyone voting was asked to sign a document stating they would not vote again.

The coalition, an organization composed of union members and community activists, postponed the vote last December so it wouldn't conflict with the federal election.

A coalition-sponsored vote was held Dec. 9 for nurses and doctors only.

The plebiscite idea is an attempt by the Ontario Health Coalition to force the provincial government to abandon its policy to use private money to construct or operate public hospitals.

The Ontario government, members argue, has created an "alternative-financing procurement" plan that allows the creation of public-private partnerships. The Liberal government, officials say, is considering more than 20 projects under the public-private partnership (P3) umbrella.

Hamilton is the fourth community to hold the vote. In the Niagara region last May, 97 per cent of the 12,400 people who cast their ballots rejected privatization.

Voters in North Bay and Woodstock had already turned thumbs down on privatizing hospitals.

Ms. Boggs said there will be votes taken in Sarnia and Sault Ste. Marie.

Eventually, said Ms. Boggs, the Ontario Health Coalition will present the results to Premier Dalton McGuinty. She didn't know when, but it will be after all votes have been concluded across the province.

Ms. Boggs also pointed out that the 97 per cent opposition to privatization should be a wake-up call to area Liberal MPPs who support the government's P3 policy.

Of Hamilton's area MPPs who were invited to oversee the vote, only NDP MPP Andrea Horwath accepted the group's request.

"The government says it can't afford to build hospitals with public money," said Ms. Boggs. "We say the public can do it cheaper than the private sector."