Canadian Healthcare: When Provinces Go Rogue

Send us a note! Canada’s single payer healthcare system has always been a point of national pride.  But according to advocates, policy decisions by the provinces are actively undermining the healthcare system we all rely on. Alberta’s expansion of private-pay models, British Columbia’s reversal of harm reduction and decriminalization measures amid an ongoing public health emergency, Quebec’s handling of tuberculosis outbreaks in Inuit communities, and Ontario’s cuts to funding for long-term care are all raising concerns among healthcare advocates about the direction of health policy across the country.  In a webinar on July 15, PressProgress Health Reporter Brishti Basu spoke with four healthcare experts and advocates about what is going on in the provinces, and what can be done to stop our healthcare system from getting worse.  The following is a conversation with: Chris Gallaway from Friends of Medicare Dr. Ryan Herriot from Doctors for Safer Drug Policy Andrew Longhurst from Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Dr. Yassen Tcholakov from the McGill Department of Global and Public Health, and Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Service Support the show PressProgress is an award-winning non-profit news organization focused on uncovering and unpacking the news through original investigative and explanatory journalism. Support our work so we can keep telling the stories that matter to you. Head to our website and make a contribution today.