CANADIAN LABOUR:

HEALTH CARE GOALS AS SEEN BY NURSES:

The following article is from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and it is about a position paper recently presented to the meeting of the Council of the Federation in Québec City. The paper, prepared by the Canadian Federation of Nurses' Unions and the Féderation interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec, gives the "view from the floor" of where Canada's health care system should go. The federal Conservative government would be expected to be particularly deaf to such practical proposals, but it is important that the public know about the alternatives.

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CUPE supports nurses’ stance on health care:

A national pharmacare program, cautious and transparent spending of public funds, retention and renewal of Canada’s health care workforce – these are some of the most salient issues identified by a health professionals’ think-tank held in concurrence with the Council of the Federation meeting in Québec City this week.

The think-tank, chaired by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec, released a document, titled “Achieving Our Health Care Vision: Key Considerations for Premiers”.

The document highlights the following considerations for premiers:

-Privatization and public-private partnerships endanger our public health care system.-Retention and renewal of Canada’s health care workforce needs to be addressed.

-A national pharmacare program is key to keeping health care costs manageable.

-Canadians expect wise, prudent and cautious spending of public funds. Greater transparency and informed public debate are needed about how health care dollars are spent.

CUPE National President Paul Moist attended the nurses’ think-tank on Wednesday, July 16. The key considerations put forth by the resulting document complement CUPE’s own concerns about quality public health care.

The Canadian Federation of Nurses and the Federation interprofessionnelle de la santé du Quebec represent over 215,000 health care professionals across Canada.