Canada’s unions welcome today’s B.C. court’s decision in Cambie case

Bruske: Now is the time to strengthen our public health care system

OTTAWA –Canada’s unions are celebrating today’s decision from the BC Court of Appeal in the Cambie Surgeries Corporation (CSC) case. Protecting and strengthening our public health care system is critical, especially with the current crisis in health care across our country. Today’s decision by the court upholds the BC Supreme Court’s September 2020 decision that safeguarded the key principles of public health care.

“For years, Dr. Brian Day and his well-financed powerful allies have used everything in their arsenal to try to erode key tenets of our universal health care system and threaten universal and equal access health care in our country,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Thank you to the many organizations and activists who worked so hard for this victory. Your work has been critical in defending our universal health care system.”

The BC Court of Appeal decision comes following the earlier court decision in the Cambie case which put Canada’s public medicare system on trial and threatened the principle of universal and equal access to health care.

“The push for profit-driven care in this country was delivered another significant blow today. But we know the fight isn’t over. While we expect this case will continue to the Supreme Court and Canada’s unions stand ready to defend our universal, single-payer health care system,” continued Bruske. “Repairing and strengthening the public health care system will take the combined efforts by all levels of government. Canada’s Premiers have called for a First Ministers’ Meeting on the topic of health care in Canada and Canada’s unions are calling on our political leaders to improve our health care system for everyone, not just for the people with the ability to pay.”

Bruske added that it is important to remember that the 2020 decision by the BC Supreme Court, at over 800 pages, was one of the most comprehensive verdicts in BC Supreme court history.

“Canadian courts and citizens have already ruled on this issue. Canadians do not want us to usher in a profit-driven, multi-payer health care system. If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything – it is precisely how critical our universal, equally accessible health care system is. Now is the time to strengthen it”

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