As new health care promises are made by NDP's Thomas Mulcair, this article from August of this year provides some background from the medical community.
Stephen Harper's Conservatives likely won't be receiving an endorsement from the Canadian Medical Association Journal, a prominent medical journal for peer-reviewed clinical research and health policy.
The current issue of the CMAJ features a new editorial written by Deputy Editor Dr. Matthew Stanbrook slamming the Harper Conservatives for weakening public health care in Canada.
"For much of the last decade, Canadian federal health policy has been conspicuous by its absence," Stanbrook says, adding "in recent years, the federal government has neglected [its health care] responsibilities, even when courts have ordered them to do otherwise."
The Conservatives are undermining and under-funding Canada's public healthcare system, spurning collaboration with the provinces and essentially removing the federal government from the health care business, Stanbrook suggests:
"During that time, the federal government has walked away from collaborating with the provinces through the Council of the Federation and declined to renew the First Ministers’ Accord on Health Care; dithered on public health measures of glaringly obvious benefit, such as tobacco control and asbestos elimination; ignored and disbanded expert advisory panels on health issues; weakened the authority of the public health agency; muzzled scientists; eliminated the long form census, the best source of information on regional disparities relevant to health; and eroded research support, while increasingly tying what remains to business interests rather than health benefits.
By all appearances, the federal government seems to be trying to get itself out of the health care business. It cannot."
Too often, at election time, we neglect our health care concerns and let economic fears dominate how we vote. This must change, immediately. CMAJcalls on all Canadians to make sure that health care is a key issue in the upcoming federal election. CMAJ expects all federal political parties to articulate clear, effective, thoughtful policy platforms on health, and advises all Canadians to keep the health policies of their candidates’ parties in mind when casting their ballots. Otherwise, we will continue to lack solutions for our urgent health care problems.
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