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Going south: Simcoe County Health Coalition members taking train to Toronto protest later this month
Posted: September 15, 2023
(September 14, 2023)
By: Chris Simon, simcoe.com
Commuters may be taking a seat beside a resident actively fighting for the public health-care system Sept. 25.
Simcoe County Health Coalition members will be riding the rails between the Barrie South GO Transit station and downtown Toronto that morning, as they prepare for a large demonstration against health-care privatization at Queen’s Park later in the day.
The coalition formed earlier this year with the goal of protecting not-for-profit public health services and improving care within the region, particularly within hospitals. It has ties to the Ontario Health Coalition, a collective of unions, health professionals, cultural organizations, and student and seniors groups with a similar mandate for provincial health care.
“Severe underfunding and understaffing of our public hospitals, the closure of several (emergency rooms) during the summer, the appeal of the Bill 124 court ruling, the wilful inaction regarding the recruitment and retaining of much-needed health-care professionals, and the forced passing of Bill 60 without due process and without consultations all open up the door to further privatization (and) the deregulation of health-care professions,” the Simcoe group said in a media release.
“In light of the recent Greenbelt scandal, (it) calls (into) question the true motivations behind these actions.”
Protesters will gather at the station at 8:30 a.m. Anyone interested in joining the rally can email simcoecountyhc@gmail.com to book a seat on the train. For more on the coalition, visit simcoecountyhealthcoalition.org.
