This referendum concerns the drastic bone slicing cuts to hospital services and staff, leaving the people of Ontario without access to what Medicare calls basic essential services for basic good health outcomes.

How is that? Ontario has not had any real dollar increases for nine years while inflation continues to rise and eat up the dollars that we have.

Ontario has the second lowest budget dollar per person in Canada. It has the fewest hospital beds of any province and overcrowding of hospitals is but one outcome of this measure.

Nursing care hours per person in Ontario have dropped to the bottom. Hospitals here have the highest readmission rate in the country.

Patients are too sick to be discharged and need to return to hospital. Every year, our readmission rates increase.

In many hospitals patients are waiting for days on stretchers in the hallways. Surgeries are bumped for emergencies, or because the hours of available Operating dollars have dwindled or there are insufficient beds.

The evidence is stacking up. Ontario can do better, especially when one sees that effort happening in other provinces.

As a result, we have a goal to obtain as many votes as possible across the province to push Premier Wynne to listen to the ground swell of Ontarians who do not want any more cuts to hospitals and to increase funding to necessary services.

The plan is to have as many voting stations as possible in communities so that people can go to vote.

We are now generating a list of places for voting stations. They can be in stores malls, businesses, cafes and workplaces, especially for advance voting.

We are looking for interested parties to volunteer with us to make this happen in Guelph. If you can help, please call 519-767-0084. We will announce that list in May.

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From left to right, members of the Guelph Wellington Health Coalition: George Kelly, Richard Chaloner, Magee McGuire, Chair, and Judy Overland.

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