Doctors stage sit-in over refugee health care cuts
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About 80 doctors staged a sit-in at the Toronto office of federal cabinet minister Joe Oliver Friday, with the activists demanding to meet with the minister to raise concerns about changes to health care for refugees and refugee claimants.
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Under the plan, some refugee claimants would only be entitled to urgent care — others would be denied all care unless they have a disease that would be a risk to the public, such as tuberculosis. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the plan is to ensure refugees don’t get better health care than ordinary Canadians. He said the move would save the government about $100 million over the next five years.
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"I just cannot understand how my government can take the most vulnerable of people and decide it's appropriate to make them more vulnerable," said Dr. Paul Caulford, a Scarborough, Ont., family physician, who has worked with immigrants and refugees for decades.
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The new policy is set to take effect at the end of June. It means many refugee claimants will only be treated if they have an infection or disease that poses a risk to public health.
"Does this mean it's OK that a person seeking refuge in Canada dies from heart disease or from untreated diabetes, as long as they don't infect the rest of us with tuberculosis?" asked Dr. Tatiana Friere-Lizama, a perinatologist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.
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This will save the Federal Government $20 million per year, or 0.007% of the total budget expenditure.
Sometimes I just think the Conservatives feel like picking on people. Maybe they find it fun or something.
