More health care supports are urgently needed: NDP

OTTAWA – Today, NDP MPs are wrapping up a three-day caucus retreat where they have been discussing how to address the strain on health care workers and the health care system as well as the affordability crisis facing Canadians. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is urging the Liberal government to take immediate action to support Canadians as Omicron cases rise across the country.

“Canadians are really feeling the impact of the major gaps in our health care system which have been exposed by the pandemic. Health care workers are still expected to show up even though they’re dealing with burnout from the last two years and now, with the surge of Omicron, they’re being pushed even harder when they’re already exhausted,” said Singh. “Justin Trudeau needs to start working with provinces and territories to repair the damage done by decades of underfunding to get more health care workers at the bedsides of Canadians, to help get people vaccinated and to address the ongoing problems in long-term care.”

In the upcoming parliamentary session New Democrats will continue to push for improvements to our healthcare system. This includes calling for an immediate increase in funding to: stabilize our healthcare workforce, eliminate the backlog of postponed surgeries and medical procedures, and address burnout by fast-tracking credential recognition and immigration status for health care workers.

The party is also calling for a federal public vaccination campaign for children. Vaccines have helped reduce the number of critically ill people who have contracted COVID-19 and help to ensure our hospitals and health care workers are not overwhelmed with cases. With children returning to in-class learning in parts of the country, a concentrated effort to make sure children and school staff can receive their vaccines is important. So far, the percentage of children five and over who have received their vaccine is still very low.

“There is a lot that Justin Trudeau could do to help relieve some of the pressure on our health care system. Unfortunately, he has done the minimum amount of work and passed the rest of the responsibility onto the provinces. And told Canadians to wait to fix our healthcare system until after the pandemic. But we can't afford to wait,” added Singh. “Canadians have been making big sacrifices to keep each other safe. They're tired and frustrated and they deserve more leadership from their Prime Minister. New Democrats are going to continue to push for improvements that will keep Canadians safe and help us get out of this pandemic.”