The Hill Times
March 21, 2011

This just in: more contempt from the Harper Government

The Harper government not only holds Parliament in contempt, it also seems to view Canadians who strongly support public health care with contempt as well. This does not bode well for the future of medicare.
By Michael McBane

The Harper government has given the unelected Senate the mandate to conduct a second mandatory review of the 2004 Health Accord. The previous review was conducted by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health in 2008. The move bypasses the House of Commons, where the Harper government is in a minority, to a Senate committee where the Conservatives are now in a majority. This is one more in a growing list of anti-democratic actions by the Harper government.

Hearings started on March 10 in the Senate Committee on Science, Technology and Social Affairs. Already, organizations that support a strong leadership role of the federal government in health care, including the Canadian Health Coalition, have been told they will not be allowed to appear and give testimony.

The message for Canadians is clear: The Harper government not only holds Parliament in contempt, it also seems to view Canadians who strongly support public health care with contempt as well. This does not bode well for the future of medicare.

On the eve of negotiations for renewal of the Health Accord in 2014, members of the Harper government and the Conservative Party have floated trial balloons hinting at cuts to health care transfers.

One prominent caucus member has even called for a termination of all federal health care transfers.

The Canadian Health Coalition, founded in 1979 at a conference attended by Tommy Douglas, Emmett Hall and Monique Bégin, has been critical of the lack of leadership from the Harper government on health care and, particularly, its decision to abandon a key element of the Health Accord: the National Pharmaceutical Strategy.

The federal government can’t claim to be concerned about health care sustainability and then continue to encourage the drug industry to make obscene profits and drain health budgets.

The Harper government cannot be trusted with the future of health care, and it cannot be counted on to enforce the principles of the Canada Health Act and protect Canadians from financial barriers to health care.

In light of the historic ruling from the Speaker finding the Harper government in contempt of Parliament, I remember the sobering thought that you can’t have a healthy health care system if your democracy is sick.

Michael McBane is the national coordinator of the Canadian Health Coalition in Ottawa.

This article can be found online here.