L-K-M candidates having ‘health-care’ forum in Wallaceburg
The Chatham Kent Health Coalition is a newly formed community advocacy group, associated with the Ontario Health Coalition.
The purpose of this group is to advocate for local, publicly funded health care for all residents of Chatham Kent.
The Chatham Kent Health Coalition is a non-partisan group, as is the Ontario Health Coalition.
The Canadian health care system is in danger of being torn into pieces, while privately owned money making entities replace public health care. Moreover, health care is being re-constructed by politicians. Think about what we are seeing now:
• Services are being moved to larger centers
• Patients have to travel distances to access services, often far away from home
• Small community hospitals are being downsized, leaving residents to travel to larger centers for care
• Small community Emergency rooms are being downsized or closed.
• More and more services are being de-listed, costing citizens to pay out of pocket for services they need.
• Registered nurses are being replaced by less qualified staff.
• Staff numbers are being reduced
• Access to Nursing Home beds does not serve the numbers of people in the community who need to access this service
• Extreme wait times for Home Care
• Inadequate Home Care services.
We are concerned that public health care is being eroded, and that the public does not know what each provincial political party plans to do with health care in Ontario. All politicians will say they will improve health care, but the question is how, exactly? Do citizens agree with party platforms? Do the politicians realize what the public’s health care priorities are?
We are inviting you to join us, at an All-Candidates forum for the riding of
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. The preparations are being made, organized and finalized.
We hope for a heavy community showing to ensure that the provincial candidates know that our community wants the right to ask questions and hear answers. This process will help voters to make their decision, as to whom to vote for.
The details regarding the Lambton-Kent-Middlesex All Candidates forum on health care follow:
• Date: September 27, 2011
• Time: 7PM to 9:30PM
• Place: Oak’s Inn, Wallaceburg, ON
• Moderator: G. Patterson, CKXS FM radio in Wallaceburg and Dresden.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact me at 519-677-4460, or e-mail me at
shirl@xcelco.on.ca
Jim in Wallaceburg
September 8, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Have any Lambton-Kent-Middlsex candidates accepted this invitation? Forums hosted by the OSSTF for Chatham-Kent-Essex in Chatham and L-K-M in Wallaceburg will not be attended by the local PC candidates. Does Monty have another meet-the-candidate event booked on this evening? This will be an informative event – especially with the regional interest in Sydenham District Hospital.
Michael C
September 9, 2011 at 8:26 am
McNaughton has a facebook page. Maybe everyone should ask him if he is going to be there
Michael C
September 16, 2011 at 8:13 am
Well I asked……..My question did not get a reply, in fact it got deleted, so I guess he is not going to be there. Kinda rude though.
Rob
September 16, 2011 at 10:55 am
Hi Michael, I didn’t delete anything from you – and I doubt the other guys did either… perhaps there was an error when you posted?
Pls try posting again. THX
Jim in Wallaceburg
September 16, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Rob – I think Michael C was referring to posting the question on Monty’s facebook page. Since the press release we are commenting on suggested calling Shirley with additional question, well I just called her.
All L-K-M candidates have accepted this invitation with the exception of Monty. He has yet to reply to five emails, a call to his other constituency office and even a personal visit to his Wallaceburg constituency office. So, while all other candidates have confirmed their attendance, Monty has yet to even reply.
Rob
September 16, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Ah yes, re-reading the whole thread I see my mistake. Duh.
Thanks Jim
Michael C
September 16, 2011 at 3:08 pm
Its probably me Rob, my English accent confuses people
Jeff Wesley
September 19, 2011 at 4:31 pm
In LKM, especially Wallaceburg and area, health care and in particular the future of our local Sydenham District Hospital (SDH)is priority # 1. I know all of the candidates running in LKM personally and they are to a person very dedicated and very passionate. If any of them decide, for reasons other than an emergency, to skip this health care forum I will be very disappointed. Although the Save Our Sydenham (SOS)group was not involved in organizing this forum as the head of SOS I will be there to ask each candidate to state in a clear and unequivocal way their support for SDH, ER services and the local jobs all of which must be kept in our community.
Jeff Wesley
Jim in Wallaceburg
September 19, 2011 at 10:22 pm
Thank you, Mr. Wesley. Within a few hours of your post going up, the campaign manager for Mr. McNaughton advised on Monty’s intention to attend – so it looks we will have the opportunity to listen to the opinions of and ask questions to all candidates.
Michael C
September 20, 2011 at 6:54 am
Thanks Jeff,
A little pressure works it seems
Michael C
September 28, 2011 at 7:15 am
The Debate was last night, and was well attended by debate standards. Monty showed up, I doubt any of them wanted to have to deal with Jeff if they did not.
What was apparent was that they are all full of platitudes. They are all going to fix it, but really they have no idea how they are going to pay for it.
Healthcare is the largest item on the provincial budget, and it is going to stay that way, and in fact take a larger proportion every year.
Cutting LHIN’s and boondoggles are maybe 1% of the total annual cost, and the budget has been growing at 5% per annum.
I did not really expect anything else, but I left with a bad taste in my mouth.
The incumbent was, IMHO, the most realistic of the bunch, and the PC’s are the most unrealistic, having made all sorts of promises, with a bad history on the file, and no ideas made public on how they are going to pay for everything.
The NDP seem determined to drive away business, and pay for huge increases, so I am hoping the opinion polls are accurate as far as they are concerned.
Dan
September 17, 2011 at 10:41 am
Maybe the constituents of the LKM riding need a brave and action-oriented candidate who will stand up for their interests and confront people like Monty, the way the NDP candidate Alexsandra Navarro for ChathamKentEssex did by confronting conservative candidate Rick Nicholls about his intentional absences from debates!!! To me, that shows the intestinal fortitude we citizens DESERVE to have represent us!! Some people and some media claimed her actions were ‘dirty’ politics…but there was no name-calling, there were no false accusations levelled in what she did…she simply sought an answer for the people she wants to represent, as to why his office party was more important than answering to the people and presenting the platform he claims to represent!