Public sector workers rally in Charlottetown for better support and against privatization
Dozens of people rallied in Charlottetown on Thursday to urge the province to better support public services and recognize the essential workers who maintain them.
Many of the people gathered were public sector workers, who assembled outside the provincial government office on Rochford Street.
The rally was organized by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) P.E.I., which represents public sector workers in areas such as education, health care, municipalities and post-secondary education.
"We have been asking for respect at the bargaining table for responses to questions and queries that we have for government to meaningfully invest in public services for ages and ages and ages and we have been ignored over and over and over again," said Ashley Clark, CUPE P.E.I. president.
Clark said the rally was meant to send a message to the province that public services are not luxuries, but essential infrastructure that supports the well-being of entire communities. Services like health care and education, she added, are fundamental rights.
"Those are the things that people rely on, that people need to live… and this government has consistently been showing that they would rather sell those off than do their jobs and invest in them and support them and allow them to thrive."
Clark added that labour relations will be a central issue in the upcoming byelections in the province.
"You need to value the people that live here, that work here. These are your constituents."
Privatization concerns
Clark said the union and its members have been trying to raise concerns with the province about the potential privatization of the public health system, and the province should instead focus on investing more in public services.
Their primary concern centres around what Clark calls the "privatization playbook" — a systematic approach she believes is undermining public services.
This strategy, she said, begins with starving sectors of resources through austerity and cutbacks, which can lead to public sector workers losing hours and wages. Then comes short staffing, causing systems to crumble. As services deteriorate, people become desperate, and that can create an opening for private sector intervention.
"When a private company swoops in, arm's length from the government … they don't have to be accountable," she said.
"They swoop in and they make profit off of the things that we need to survive."
She added: "If the same service were offered in the public sector, any revenue would get reinvested in that system, would go back to worker wages, would go back to benefits, would go back to having properly resourced facilities and institutions."
In a statement to CBC News, the province said it acknowledges the concerns raised by the union and values the important work public sector employees do across the province.
"There is no plan to privatize public health services. Our focus remains on improving the services Islanders rely on, supporting frontline workers, and working together to build a stronger more resilient health-care system," the province said.
CUPE P.E.I. isn't alone in its concerns.
Other groups on the Island have raised alarms about health-care service privatization. The P.E.I. Union of Public Sector Employees has recently expressed concerns about a home-care program by Health P.E.I., which they say is an example of health-care privatization and seems to be millions of dollars over budget.
Unaddressed issues in education
Clark also pointed out that the union's members working in schools have been vocal about their challenges, with the government failing to address these issues.
One of the most alarming concerns, she said, is the workplace violence in schools, where some educators are regularly subjected to physical and verbal abuse.
"They're going to bargaining tables and being pushed into conciliation and binding arbitration because the government is not bringing fair wages to the table. They are not bringing improvements to the health and safety concerns that our members have every day in schools," she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
29 minutes ago
- CBC
This rural P.E.I. community took health care into its own hands. Now it has a thriving clinic
Social Sharing Back in 2017, when Lisa Gallant saw that thousands of people in her own community of Crapaud and the surrounding areas suddenly were without a family doctor, she knew she had to take action. That year, longtime family doctor Dr. Hendrik Visser retired after 32 years of practice in Crapaud. A new physician took over, but the practice proved untenable for one person, and he left the same year. "We had no primary health care, and we knew that something had to be done," Gallant told Island Morning host Mitch Cormier during the CBC radio show's remote broadcast from her community Thursday. Gallant, who is a pharmacist and owner of South Shore Pharmacy, joined forces with other local leaders to form the non-profit South Shore Health and Wellness Inc. They raised about $10,000 to establish a walk-in clinic, at the time located in what had been the pharmacy's kitchen, in January 2018. Today, that small walk-in has grown into the South Shore Health and Wellness Centre, which has undergone two expansions and is now in the middle of a third. Once the work is complete, the centre will span more than 5,000 sqare feet. "There were times where I thought 'This is never going to happen,'" she said. The centre now has a comprehensive care team, including a full-time physician, two full-time nurse practitioners, three licensed practical nurses, two part-time nurses specializing in chronic disease management, and a part-time physiotherapist. The latest expansion will allow for even more staff in the future. This is exactly the kind of collaborative, multidisciplinary primary-care model that Gallant and her group envisioned from the start, one that could meet the health-care needs of a growing rural population. But Gallant said the journey hasn't been easy; it took years of persistent advocacy with the provincial government. Now, they hope the success in Crapaud can be replicated in other rural communities across Prince Edward Island. Collaborative care 'the way forward' The concept of collaborative, team-based health care is now being embraced across P.E.I. There are currently 17 of what the government calls medical homes in the province. These clinics offer a wide range of services, with doctors collaborating with other health-care workers. They have been touted by the province as a way to alleviate pressure on the health-care system. But it's not a new idea. Visser, the retired doctor who has since returned to Crapaud, said he pitched the concept to the province years ago, inspired by his early career in Africa. "That is the way forward. We saw that effectively implemented in resource-poor countries in Africa, where six of us as physicians were able to manage a hospital the size of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, all with allied health professionals, midwives, primary health-care workers and nurses and lab and rehabilitation services — all under one roof, all interdisciplinary," Visser said. "We were able to serve a population of about two million people with rural health centres that we equipped to be in the communities, and we would then be the referral centre from those small clinics out in the community." Even in his own practice in Crapaud, Visser collaborated with a nurse for years. Together, they managed care for more than 2,000 patients. A vision finally realized Before retiring, Visser said he proposed a collaborative model for rural health care to the provincial government, but he said there wasn't much reception around the idea at the time. In the years after Visser's retirement, Gallant and her group continued pushing the idea, bringing proposals and presentations to meetings with Health P.E.I. and government officials. "We just heard 'no' so many times," she said. "We just felt that if we kept being consistent and never gave up, we would eventually reach our goals." In 2020, they met with then-premier Dennis King. "We came in armed with all of our documents and our proposals and all of our facts, ready to do battle," she said. "The premier looked at us and said, 'Yes, I agree with you. You should have a doctor. You should have primary health care in Crapaud.'" King later visited the clinic and committed to making it a collaborative practice with a physician involved. In July 2023, Dr. Meghan Cameron joined the clinic — the community's first family doctor in five years. In total, Gallant's group has invested more than $30,000 in clinic improvements and equipment over the years. 'They want to be here' Gallant said the community has gone from desperately needing practitioners to receiving inquiries from physicians and nurse practitioners interested in working at the Crapaud clinic. She credits not only the facility but also the team atmosphere. "Health-care professionals talk to each other, and the team here is so great. They're so collaborative and wonderful, dedicated professionals, and there's a really good morale at the clinic," Gallant said. "Other health-care practitioners hear that, and they want to be here." Her group also works hard to support the team with things like thank-you cards, baking, and small gifts to express appreciation, Gallant said. "Everyone is so thankful to have that care here. So it's important that the health-care providers feel that," she said. They also help with recruitment by touring candidates around the facility and community, as well as presenting baskets filled with local products. A model for other communities What's been built in Crapaud should serve as a model for other rural areas, Health Minister Mark McLane told CBC News at the remote broadcast. "Back to rural health care in the past, we used to have a single physician in an office," he said. "Now, with the collaborative-care model, there's more supports around those physicians and nurse practitioners to provide service, so we're not as reliant on one position in one area." McLane said lessons can be learned from the model in Crapaud. While a nice setup helps to attract physicians, he said community support for these health providers is also essential, and Crapaud has both. When asked whether Health P.E.I. has made hires to staff the clinic's expansion, McLane did not say yes. "We keep hiring, and again, we have so many positions within our system… You know, the provider chooses where they go," the minister said. McLane also noted that the federal government's loan forgiveness program, introduced last year for doctors and nurses, serves as another tool to attract health-care professionals to rural and remote areas. Meanwhile, some communities on P.E.I. are taking similar action to Crapaud's. A newly opened walk-in clinic in Montague, also located in a pharmacy, was made possible by a $200,000 fundraising effort from a local volunteer group. Green MLA Matt MacFarlane, who was part of the Crapaud clinic's board, said the burden of getting a clinic open shouldn't fall on communities. "It's government's job to deliver health care, to provide health care, and to get the 37,000 Islanders on the wait list for a doctor off that wait list," he said. "It shouldn't fall to volunteers who have full-time jobs — farmers, fishers, whatever — to have to come in on the little bit of time they have and spend six years advocating for health care and building a clinic up from scratch and then having the government just take the key and then say, 'OK, now we have a clinic.' That's government's job." 'It will be joyous' Albany resident Darlene Smith, a retired teacher, has been on the P.E.I. patient registry for six years. While she has relied on the virtual platform Maple for minor issues, Smith said she often hesitates to seek in-person care for fear of burdening the system. "It's a little stressful because you just don't know what to do." But with the expansion, and Gallant saying the clinic is accepting new patients weekly, Smith hopes she and her husband will soon get the call. "It will be joyous," she said. "It's not that we're unwell and that we need to go see a doctor, but just to have that peace of mind, to be able to call someone that's going to take care of you." Gallant said her group isn't done.
CBC
44 minutes ago
- CBC
Life felt dark when I began losing my sight. A stranger opened my eyes to a brighter future
Social Sharing This First Person column is written by Deepinder Singh, who goes by the name Deepi, and who lives in Regina. For more information about First Person stories, see the FAQ. I couldn't see what was right around the corner as I sat at the doctor's office, with the optometrist running through some vision tests. I'd booked this appointment after a long time noticing it had become a struggle to see parts of words and sentences. Google had told me the symptoms were similar to cataracts, so I didn't feel there was a big worry or hurry. "Well doctor, is it cataract?" I asked, with the cocky attitude of a kid who trusts Google more than a scientist or doctor. "No," he answered, explaining that I was experiencing macular degeneration. "To put it in simple words, you have holes in your retina." He went on to tell me there was no treatment. My wife and I were stunned. I had a healthy lifestyle and was on no medication. How could this happen to me? As she drove me home, I looked out the window and saw the vast stretches of land that had lost all their colour in the short time we had spent at the optometrist's. I stared at the endless sky — so much like my seemingly never-ending life, which would be restricted now by failing eyesight. Anita, my wife, broke the silence, saying, "Don't worry, I'll be your eyes." She had always been supportive and encouraged me in everything, through all our moves and work in countries from India to Muscat, to our decision to come and join our daughter in Canada in 2018. But despite her support, she could not help me here — eyes were not something we could share. The spectre of total blindness haunted me. I did not want to be dependent on others or be an object of their pity. Then one evening after a visit with friends, my wife was driving us home while I admired the golden sunset and the green fields with a few buildings in the distance. It occurred to me that if the buildings were closer, they would block my view of the beautiful evening sky. In that moment, I had an epiphany: if I could see my vision loss as something in the distance, I would still be able to see the beautiful landscape of my life. I had been blessed with good health to that point. I'd had the good fortune to have seen the living skies of Saskatchewan, the unending stretches of sand when travelling by road from Muscat to Dubai, the quaint town of Winchester in England, the Valley of Flowers In India where the sweet intoxicating smell of the flowers made some people faint. Yes, I had been blessed! I began talking to people more and started using the bus frequently. It was on the bus one cold wintry day when I struck up a conversation with a young man, who sat down near me with the help of his dog and his white cane. "I've seen you a couple of times on this bus before, but there used to be a lady with you," I said, striking up a conversation. "Yes," he replied, "she's my wife. She generally comes with me, if she's free." As we continued to talk, he told me he had been born blind and was very good at using assistive technology, which helped him to continue working. His confidence was an inspiration for me. The world might have seen him as having no sight, but this stranger provided me with hope and a vision for the future. I am now in touch with some organizations that help the visually impaired and people with other disabilities to get jobs or to start their own business. I know there are many rivers to cross — my advancing age, my continual vision loss, and the fact that my past work experiences had been in countries like Dubai and India, rather than in Canada. However, I am hopeful. Very hopeful. When the time comes, I will find employment or start my own business. While I work hard and wait for that to happen, I will enjoy the heavenly beauty around me throughout the year — the colourful leaves of fall, the pure white blankets of snow and the icicles on the trees shining like diamonds in the bright sunlight. I will enjoy the beauty of summer nights with its sparkling stars. I won't let the possibility of the obstacles in the distance ruin my joy in the beauty around me, or the life I am capable of living in the here and now.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Toronto housing among least affordable on this global index. Here's what experts say needs to change
A new global index suggests Toronto is among the world's worst cities when it comes to housing affordability — as experts blame decades of policy missteps, development delays, and overwhelming population demand for the problem. The 2025 Global Cities Index from Oxford Economics finds that as a result of Toronto's expensive real estate market, residents 'spend more of their income on housing than residents of nearly every other city in the world.' While the federal government recently promised to eliminate the GST on first-time home purchases under $1 million, critics argue that restrictive housing policies, costly development charges and sluggish approvals have created a market that's out of reach for most buyers. The average price of a home in the Toronto area did decline four per cent year-over-year in May but still stood at more than $1.1 million, according to the latest data from the Toronto Region Real Estate Board. 'Over the past 20 years Toronto's population has grown by 35 per cent but affordable housing hasn't kept up. The result? Life is getting too expensive for families,' Mayor Olivia Chow said during a press conference on Friday. 'Young people are giving up on the dream of home ownership.' The City of Toronto has a program where it will defer development fees for some projects so long as at least 20 per cent of its units are affordable. However, demand for the program has far exceeded the city's ability to fund it and as a result Chow says that there are projects totalling 300,000 new units from about 70 different developers that are 'shovel ready' and just 'sitting there in the pipeline' waiting for funding from other levels of government. In Toronto alone, development fees can add more than $100,000 to the cost of a new home and in some areas in the GTA development fees can easily double that, says Frank Clayton, Senior Research Fellow at Toronto Metropolitan University. Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously promised to help municipalities reduce those fees by 50 per cent through additional payments that could be distributed by the provinces though he has not provided a timeline for those investments. 'If a municipality takes $200,000 up front, developers got to increase their prices such that $200,000 is reflected ultimately in the price of the house,' Clayton said. 'Builders won't build, unless they can cover their costs.' Toronto housing A real estate sign is displayed on the front lawn of a house in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, May 11, 2017. Clayton identifies three key culprits behind Toronto's crisis: high fees, restrictive planning rules, and relentless demand — the latter driven in part by immigration. Last year alone, nearly 300,000 newcomers arrived in the region, fuelling further housing pressure. 'You need sites. You need sites that are zoned, and you need sites that are serviced,' Clayton said. 'The planning system is very unresponsive to changes in demand.' 'We have to act now' New home sales in the GTA hit a seventh consecutive month of record all-time lows in April, owing in part to a significant reduction in housing starts. Dave Wilkes, president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), says time is running out to fix the system. 'We are seeing real market consequences. 80,000 people leave the GTA,' Wilkes said. 'The longer we wait, the longer that it's going to take to balance supply and demand.' Wilkes is calling for urgent action on housing taxes — especially the harmonized sales tax (HST) formula, which hasn't been revised since 1991. 'Making that change on HST today is the most immediate thing we could do,' Wilkes said. 'It would bring costs down by a dramatic 13 per cent for the first million dollars of a purchase.' He also warned that the federal government's plan to remove GST only for homes under $1 million misses the mark in high-cost cities like Toronto, where the average sale price sits well above that. 'Under a million is just not a product type that is available in the GTA,' he emphasized. Row of houses in Toronto Children ride bikes by a row of houses in Toronto on Tuesday July 12, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston What is the market is lacking? Jason Mercer, Chief Information Officer for the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, says affordability has technically improved — but warns that too little new construction could reverse that trend. 'Two years ago, a lot of households simply wouldn't have qualified,' Mercer said. 'Today, I would argue that a lot of those households could qualify, because prices have edged lower and interest rates have come down.' Still, Mercer says demand will eventually rebound, and if the city can't match it with supply, prices will climb again. 'We haven't done a good job keeping up with housing supply to meet that population growth,' he said. 'From a public policy perspective, we want to look at ways that we see sort of a sustained pipeline of new housing coming online.' A turning point with urgency Clayton says the roots of the crisis stretch back to the early-2000s when Ontario shifted its land-use focus towards environmental protection, including the establishment of the Greenbelt. He argues the policy limited where housing could be built, and gave too much power to growth management plans that discouraged the types of homes most people want — townhouses and detached units. 'We have to have a competitive supply of land,' Clayton said. 'Because if there's competition, then prices don't go up very much.' Despite efforts from all levels of government to address the issue — including a recent Ontario bill aimed at speeding up construction — most experts agree that housing affordability won't be meaningfully restored unless there's a broad and urgent shift in policy, from zoning and fees to taxes and timelines. 'The time for discussion has concluded. We really need the time for action,' Wilkes said.
