This week, Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called on the Liberals and Justin Trudeau to fulfill their campaign promise of hiring thousands of health care workers. That call is critical in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the number of vacant nursing jobs has skyrocketed to 630 now, from 185 when Trudeau took office.
“Canadians are worried about the state of their health-care system. Hospitals are understaffed, waits are long and painful, and health-care workers are begging for more support,” said Singh. “Trudeau made a promise in the last election campaign; that he’d hire more health-care workers. Then, he did the opposite.”
In September, Health Sciences Centre and St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital asked those sick to stay away from the hospital unless absolutely necessary due to a shortage of health-care workers, and in the winter, Health Sciences Centre saw emergency wait room times of up to 13 hours.
“It’s shocking that Trudeau is fine with privatization as a solution to the health care crisis. It will only cannibalize the public health-care system and increase wait times. The crisis is due to a shortage of health-care workers – and more private clinics won’t fix it,” said Singh. “It’s time for the Liberals to finally step up, fulfill their campaign promise, and get to work on hiring more nurses.”
For more information, please contact NDP Media Centre at 613-222-2351 or media@ndp.ca.