FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 9, 2013

OTTAWA – Despite the fact the Health Accords are soon expiring, Conservatives have no plan to get health care back on track. In early 2014, the ten-year agreement laid out in the 2004 Federal Provincial Health Accords will end.

“Conservatives have decided to unilaterally cut $36 billion from provincial health care budgets” said Leader of the Official Opposition Tom Mulcair. “The Parliamentary Budget Officer has recently revealed that the Conservative plan to reduce the deficit depends on cuts to health care.”

“The Conservative government is turning their backs on the public health care Canadians need,” said MP Libby Davies (Vancouver East), Official Opposition Health critic. “They are slashing budgets, unloading health care costs onto the provinces and turning a blind eye to accountability for health care dollars.”

“After a scathing report from the Health Council of Canada describing how Conservatives have failed to improve health care, Mr. Harper must realize that these cuts are a short-sighted way to balance the books,” added Dany Morin, (Chicoutimi-Le Fjord), Official Opposition Deputy Health critic.

Last year, New Democrats launched the campaign Health Care: Now is the Time. From Yellowknife, to Victoria, to Halifax, to Toronto, to Edmonton, to Regina and St. John`s, the NDP has consulted with thousands of Canadians in over a dozen public forums.

Despite prorogation, the NDP will bring those voices to Ottawa and remains committed to sustainable, affordable, and high-quality public health care in every corner of the country.