Canada’s Nurses Putting Patients First This Election

News Release For Immediate release

May 11, 2015 (Ottawa) – Canada’s Nurses are standing up for the country’s health care system this federal election, as the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) and the provincial nurses unions it represents will register as third-party advertisers for the first time in the organization’s history.

“With proposed cuts of $36 billion over the next ten years, we cannot wait any longer to take a stand and defend our country’s health care system,” said CFNU President, Linda Silas. “The needs of health care services are increasing, especially as our population ages, yet budget cuts make it impossible to answer those needs.”

The three areas most important to Canada’s health care system are developing a safe seniors strategy, creating and implementing a national pharmacare policy, and protecting nurses and other health care workers with a safe staffing strategy.

“Canadians pay more for prescription drugs than nearly every other developed country, our seniors don’t have access to the care they need, and nurses are working millions of overtime hours each year while assaults against health care workers rise,” Silas said.

The CFNU hopes that as Canadians celebrate the success of nurses on National Nursing Week, they will push the discussion forward on treating frontline health care workers fairly.

“Enough with the cake-cutting and thank-yous,” Silas said. “Actions speak louder than words, and we’re using this week to demand federal leadership on these issues to strengthen our health care system and secure the safety of all Canadians moving forward.”

Janet Hazelton, President of the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union says she supports the initiative, highlighting that provincial spending on health care has declined under recent cuts to health transfers.

“Nova Scotia has the oldest demographic in the country which presents two considerable concerns for us. The demand for long term care and home care in this province increases every year. Less funding will do nothing to resolve this problem. We also have many nurses retiring or set to retire, an issue the Nurses’ Union has been talking about for more than a decade, yet there is no real plan in place to fill the gaps,” said Hazelton.

“Health care is not just a provincial issue. The funds come from Ottawa. We need to make health care a priority on the federal level so we can address issues in Nova Scotia and ensure patients get the quality care they deserve.”

A full launch of CFNU’s federal election strategy will take place at the CFNU biennial convention in Halifax, June 1-5.

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The NSNU represents over 7000 Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and Licensed Practical Nurses working in hospitals, long term care facilities, and community care (VON and Canadian Blood Services). NSNU represents nursesin acute care setting in all 9 District Health Authoritiesincluding the IWK and the following hospitalslocated in the Capital District Health Authority: Dartmouth General, Hants Community, Cobequid CommunityHealth Centre, Eastern Shore Memorial, Twin Oaks, Musquodoboit Valley Hospital. The NSNU represents nursesin the vast majority of long term care facilitiesthroughoutthe province. The NSNU is a member organization of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions which represents close to 200,000 nurses and student nurses across Canada.

For further information contact:

CFNU - Anil Naidoo at 613-986-5409 or anil [at] nursesunions.ca /NSNU – Janet Hazelton, NSNU President, 902-456-2084 or janet.hazelton [at] nsnu.ca / Coleen Logan, NSNU Communications Officer, 902-468-0283 or coleen.logan [at] nsnu.ca