Privatization in Alberta threatens public health care across Canada, activists tell federal government

Activists held rallies outside the offices of Liberal MPs in Moncton and Fredericton on Tuesday, calling on Ottawa to push back against legislation in Alberta that will expand the role of private health care in that province.

The demonstrations in New Brunswick were part of a national day of action organized by advocates who say the reforms, which came into effect on Tuesday, fundamentally threaten the Canadian public health care system. Roughly two dozen rallies took place across the country.

Jean-Claude Basque, co-chair of the New Brunswick Health Coalition, said that privatization has failed to improve health care systems in places that have tried implementing schemes like the one underway in Alberta.

“It cuts the waiting time just for a small portion of the population, which is people that are rich,” he told the NB Media Co-op. He added that privatization tends to draw health professionals away from the public system, worsening conditions for the general public.

Basque also warned that private insurance companies will gain a greater foothold in the Canadian market, resulting in a health care system similar to the American model. “What we’re really asking is for the federal government to defend the Canada Health Act,” Basque said.

That’s a reference to federal legislation establishing national standards — including accessibility, universality, and comprehensiveness — for the publicly funded health system. It rules out extra-billing and user charges for insured health services.

On paper, provincial and territorial governments must meet those standards to receive their full transfer payments from Ottawa. In other words, failing to meet those conditions could result in deductions.

The federal government previously stated that it will uphold the Canada Health Act, and Marjorie Michel, the federal Minister of Health, has described her role as “guardian” of that legislation.

However, activists say that Ottawa has so far failed to intervene.

“They’ve gotta grow a backbone,” said Robert MacKay, co-chair of the New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice, which is part of the provincial health coalition.

Activists warn of U.S.-style health care in Moncton

On Tuesday, Basque and MacKay addressed a crowd of about 35 people who rallied outside the St. George Street office of Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal MP for Moncton–Riverview–Dieppe. Activists waved red placards that read “No Two-Tier U.S. Style Health Care,” in both official languages, eliciting honks from some passing motorists.

The Liberal MP was out of town on Tuesday — she was at the Atlantic Liberal Caucus meeting in Digby, N.S. — but has agreed to meet with the provincial health coalition, according to a member of her office staff.

Organized labour made its presence known, with several activists waving the flags of Unifor and the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International Union. The Moncton chair of New Brunswick ACORN, an anti-poverty organization, was also flying that group’s flag.

George Leaman of BCTGM Local 406 said he’s “terrified” about health care privatization, especially in the context of President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Leaman, who is also vice-president for small unions with the NB Federation of Labour, deplored the current state of health care in New Brunswick. He said that people unable to access a family doctor rely increasingly on services such as 811 Tele-Care, which he described as “dial-a-prayer.”

Jennifer Murray, Atlantic Regional Director of Unifor, emphasized that privatization isn’t a viable solution for a health care system in crisis.

“We have health care workers who are exhausted — who are suffering from burnout — still going to work,” she said, adding that that workers in the sector face violence on the job. “We have to stop this and invest in healthcare rather than, you know, sell it off for profit.”

Her father, retired trade unionist Garry Murray, also evoked the roots of Canada’s universal health care system, which was first developed in Saskatchewan under then-premier Tommy Douglas, who faced a struggle against powerful forces, including the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan.

Privatization, he said, runs “totally against what Tommy Douglas and our country stood for, right from the beginning to where we are today.”

Legislation an ‘attack from within’: NB Nurses’ Union 

In Fredericton, a rally took place outside the office of David Myles, Liberal MP for Fredericton–Oromocto.

“While we wish the Carney government the absolute best in standing up to Trump and protecting the Canadian public’s interest in the trade negotiations, at the same time we cannot risk ignoring the attack from within,” said NB Nurses’ Union President Paula Doucet.

Other speakers included NB Federation of Labour President Chris Watson, NB Council of Hospital Unions President Norma Robinson, and Norma Dubé, president of the Association francophone des aînées et aînés du NB.

Minister’s spokesperson responds

The Minister’s office didn’t immediately respond to an interview request, but press secretary Alexandre Bergeron provided a brief statement.

“Minister Michel is advancing targeted discussions with her counterpart focused on ensuring access to medically necessary care and the core principles of the public system are protected,” Bergeron said in an email.

“We have taken a collaborative approach with all provinces and territories, including Alberta, that respects their jurisdiction to explore innovative ways to improve access and care while strengthening the public, universal health care system.”

READ MORE: ‘No patient care should be affected by their ability to pay’: Canadian Medical Association president
READ MORE: Coalition welcomes end of NB Health Link contract, calls for public control of more services

First province to allow ‘dual practice’ 

Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government passed the amendments into law in December, making Alberta the first province to permit “dual practice” in which doctors can work in the public and private systems simultaneously.

That means that a new category of “flexibly participating physicians” will be allowed to bill some patients privately, while continuing to bill the public medicare system for other patients.

The Alberta government has argued that dual practice is consistent with the Canada Health Act and that changes will reduce long wait times, a problem afflicting health care systems across the country.

But critics of Alberta’s new system point to a recent legal analysis prepared for the Canadian Health Coalition by a Toronto-based law firm.

The 24-page letter states that Alberta’s Bill 11 violates the Act by “explicitly enabling differential access to medically necessary care based on ability to pay in the private market.”

The letter cites a landmark legal battle in B.C. known as Cambie Surgeries Corporation v. British Columbia, which involved a constitutional challenge to provisions that ban extra-billing and user charges under the medicare system. 

B.C. Supreme Court Justice John J. Steeves dismissed the claim in 2020 with a ruling that ran over 800 pages. It stated that “there is substantive evidence that physicians would prioritize private pay patients over patients in the public system,” citing examples from the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.

The B.C. Court of Appeal upheld the decision in 2022, and the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an application for leave to appeal the following year.

David Gordon Koch is a staff reporter with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, via the Local Journalism Initiative.

Editor’s note: NB Media Co-op coordinating editor Tracy Glynn is the national director of projects and operations of the Canadian Health Coalition.