Ontario Health Coalition Province-Wide Action Plan From the Ontario Defenders of Medicare Convergence, December 1, 2001
The members and supporters of the Ontario Health Coalition seek to intensify the struggle for public Medicare -
Through a coherent provincial action plan, we aim to build our organizing and mobilization to a new level of urgency to achieve deeper impact among the public and among policy-makers.
All actions are planned to:
1) Broaden and deepen the citizen’s movement to protect Medicare
2) Build our capacity to counter the emboldened attacks on public healthcare.
Create a series of actions and initiatives to build the participation of target groups in the struggle for universal public healthcare
Create opportunities and provide support to broaden and strengthen local coalitions and groups
Use the expertise and skills of local organizers to build the campaign
3) Keep healthcare high on the public agenda and spread the message that there is a better option.
Seek and use opportunities in the campaign build-up to create media events
Engage in a series of highly publicized public education initiatives
Putting the Plan into Action
Local coalitions, social action groups, community activists and labour councils are planning "Convergences" or Plenary meetings to start the local organizing to build this campaign. The first list of meetings is on pp1. Regular updates will be sent out.
If you would like to call a planning meeting in your area we want to hear from you! Call us at 416-441-2502 or email us at ohc@sympatico.ca.
We will support local organizing by:
- identifying and contacting organizations and individuals who will help out
- helping to plan local campaign strategy and identify opportunities
- providing fact sheets, template media releases, media support, kits, speakers’ notes and campaign literature
If you would like to be added to our email list to receive regular updates, please email us at ohc@sympatico.ca.
Action Plan
Events and Initiatives
Build toward an election-style door-to-door canvass for public education and to take a personal appeal to Ontarians to show their support for public Medicare. The door-to-door should lead to a provincial/national "Medicare for Life" day in late spring on which a massive visual display of public support will be demonstrated.
Hold a series of events and activities that will feed into the momentum of the campaign - through building connections with groups and individuals to get them involved - through media and public relations initiatives.
Events and activities should be held in towns across the province. Events and activities include:
Student Essay Contest - hold a highly publicized student essay contest across the province on the topic of "what does public Medicare mean to you?"
Life Before Medicare - create opportunities to tell testimonials about what life was like before Medicare and why we don’t want to go back there, do costume dramas to capture media attention around this theme, build inter-generational opportunities - such as seniors speaking to students on this theme.
Women’s Voices Initiative - hold a series of focus groups and town hall meetings in different locals to contribute the voices of this important caregiver and health user group to the Romanow process. Ensure that the impact of the erosion of public health care on women is heard by the Commission.Create an opportunity to release a report about issues in women’s access to healthcare and health reform. Build organizing and mobilizing momentum among women and women’s organizations.
Campus Activities - build anti-corporatization campaigns on university and college campuses using tools such as guerilla theatre Michael Moore-style. Create opportunities to build student activism and mobilization around the privatization of health care.
Economists’ Tour - create opportunities for activist/public education and media events using economists from other jurisdictions that have been/are experimenting with privatization eg. a tour of economists from the U.K. talking about privatization in Britain’s health system.
Community Forums/Town Hall Meetings on key local health issues - these can be used as media events, to mobilize for Romanow, and to build local steering committees for the door-to-door campaign.
PULSE Table of Contents
Provincewide Campaign to Defend Medicare
OHC Action Plan
Ontario Updates: Homecare, Private Cancer Treatment, Public Asset Sell-off, Homeless Survey
National Medicare Update: Kirby, Romanow and Mazankowski, provincial shenanigans and upcoming dates.
Standing Together for Medicare: A Call to Care
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