Toronto - Occupations, demonstrations and other creative actions will take place coast-to-coast today as Medicare advocates target constituency offices of high profile Liberal cabinet ministers. They are demanding immediate action from the federal government to stop Premier Ralph Klein's private hospital plan and restore funding to Medicare.

In Toronto, The Ontario Health Coalition, Ontario Federation of Labour and friends will hold a spirited rally at the office of Federal Health Minister Allan Rock, MP, Tues., March 7, 12 noon, 4180 Dundas St. West, Etobicoke (at Prince Edward).

Nurses, seniors, health care workers and others will gather to condemn Rock for his failure to protect our cherished Medicare system from the likes of Mike Harris and Ralph Klein, two Conservative premiers who are leading the charge on privatization and two-tier health care.

The Toronto and cross-country actions are sparked by Alberta's introduction of a bill that would legalize private hospitals, and a federal budget that fails to address the crisis facing health care. Ontarians also oppose Premier Harris' dismantling of health care. Patients are forced out of hospital quicker and sicker, and pay more out of their own pockets than residents of any other province.

Participants are demanding that the Federal Government be a watch-dog for Medicare, not a lap dog for private corporations who see our public health care system as a cash cow. They are also calling for: immediate action to stop Klein's private hospital legislation; federal cost sharing with the provinces for Medicare to be restored to at least 25%; the expansion of Medicare to include a national system of home and community care; a moratorium on public/private partnerships in health care with for-profit agencies, and the exclusion of health and social services from international trade agreements.