In a glossy full-colour campaign brochure titled "Important Information About Your OHIP Card," Ontario Health Minister Tony Clement attacks advocates of public healthcare as a "special interest" and misleadingly claims that the private P3 hospital would be run "just like every hospital in Ontario."

"We have been fighting for two years for an open and honest public debate about the plans to redevelop Brampton's hospital as a privately owned and operated (P3) facility," stated Ethel Meade, coalition co-chair. "It is undemocratic to misrepresent these private hospital plans as simple 'bricks and mortar' when not just the construction, but, in fact, all the support services and ownership of the hospital will be private and for-profit."

"The truth is, the ministry and the hospital have engaged in a concerted effort to stifle public debate, to play down the real implications of these privatization deals, and to veil the details of the projects in secrecy. This misleading brochure is just the final touch on a really shady campaign designed to help those involved to avoid democratic accountability.".

With this press release, the Ontario Health Coalition is filing a formal complaint to the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party for misrepresenting what a P3 hospital development would mean to Tony Clement's constituents.

For more information: Ethel Meade 416-363-1289.