The Public Reaction

All these actions aroused great public concern and prompted the creation of such national and provincial groups as the Medical Reform Group, the Canadian Health Coalition and the Ontario Health Coalition, which united with the Canadian Nurses Association, the Canadian College of Health Service Executives and other NGOs to call for a resolution of the conflict and a reaffirmation of the principles of medicare. The media were important sources of information and opinion during this period. Liberal commentators such as the Toronto Star and the Saskatoon Star Phoenix provided readers with detailed stories about waiting lists, nursing staff shortages and the impact of cuts to social programs. In contrast, opinion leaders such as the Globe and Mail and the Financial Post began to argue that Keynesian economics must be replaced by deficit reduction and cost control, less intrusive government and privatization of services that the state was unable to provide with efficiency and economy. Medicare was seen as a prime target for reform.

Button produced for the Steelworkers Union’s campaign to reaffirm the principles of medicare in the early 1980s, when medicare was threatened by doctors’ strikes.
Courtesy of the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre

Transcription:
Save Medicare
Ban Extra Billing
Steelworkers support the alliance to end extra billing