Showing posts with label refugee health care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label refugee health care. Show all posts

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Anyone Up For A Citizen's Arrest?



That is the question Toronto lawyer Paul Cavalluzzo essentially asks, given the egregious contempt for law that the Harper government in general, and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander in particular, is showing regarding refugee health care:
Our government has clearly refused to comply with an order in a case in which the court found that the government’s denial of health benefits to refugees was a violation of our Charter of Rights (Ottawa’s Treatment Of Refugees Is Shocking – Nov. 7).

This defiance is in the face of the court refusing the government’s request to stay the order. Moreover, the government has publicly stated that it is obeying the court order, in spite of the clear facts to the contrary.

In my practice of law, I’ve represented trade union leaders who have gone to jail as a result of defying court orders. Perhaps it’s time for a citizen’s arrest of Immigration Minister Chris Alexander or indeed the PM, who likely authorized this defiance.

It’s time this government learned that the rule of law means the law applies equally to all. It is not enough to wax eloquently on Remembrance Day that we should honour our fallen soldiers who fought valiantly and died to protect the rule of law. We truly honour them by complying with the rule of law and not defying it!

Contempt of a court order is an insult to their memory.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Not In My Name, Please



In a regime rife with duplicity, one of the most dishonest aspects of the Harper cabal is its endless capacity to pretend that the decisions it makes and the legislation it enacts are being done 'for the people'. One of most recent examples of this egregious misrepresentation is the decision by the federal government last year to cut off medical care for failed refugee claimants when

it amended the interim federal health program to reduce coverage for most refugees and discontinue basic care to asylum seekers from so-called “safe countries, failed refugees and others sponsored by community groups such as churches to resettle here from overseas camps.

The federal government said the cuts could save taxpayers $100 million over five years and genuine refugees continue to receive comprehensive health care coverage on par with what Canadians receive.


Not only was this an anti-humanitarian measure wholly at odds with our country's former and proud tradition of helping the disadvantaged, it was done dishonestly, the Harper cabal employing the fiction that it was simply responding to public demand:

“Canadians have been clear that they do not want failed asylum claimants and asylum claimants from safe countries receiving better health-care benefits than Canadian taxpayers,” Alexis Pavlich, spokesperson for Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, said in an email.

“Our government listened and acted with regard to Canadian taxpayers’ concerns on this issue, and we remain committed in our effort to preserve the integrity of our immigration system.”


I don't recall being polled on such an issue. Was the government deluged with demands that we enact such an odious measure? I would like to see the statistics behind this alleged demand.

That of course is not going to happen because, in all likelihood, it is like the 'thousands' the Tories claimed complained about the privacy intrusions posed by the mandatory long-form census questionaire that led to the decision to kill it. In truth, there was little more than a handful who objected.

By claiming to act in our name, this government is slandering all of us in its attempt to remake Canada into a leaner, meaner, and more American environment where individualism reigns surpreme. Fortunately, the provinces are fighting back. Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Quebec have all stepped up to provide coverage, with Ontario vowing to send the bills to Ottawa.

It would seem that Canadians' characteristic compassion is not yet dead despite the ongoing and concerted efforts by the neoconservatives to kill it.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Tory Attacks on the Canadian Soul

To suggest that the Harper regime is working relentlessly to diminish the Canadian soul is hardly a remarkable insight. Examples abound of its flinty resolve to undermine traditional Canadian values and virtues, compassion and fairness apparently at the top of its 'hit list'.

But while the Conservatives seek to remake Canada in its own morally impoverished image, it is important for all of us to see the human victims of such a governance model.

A number of such faces come into stark relief if one explores the consequences of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney's changes to health care coverage for failed refugee claimants and those from a yet-to-be defined list of "safe" countries [who] will only receive medical care if their condition is deemed a risk to public health or safety.

Here is one example of a woman who, ultimately, did qualify for care but, thanks to the widespread confusion created by the bill, suffered needless stress during a very vulnerable time in her life:

The call came 35 weeks into her pregnancy, right around the time her abdominal cramps began. It was the receptionist from her gynecologist's office saying the government's changes to the Interim Federal Health Program meant her prenatal care was no longer covered.

That's when Tiffany started to panic.

"I asked, `What am I supposed to do?'... I got scared," recalled the 27-year-old originally from the Caribbean.

"She told me that if I come and see the doctor I would have to pay the doctor a fee."

Unfortunately, even sympathetic and compassionate medical personnel are reaching the limits of help they can provide. As reported in today's Star,

Both the Scarborough Community Volunteer Clinic and Muslim Welfare Centre Clinic — the city’s two mainstays for uninsured patients — have reported an influx of refugee patients as a result of the cuts. “Our clinic is at a sustainability crisis point. Everybody is under the gun here and we are swamped. Some nights, it’s being crowd control,” said Dr. Paul Caulford, who operates the Scarborough clinic with seven other family doctors.

The article goes on to detail that many of the patients have chronic conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes, and the clinics are their last hope to receive medications that are covered by donations.

Anna Elumah is another of the human faces of this story. when her two-year-old daughter received stitches after a fall at the shelter where she, her brother and her mother are staying, Elumah was told to go to a community clinic to have them removed.

“We went to a clinic on Morningside. They looked at my paper and said, ‘It’s no good anymore. Go somewhere else,’” recalled Elumah, who also was suffering a nagging headache after she ran out of her medication for high blood pressure.

Her caseworker referred her to the Scarborough clinic, where she receives free drugs for her hypertension and asthma inhalers for her 8-year-old son, Davids.

In answer to all of this, there is the noble lie:

“The changes ensure bona fide refugees continue to receive comprehensive health coverage, while illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers from safe, democratic countries no longer receive health insurance that is superior to what is generally available to taxpaying Canadians,” said Alexis Pavlich, a spokesperson for Jason Kenney.

So, our choice as citizens is clear. We can, as the government wants, turn our backs on the most vulnerable, failed refugee claimants who will eventually be sent back to their own countries, or we can treat them with compassion and care while they are here, something every human being deserves, and something well within even our weakened economic means to provide.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Embarrassing The Harper Government

The rhetoric about overpaid doctors notwithstanding, I suspect the public loves it as much as I do when the medical profession defends its principles and embarrasses Tory lap dogs in the process.

As reported in today's Star, although it is not something they are used to doing, doctors feel it is morally incumbent upon them to speak out as frequently and vociferously as they can in their protests over Immigration Jason Kenney's recent cuts to refugee health care.

One of the more audacious, Dr. Mark Tyndal, is shown below as he interrupts one of the Harper faithful. Enjoy:

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Ripple Effect?

I wonder if Dr. Chris Keefer's sterling example helped inspire this.

Interesting that because they disagree with his cutting of refugee-claimants' health care, protesters are identified by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney as 'extremists.'

As opposed to what, enablers?

A Followup To Dr. Chris Keefer's Brave Stance

The other day I posted a link to a remarkable video showing Dr. Chris Keefer interrupting Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver's announcement at Toronto General hospital to protest Bill C-31, the legislation that will deny to those claiming refugee-status life saving drugs.

Bernie Farber has written a piece in The Huffington Post lauding the doctor's courage and integrity as he further explores the implications of this legislation.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Speaking Truth To Power

I hope this video renews your faith in people as it has mine:

Dr. Chris Keefer interrupts Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver: