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April 2025 Newsletter

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Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
Written by editor
State of BC Health r1 BC Health

Your April 2025 monthly update from the
BC Health Coalition

ANALYSIS

Impact of the 2025 Canadian Federal Election on Public Health Care

The results of Canada’s 2025 federal election are expected to have profound consequences for the country’s public health care system. For now, Prime Minister Carney’s approach to health care remains largely undefined. How he navigates the balance between public principles and fiscal priorities will be a key test of his leadership — and a defining issue for many Canadians. You can read more analysis here.

Watch the Canadian Health Coalition’s Federal Election Post Mortem

Find the Parties platforms on Health Care here.

ACTIONS & EVENTS

Solidarity with LifeLabs Workers: Actions Across BC

Members of the BC Health Coalition (BCHC) from across the province joined with striking LifeLabs workers at five solidarity actions in partnership with the BCGEU. A huge thank you to everyone who stepped up in Kamloops, Prince George, Burnaby, Nanaimo and Victoria to help raise awareness and boost the spirits of these critical healthcare workers who have been without a contract since April of 2024.

Many of you sent photos of the actions you took part in, and all were gratified to witness the outpouring of support at the rallies. Thank you for coming to our organizing calls and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with LifeLabs workers! More details on the events here.

BCHC Lead Organizer Cheryl Cameron with striking LifeLabs workers at Solidarity Action in Burnaby

BCHC Steering Committee members Colleen Fuller, Leslie Gaudette, and Barbara Mitchell-Pollock spoke at the Burnaby and Victoria events, representing patients in support of LifeLabs workers. BCHC Director of Campaigns and Policy Ayendri Riddell joined striking LifeLabs workers at a solidarity action in front of the Provincial Legislature, where she read a statement calling on the Provincial government to act.

BCHC Steering Committee member Barbara Mitchell-Pollock also delivered an open letter to Premier David Eby during Question Period, calling on the government to cancel the $300 million contract with U.S.-based Quest Diagnostics, in line with the Premier’s April 10 directive to end American contracts wherever possible. This letter was covered by the CBC.

What you can do:

With job action continuing, we ask patients to honour the picket lines, which means boycotting all LifeLabs facilities, not just those with active rotating pickets. While striking workers and their families endure financial hardships, LifeLabs owner Quest Diagnostics continues to profit. You can help by having your lab work done at your local hospital, many of which take appointments and have shorter wait times than LifeLabs.

Media Coverage:

Our solidarity actions and advocacy were widely covered across BC:

Standing with Migrant Health Care Workers

On April 18, BC Health Coalition staff and Steering Committee members stood in solidarity with Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU) members at a powerful action outside the Surrey-Newton MLA office. Migrant healthcare workers—including care aides, housekeepers, and food service workers—shared how recent federal changes to the BC Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) have jeopardized their immigration pathways after years of essential service. The rally amplified the urgent demand that workers who have long cared for our communities be guaranteed the right to stay and build their lives here without fear of deportation.

HEU-led event in front of Surrey Memorial Hospital

BCHC Signs on to the Montreal Declaration

On April 23, the BC Health Coalition Steering Committee unanimously passed a motion to endorse the Montreal Declaration—a collective statement supporting public solutions that serve people, not profit. The declaration rejects calls for tax cuts, deregulation, and privatization in response to economic crises and affirms the value of public health care, education, and services.

It also defends the so-called “interprovincial trade barriers,” which are in fact vital protections—such as the preservation of water, language, culture, and public ownership of services like energy and transportation—enshrined in our social contracts and public systems.

BCHC Government Relations

A big part of what we do at the Coalition is behind the scenes, representing our research-based positions and the interests of our members to those in office. This month we coordinated a meeting between Kilala Lelum Executive Director Leah Walker and Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Christine Boyle, to highlight the essential work of this community health center’s work in the Downtown Eastside and their critical need for dependable funding.

On primary health care issues we convened a contingent of researchers and BCHC staff to meet with the Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Health, which will be followed up by an in-person meeting with Minister Josie Osborne scheduled for next week.

The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the BC Health Coalition or its members.

Pre-election health care analysis

Pharmacare’s future – election analysis
Optimism remains as the Pharmacare Act passes under the Liberal–NDP agreement. Four provinces and territories have signed on to cover diabetes and contraceptive drugs, but expansion to other essential medications is still needed. (Danyaal Raza, Canadian Doctors for Medicare)

Canadians heading to vote face sticker shock for primary care at private clinics
Dr. Rita McCracken warns that a rise in for-profit clinics threatens equity and the principles of the Canada Health Act.

Public Health News & Resources

Operation Profit: How private health care is expanding in Canada
Policy researcher Andrew Longhurst highlights how surgeries outsourced to for-profit providers in Alberta are significantly more expensive than those delivered in public hospitals.

Alberta’s shift to private surgeries is bleeding public dollars
A report from the University of Alberta’s Parkland Institute finds that Alberta’s privatized surgical program has failed to boost capacity or reduce wait times—while costing more than public delivery.

Quebec spent more than $6 billion financing private health care last year
New figures show Quebec’s government spent over $6 billion funding private health care services in 2024, raising alarm about erosion of the public system.

The freakout about Canada’s ‘internal trade barriers’ is a corporate scam
Business lobbyists are using Trump-era rhetoric to push deregulation. What they call "barriers" are in fact key protections for Canadian social services and public ownership.

UK study confirms NHS outsourcing fuels inequality and longer waits
A comprehensive UK study of NHS-funded hip and knee surgeries (1997–2019), led by Professor Allyson Pollock and researchers at Newcastle University, finds that outsourcing to the private sector has worsened health inequalities and wait times—creating a two-tier system that disproportionately disadvantages poorer patients.

Donate now

Donations by cheque can be made out to BC Health Coalition and mailed to BC Health Coalition 302-3102 Main Street Vancouver BC V5T 3G7. Or you can give monthly by cheque.

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British Columbia Health Coalition
3102 Main St, 302, Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories, BC V5T 3G7, Canada
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