Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath, along with some local party support, heard from those affected by cuts at the Community Care Access Centre.
At the roundtable discussion Saturday morning, Horwath says it's shameful and difficult to listen to the numerous stories from people getting shut out of care they desperately need. "The services are inadequate . The CCAC has not been responsive in terms of complaints and concerns when those services are being cut," says Horwath. "And people feel frustrated, they feel angry, they feel worried and they feel very, very vulnerable."
Horwath says she will be taking these stories to the Ontario legislature and continue to pressure the Liberals to pay more attention to CCAC cuts. "To the cameras they (Liberals) say everything is great, we're spending more in healthcare, there are no cuts, people aren't having reduced service," says Horwath. "But then when you talk to people in the community, the exact opposite is happening and that's unacceptable."
MPPs Lisa Gretzky and Percy Hatfield as well as Essex MP Taras Natyshak were also in attendance. Horwath credits her party for the CCAC being given an extra $4.1 million in funding.
"We put that pressure on and I think the government loosened up the purse strings a little bit to try to take, frankly, the political pressure off," says Horwath. "That's no way to manage a healthcare system. I'm hopeful that this will provide some relief for some of the people that have been experiencing cutbacks, but everything that I'm hearing is that this is a temporary reprieve."
