Nurses taunt John Haggie during St. John's rally
The chanting of 300 nurses could not compel Newfoundland and Labrador's health minister to speak to an unhappy crowd on Monday afternoon.
Protesters taunted minister John Haggie, chanting his name, but were unable to make him appear at a nursing union protest at the Confederation Building steps in St. John's.
- Eastern Health cutting jobs, Central Health closing clinics to save after budget cuts
- Full Coverage: Newfoundland And Labrador Budget 2016
Nurses from across Atlantic Canada took a break from a regional labour training conference held this week to hold the protest against the provincial budget.
It's the latest protest to take aim at the budget since the fiscal plan was laid out on April 14.
The nurses are here from all over Atlantic Canada (they're doing a labour school in St John's) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nlpoli?src=hash">#nlpoli</a> <a href="https://t.co/1T9qMzFulO">pic.twitter.com/1T9qMzFulO</a>
—@PeterCBCNurses demonstrated against cuts to the four health boards, the closure of the Masonic Park nursing home in Mount Pearl, and clinic shutdowns across the province.
"You may be worried here on the Rock about the deficit you have today," said Heather Smith, the president of the United Nurses of Alberta.
"But when you start slashing health and education, you don't know the kind of deficit you are creating for the future citizens of this province."
"We can't let them take our long term care" head of the NS nurses union says to the 200 or so nurses here <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nlpoli?src=hash">#nlpoli</a> <a href="https://t.co/ODgRVqWO93">pic.twitter.com/ODgRVqWO93</a>
—@PeterCBCRegistered Nurses' Union president Debbie Forward urged the attendees to continue to speak out against the budget measures.