The Current

Party candidates share their plans for health care in Canada

We've been talking to doctors, patients and experts this week calling for creativity and vision for our health needs of the future. Today we're still on the issue of health care and convene a panel of political candidates offering their party views of the role Ottawa should - or should not - play.
"We pledged our selves fifty years ago that we would provide healthcare for every man, woman and child, and by God we're going to do it!!" - Tommy Douglas, the father of Medicare in 1983

This week on The Current we've been focusing on Health Care in the context of the federal election and hearing from health policy experts calling on the federal government to step up and do more.

The Current's week-long coverage:

Health care policy experts are calling for an overhaul of the health care system, saying it can't sustain the needs of our population down the line. (John Hope, Flickr cc)

The Health Care system is largely administered by provincial governments... but it is overseen federally, and it is consistently ranked as one of the top priorities by Canadian voters. 

Yet, it's not a topic that's garnered a lot of attention during this federal election campaign.

We convened a panel of candidates from each of the three main federal parties to let you know where they stand.

  • Rona Ambrose is the Conservative party candidate for the new riding of Sturgeon River-Parkland. She was also the Minister of Health during the past parliamentary session. She joined us from Spruce Grove, Alberta. 
  • Erin Selby is the NDP Candidate for Saint Boniface-Saint Vital, and the former Manitoba Health Minister. She was in Winnipeg.
  • Dr. Jane Philpott is the Liberal candidate for Markham -Stouffville, Ontario - and a family physician. She was in our Toronto studio.
     

Listen to the CBC election town hall hosted by White Coat, Black Art with Dr. Brian Goldman. "Politics & Prescriptions: Should Canada have a national drug plan?"

Should Canada have a national drug care plan?


This segment was produced by The Current's Sarah Grant.