Union and allied groups endorsed the key recommendations in the
final report by the Commission on the Future of Health Care but said the report came up short on
strategies for implementing those ideas.
The commission, which was led by former New Democratic Party premier of Saskatchewan Roy
Romanow, was created by Prime Minister Jean Chretien in April 2001 to review Canada's
national health care system, explore its future, and make recommendations to enhance the
system's services and finances.
Canadian Labour Congress Pres. Ken Georgetti said: "The Medicare debate is over. It's time to
act. The Romanow Report is a blueprint of what needs to be done to preserve and improve
Medicare. Ottawa and the provinces must now get to work expanding Medicare to meet the
public's needs."
While applauding the report's rejection of privatization of the health care system, Georgetti and
others took exception to the Romanow Report's recommendation to allow privatization of such
"ancillary" hospital services as laundry, food preparation, and maintenance.
"These in-house services are kept to high, exacting standards to ensure patient health and safety,"
Georgetti said. "The Canadian Labour Congress and its affiliates will vigorously fight any
privatization moves at all levels of government."
CLC Exec. Vice Pres. Barb Byers called for the report to be "job one" for the federal
government. "The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that his government was awaiting the
findings of the Romanow Commission before acting," she said. "Romanow has discredited the
for-profit, private sector health care delivery model. The way is now clear for swift action."
Maude Barlow, who chairs the Council of Canadians, said Romanow "has examined the empty
rhetoric of the free-market ideologues and provincial politicians and has proven that privatization
will destroy – not improve – our system."
"Mr. Romanow has a solid plan to build upon Canada's effective and cherished public health care
system," Barlow said, adding: "He has examined the facts and demonstrated that the way forward
is to expand the public health system and reject the right wing provincial governments' plans to
open our system to giant health corporations."
Bruce Campbell, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA),
praised the report's recommendation to protect Medicare from international trade agreements
with the United States and other nations lacking national health care systems. "He clearly
followed the recommendations of the CCPA's report to the Commission on globalization and
Medicare," Campbell said.
CCPA economist Armine Yalnizyan expressed support for the report's recommendation for a new
dedicated fund and for a national drug formulary program to help control pharmaceutical costs.
However, Yalnizyan pointed out: "The old saying 'you get what you pay for' has never been
more relevant. The report is strong on process but weak on money."
In his "Message to Canadians" at the beginning of the report, Romanow said the commission's
extensive dialogue with Canadians and research led him to conclude:
"I am more confident than ever in the system's potential to meet the needs of Canadians, now and
in the future. Canadians remain deeply attached to the core values at the heart of Medicare and to
a system that has served them extremely well. My assessment is that, while Medicare is as
sustainable as Canadians want it to be, we now need to take the next bold step of transforming it
into a truly national, more comprehensive, responsive and accountable health care system."
The Rowanow report's general recommendations include:
A complete copy of the Romanow report format is available on the Internet at: www.hc-sc.gc.ca. The CLC's detailed analysis of the
report is available on the CLCwebsite.
On peut consulter la version intégrale du rapport Romanow dans Internet à l'adresse www.hc-sc.gc.ca. L'analyse détaillée du CTC est également disponible à l'adresse http://www.clc-ctc.ca
Phone: (202) 462-1400. Fax: (202) 721-0600. Comments? Contact the webmessenger.