NDP promises more travel supports, protections for serious illness on campaign trail
David Eby promised to expand financial supports and job protections for sick British Columbians if he wins this month's provincial election, throwing barbs at his main opponent in the process.
The NDP leader announced the detail at the Castlegar airport as part of a day of campaigning in the southern Interior, where those facing the most serious health-care challenges have to travel hours for specialized care.
“In rural communities, things that people in bigger urban centres take for granted can sometimes be a big challenge,” said Eby.
As it stands now, patients needing to fly to larger centres for treatment can apply for financial support through the Travel Assistance Program. Eby is pledging to expand that scheme to allow mileage claims for those driving to treatment centres. He also wants to overhaul the program to provide up-front payments.
Under current legislation, workers taking up to eight days off of work due to serious illness are protected from being terminated, which Eby promises to expand to 27 weeks, in line with Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and the federal government's standards.
Eby went on to criticize the health-care plan of the BC Conservative Party, which includes increased usage of private, for-profit clinics to catch up on surgical wait lists. He also accused them of planning to slash the health-care budget, which leader John Rustad has emphatically denied.
CTV News pointed out that under the NDP government, a growing – albeit small – number of surgeries and procedures are already taking place in private clinics, asking Eby if that would continue and if he was comfortable with the trend.
“No, we’ve been buying private surgical clinics and putting them to work in the public sector,” he said. “It shouldn’t matter how much money you have, whether you’re able to access care, and simultaneously, when you have a shortage of health-care professionals, we don’t want to be competing with private clinics for those doctors and nurses that we need.”
Given the issue of ongoing emergency department closures, which have become fairly regular occurrences at a number of rural and remote hospitals, CTV News asked when British Columbians outside urban centres can expect service to stabilize and become more reliable.
“We know this is an issue in other provinces as well, we have a shortage of the health-care professionals that we need,” Eby replied, reiterating his plan to train, provisionally accredit, and recruit more health-care workers.
“Here in B.C., I believe that we’re going to be able to take this on just like we took on the family doctor issue, to provide people with family doctors, and we’re continuing to do that,” he went on to say. “The core to it is training and recognizing those professionals and putting those incentives in place to get them working in communities that are under-served throughout the province.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Netanyahu says Iran 'made a big mistake,' vows retaliation following attack on Israel
Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel on Tuesday, the latest in a series of escalating attacks in a yearslong conflict between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatens to push the Middle East closer toward a regionwide war.
Fact-checking the CBS News U.S. vice-presidential debate between Vance and Walz
Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio are facing off Tuesday night in New York City for their first – and only – U.S. vice-presidential debate. Here is a live fact check of everything being said between the two.
'It's ridiculous': Kelowna father furious after violent attack on his 13-year-old daughter
A father in Kelowna is furious after his 13-year-old daughter was brutally beaten on Gyro Beach. He is calling for criminal charges in the devastating attack, which was caught on video by multiple bystanders.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith comes under fire for comments about chemtrails
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's office says her recent comment about chemtrails doesn't mean she believes the United States government is spraying them in the province.
Lack of ambition in Canada creating '600-pound beaver in the room': Shopify president
The president of e-commerce giant Shopify Inc. wants Canada to address a problem he calls "the 600-pound beaver in the room."
Heiltsuk Nation family alleges racial profiling after incident at B.C. Canadian Tire
An Indigenous family has filed a human rights complaint against retail giant Canadian Tire over a pair of incidents that happened on the same day at the company’s Coquitlam, B.C., location.
Trudeau government survives another Conservative-led non-confidence vote
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government survived another Conservative-led non-confidence vote on Tuesday, the second in less than a week. This, the same day the Bloc Quebecois had an opportunity to table a non-confidence motion of its own, opting instead to push the Liberals to support one of its key demands.
13-year-old girl charged in deadly stabbing of 7-year-old sister after argument
A 13-year-old girl has been charged with allegedly murdering her s-year-old sister in Taylor over the weekend.
Walz and Vance go in depth on policy while attacking each other's running mates in VP debate
Tim Walz and JD Vance on Tuesday went after each other's running mates in a vice-presidential debate that opened with a discussion of burgeoning domestic and international troubles.