Niagara Falls NDP candidate says both the Liberals and Conservatives are blocking affordable health care

The NDP candidate for the Niagara Falls-Fort Erie-NOTL riding said he considers Justin Trudeau and Erin O’Toole two-peas-in-a-pod when it comes to affordable health care.

Brian Barker said he’s not sure what’s worse: O’Toole’s introducing elements of private healthcare or the Liberal’s “continuing Liberal dismantling of healthcare.”

He then quoted Dr. Katharine Smart of the Canadian Medical Association, saying she is asking the question all Canadians should be asking: “But I think the real conversation is about why are we not adequately funding publicly the things that people need to be healthy?”

Barker asked if the Liberals were actually against privatizing care, “then why did (they) vote against the NDP in providing universal pharmacare so people don’t have to skip their prescriptions that are too expensive?”

He continued that the ruling Liberals also opposed the NDP’s plans on universal coverage of mental health care and access to dental care.

Barker believes both the Conservatives and the Liberals continue to play a part in refusing to properly fund healthcare.

“These two are more interested in headlines than actually fixing Canadian publicly funded healthcare.”