April 14 2025

Dear Members of the Leaders’ Debate Consortium:

On behalf of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) and the over 425,000 members we represent, many of whom are frontline health care workers, I am writing to ensure this consortium includes health care on the agenda of the upcoming federal leaders’ debate. We support letters this consortium has received from the Canadian Labour Congress, the Canadian Health Coalition and other unions and organizations which support public health care in Canada.

Health care must be part of the national debate given the central place it holds in our society and the degree of concern Canadians have regarding the proliferation of for-profit health care. Canadians are deeply concerned about the state of public health care as they see emergency rooms close, surgeries delayed, and struggle to get access to primary care. Our health care system is in crisis with labour shortages and the lingering effects of the pandemic. NUPGE workers are on the front lines and are sounding the alarm, demanding that political leaders address the crisis in public health care.

The expansion of for-profit, private clinics, paid plasma collection, and two-tier virtual health services undermine the core principles on which our universal public system was built. These developments raise serious questions about the future of health care in Canada and about how each federal leader will deal with this fundamental issue. It is also central to the fight to retain our sovereignty in the face of U.S. threats. Equitable access to public health care is the fundamental difference most Canadians will point to in differentiating Canadian values from those of the United States. I know questions about Canadian sovereignty will be asked of the leaders and it makes no sense to have these questions without the context of what we are fighting to retain, foremost among these being public health care.

Canadians want to know where party leaders stand on protecting and strengthening our public health care system, on addressing the health workforce crisis, and on securing the future of long-promised programs like pharmacare and dental care. Leaving health care off the debate stage denies Canadians the opportunity to make informed choices about one of the most important issues facing the country. Polling consistently places health care at the top of the concerns Canadians have and at the top of election issues.

If the leaders’ debate is to serve the public interest, it must reflect the priorities of the people. The federal parties have fundamental differences in how they would retain and expand dental care and pharmacare, in how they would address provincial governments which are in violation of the Canada Health Act and in how they would fund and support a public health care system that has been starved of resources. Canadians deserve answers to these questions.

On behalf of our members and all Canadians, I urge the consortium to ensure that health care is included in the leaders’ debate.

Sincerely,

Bert Blundon
President
National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)