MEDIA ADVISORY |
MPP HOSTS
PHARMACY FACT-FINDING MEETING
Newmarket-Aurora MPP Frank Klees will host a Fact-Finding Meeting with local pharmacists to determine the impact of the McGuinty Government’s recently announced cuts, and to develop an action plan that will lead to a resolution. Local pharmacists will discuss:
Date: Friday, April 23 Time: 11:30 AM Place: Newmarket Seniors’ Meeting Place 474 Davis Drive Newmarket (across from the Newmarket Tannery Mall) Interested residents are invited to observe the discussions and will have an opportunity to participate in a Question and Answer session following the roundtable discussion. -30- References: Frank Klees, MPP Newmarket-Aurora 905-750-0019 |
Petition: To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario available for download here Frankly Speaking (is a column by Frank Klees and published by The Auroran) DALTON MCGUNITY'S DRUG WAR Click to read OPPOSITION DAY MOTION April 21, 2010 Mrs. Christine Elliott: I move that the Legislative Assembly of Ontario calls upon the Premier of Ontario to guarantee that Ontario seniors will not have to pay increased prices or have services reduced as a result of cuts the McGuinty Liberals made to front-line health care delivered by independent local pharmacists, announced on April 7, 2010. This is addressed to the Premier of Ontario. Mr. Frank Klees: I want to begin my remarks by saying I wish I had a lot more time; I only have three minutes because my colleagues want to speak to this as well. But I want to start off by reading the words of a constituent who is here today, Mrs. Aziza Amarshi. Here's what she said to me in an email: "All we are asking the government to do is pay us fairly for our services. We are asking the government to negotiate, not legislate." I believe that the problem we have here is as much about how the government has conducted itself with this profession as it is about the consequences of their action. For the government to have been involved in negotiations with this profession for a number of months, and then, at the very last minute, to bail on that and simply announce a measure that is going to strip away, on average, $300,000 out of the average-size pharmacy in this province is unconscionable. There is not a business in this province that could sustain having $300,000 of revenue stripped out of its bottom line overnight. This industry, in its negotiations, has offered to work with the government and, over the next four years, reduce costs by some $1.3 billion. That was a co-operative effort. There were a number of mechanisms involved in that proposal, and the government chose to ignore that. This is much more about the battle between the government and the pharmacists of this province. It is a fundamental principle of the government of this province interfering in commercial terms by legislation. This is a principle that this House cannot ignore, because my question to the people in this province is: Which profession and which business is next in the crosshairs of this government? It doesn't respect them sufficiently to negotiate on this very important issue and, overnight, has no conscience about the consequences to their businesses or the consequences to the patients that they serve on the front line. We stand with the pharmacists on this. We're calling for the government to get back to the table to negotiate a reasonable settlement, a reasonable commercial term under which these important health care deliverers can in fact do their job, meet the needs of people in our community, and have the self-respect that they so deserve as important health care professionals. It's unconscionable how this government is conducting itself with these people
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