Fight with Erin: ONA must keep moving forward

A provincial election, a federal election, hospital bargaining, Victorian Order of Nurses bargaining and the start of nursing homes bargaining, the Canadian Federation of Nurses’ Union’s biennial convention, which ONA hosted. The list goes on.

You’d be forgiven for feeling exhausted. I know I do.

And yet, when I recently attended our June Provincial Coordinators Meeting, hosted by Region 3 in Markham, I came away feeling nothing but invigorated and regenerated by you and the incredible work you have done. 

We need to keep this up because the challenges we face aren’t going away.

Take a look at the most recent work of our Nurses Vote campaign secondees, who made a difference in the federal election. While the NDP won just a handful of seats, this is absolutely a victory. They can hold the balance of power and continue to push for a progressive agenda because the Liberal government can’t pass legislation without another party’s support. 

That’s how we secured pharmacare, dental care and more. And that’s how we’ll continue to push for progressive policy that invests in the services that we know strengthen our economy and that Canadians need and deserve. 

And let’s not forget that Canadians rejected the kind of divisive, nasty politics that Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who also lost his own seat, displayed. That’s another win for health care and for our communities.

True, we still have to deal with the Ford provincial government, but I know we’re up for that fight. And we need to be.  

 In the Throne Speech to launch Ontario’s spring parliamentary session, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Honourable Edith Dumont stated, “as your government continues to make unprecedented investments into the health-care system, it will continue to prioritize patients and their health above a dogmatic ideology that seeks to protect and preserve an outdated status quo.”

Let me be clear. “Dogmatic ideology” and “outdated status quo” are fancy catch phrases to refer to public health care. This is about one thing: paving the way for Ford’s privatization agenda. Including those words in the speech is a clear shift, laying the foundation for a two-tiered system that will enrich his friends. 

The Ford government expects the public to accept this as a solution because governments have purposely underfunded our public system by billions of dollars for decades.

But what they should know by now is that ONA is here. Our members are here. And nursing students are here. And together, we’ll tell Ontarians the brutal truth: Health-care privatization has no place in Ontario or Canada. 

We’re also turning our efforts externally to defend public health care and fight for primary care, and internally to map a course for our next strategic plan. Details to come!

It’s critical that ONA keeps moving forward because while your work is complex, you’re still looked down on by our government and bosses. We need to flip this on its head and stop letting the oppressive ideal of being “silent and not heard” hold us back.  

Remember. We are professionals, even when we fight. Especially when we fight. 

Together, we’re formidable. Who’s with me for the fight? 

Fight. That’s what ONA members do. You fight in the streets for causes you shouldn’t have to. You fight for quality care for your patients, residents and clients. You fight for your workplace rights. You fight for respect. As your ONA Provincial President, I'm fighting right alongside you, offering words of inspiration and motivation in your quest for better. Because after all, when we fight together, we are unstoppable.