DO NOT PUBLISH / Health care workers rally outside Liberal MP retreat

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his federal Liberal caucus met in St. Andrews this month, advocates and health care workers held a rally nearby on Monday, September 12, 2022. It included members of the Canadian Health Coalition and Canadian Union of Public Employees, which includes frontline health care workers. They were there to send a message to the federal and provincial governments on the decline in public health care. The rally received honks of support from drivers, including from workers transporting hospital linens. They event came amid an ongoing crisis in the healthcare sector marked by a lack of nurses and other health care professionals. Earlier this month, the CBC reported that a Fredericton woman was turned away from the Chalmers  hospital following an alleged sexual assault. The 26 year old woman was reportedly told that she would have to return the following day, because no sexual assault nurse examiners were available. Last month, Premier Blaine Higgs said all options on the table for the healthcare system, including more private delivery of services. But that's the wrong approach. According to public health care advocates like Steve Drost, the president of CUPE, New Brunswick. He spoke to Wayne Long, the Federal Liberal Party MP for Saint John-Rothesay  at the  rally. Drost said, "Asking all politicians to do everything they can to save our healthcare system, like you stated at the very beginning. We can't afford a two tier system and we cannot afford any privatization of health care. So I thank you for coming to see us".