OTTAWA — Labor disruptions by nurses and other health workers in British Columbia and Nova Scotia are a sign of an ailing system, says Roy Romanow, head of a federal inquiry into health care.
“It is symptomatic of a major problem,” the former Saskatchewan premier said Wednesday.
“We have a health-human resources serious situation, and we’ve had that for a number of years …. It is now coming to a head.”
Some 40,000 health workers in British Columbia have resorted to overtime bans, rotating walkouts and other pressure tactics. The new Liberal provincial government has passed legislation aimed at ending the job actions and forcing a resumption of negotiations.
In Nova Scotia, some 9,000 nurses, physiotherapists and lab technicians have been threatening a work stoppage. The Conservative government is pushing a bill through the legislature to remove their right to strike.
Romanow is to deliver an interim report in January and a final report in November 2002.
Provincial finance ministers have complained they can’t wait that long. They called last week for Ottawa to hand over $4.8 billion in new health funding — on top of more than $20 billion earmarked last fall for delivery over five years.
