FEDELI REPEATS CALL TO HALT SENIORS DRUG CHANGES
March 23, 2016QUEEN’S PARK – Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli again today called upon Premier Kathleen Wynne to reverse planned increases to senior drug costs contained in the 2016 Budget during a Members’ Statement delivered in the Ontario Legislature this afternoon. Text of Fedeli’s statement is below:
Thank you, Speaker and good afternoon. Families across this province are angry at this government’s decision to double the drug costs for 92% of all seniors.
At a recent Royal Canadian Legion convention held in Dunchurch, North Bay’s Preston Quirt and Jim Thompson brought forth a motion expressing their displeasure.
It reads: “Whereas the proposed Ontario Budget will have a drastic effect on the health and lifestyle of our senior population, and may force more seniors into poverty; therefore, be it resolved that we, the members of the Royal Canadian Legion attending the Zone H2 Convention, strongly urge the Provincial Government to reconsider the changes to the Ontario Drug Benefit Program in their proposed Budget.”
Debra Cooper Burger, Chair of OANHSS, a seniors’ organization, was clear yesterday when she told our Finance Committee that seniors will be forced to choose between buying food instead of medication.
Our seniors rely on their medications to stay healthy and out of the hospital. Our most vulnerable deserve better. I call on the Premier to stop making seniors pay for her government’s waste, mismanagement, and scandal, and repeal this seniors’ drug tax.
Video of Fedeli’s Statement can be found here: https://youtu.be/RaE0nLCA10g