I know its a bit old now, but I recently came across this video documenting the recent cuts in Canada to the health coverage for refugee claimants. In one of the segments, a Toronto doctor advises one of her patients not to register at the clinic reception because the authorities would find out the clinic was treating under-insured people and revoke clinic privileges. The idea that a government is to be feared, that service providers need to warn clients to avoid and not formally receive care is simply unbelievable to me.
This summer, while I was away, the Conservative government passed legislation to dramatically cut back the services available for newcomers to Canada.
I have lived and worked with people fleeing Rwanda, Slovakia, Colombia and Mexico. I have seen them at their worst, their most worn out, their lowest points. But I have also seen their immense strength, the life and courage that courses through their veins and the joys they bring to those around them about life and what it means to put in days in wait and uncertainty.
People are resilient, and even in the hardest circumstances find ways to survive. As a country as wealthy, materially and socially, as Canada, we can help enhance and build that resilience and recovery for people who have arrived in our country as refugees. The real number of people applying for refugee status in Canada is less than 30,000. According to the UNHCR, more than 900,000 people officially filed for refugee status, which if you simply consider Syria or Congo right now, is obviously a gross under-estimate.
Some principled doctors here in Toronto spoke out against cutbacks to services we provide to the 30,000 people who come to our country. (Incidentally, that number comes out to .08% of people living within our borders at any given time.) Here is the link to illustrate what I'm talking about:
Doctors against cuts
And for a quick change of pace, a satirical look at the cuts:
http://youtu.be/FC9EUhuiWfA
I am writing this today, being the International Day of the Girl. Yesterday was Global Mental Health Day. Women's health and mental health are issues dear to my heart, and both are intertwined in the outrageous policy choices the Harper government has taken regarding the Interim Federal Health program. Having fled from their homeland, refugee claimants experience significant mental trauma and psychosocial isolation coming to a new country. Being a woman, we know, compacts that. More often than not, the women who come to Canada as refugees come alone, or with their young children, having fled abusive situations in their home countries. In the denial of primary health care, psychosocial counseling and community supports, Canada is letting these women down, and by extension weakening all of our national well-being.
If you've read all this, and are rightfully out-raged, there are things you can do.
You can counter the overt racism in many conversations being had in this country about refugee claimants.
You can write to your political representatives.
You can read more.
You can write more.
And reflect on what has made this country great, and what needs to be done to ensure the gains for the health of all in our country over the past 50 years are not irreversibly lost.
This summer, while I was away, the Conservative government passed legislation to dramatically cut back the services available for newcomers to Canada.
I have lived and worked with people fleeing Rwanda, Slovakia, Colombia and Mexico. I have seen them at their worst, their most worn out, their lowest points. But I have also seen their immense strength, the life and courage that courses through their veins and the joys they bring to those around them about life and what it means to put in days in wait and uncertainty.
People are resilient, and even in the hardest circumstances find ways to survive. As a country as wealthy, materially and socially, as Canada, we can help enhance and build that resilience and recovery for people who have arrived in our country as refugees. The real number of people applying for refugee status in Canada is less than 30,000. According to the UNHCR, more than 900,000 people officially filed for refugee status, which if you simply consider Syria or Congo right now, is obviously a gross under-estimate.
Some principled doctors here in Toronto spoke out against cutbacks to services we provide to the 30,000 people who come to our country. (Incidentally, that number comes out to .08% of people living within our borders at any given time.) Here is the link to illustrate what I'm talking about:
Doctors against cuts
And for a quick change of pace, a satirical look at the cuts:
http://youtu.be/FC9EUhuiWfA
I am writing this today, being the International Day of the Girl. Yesterday was Global Mental Health Day. Women's health and mental health are issues dear to my heart, and both are intertwined in the outrageous policy choices the Harper government has taken regarding the Interim Federal Health program. Having fled from their homeland, refugee claimants experience significant mental trauma and psychosocial isolation coming to a new country. Being a woman, we know, compacts that. More often than not, the women who come to Canada as refugees come alone, or with their young children, having fled abusive situations in their home countries. In the denial of primary health care, psychosocial counseling and community supports, Canada is letting these women down, and by extension weakening all of our national well-being.
If you've read all this, and are rightfully out-raged, there are things you can do.
You can counter the overt racism in many conversations being had in this country about refugee claimants.
You can write to your political representatives.
You can read more.
You can write more.
And reflect on what has made this country great, and what needs to be done to ensure the gains for the health of all in our country over the past 50 years are not irreversibly lost.