Health Care and the Environment

Written by: Ed Papazian

Person being assisted by healthcare professional on a walk surrounding by greenery

These two issues, which are intertwined with one another, are of great concern to the people of Waterloo Region.

How does the Green Party make these two issues (along with others) a priority? 

One of the key values of the Green Party is social justice and the belief that there is no social justice without environmental justice and no environmental justice without social justice.

Waterloo is fortunate to have many public green spaces and bike paths. The Green Party will commit to ensuring green space within a 10-minute walk of all homes by 2030 while developing a “15-minute” neighbourhood framework by working with municipalities on rezoning.

The party platform says: “Our goal is to build communities where we can access work, services and recreation within 15 minutes of home, because less time commuting means more time for family and friends.” 

Policies like this, while respecting the environment, also contribute to a feeling of well-being and improved mental health.

The environment does not respect political boundaries, so the destruction of the Greenbelt around Toronto will affect us as well. Under Doug Ford’s leadership, the current government is paving over 2,000 acres of prime farmland to build highways and mega-spas in Toronto. We’re losing nearly 300 acres of farmland every day and jeopardizing our ability to grow food closer to home. 

Even small initiatives like the “Free Store Seed Library” at the University of Waterloo will make a difference. This new library will promote sustainable food systems, foster food security, and support biodiversity within our community. The Seed Library will offer free access to native wildflower and grass seeds, and non-invasive fruit and vegetable seeds, empowering members to grow their own gardens and cultivate a meaningful connection with nature. 

Healthcare in this region is a high priority like everywhere else in Canada. In Waterloo, we are fortunate to have access to Nurse Practitioner-led clinics. Some are completely covered by OHIP and have the capacity for more patients — but there are still not enough of them. Unfortunately, many specialist professional services are allowed to charge a fee for services which many people cannot afford.

Doug Ford said “You will never need your credit card in a doctor’s office”. I can say that is not true.

For example, some doctors have been known to charge for medication without advising the patient of the cost, before administering the drug. More importantly Ford shows a lack of empathy for a segment of the population that don’t even have a credit card. The alternative, accessing prescribed professional services in a hospital, covered by OHIP, results in long wait times. 

But what about the number of homeless people in the greater KW area. Doug Ford has taken a “pass the buck” attitude toward encampments by giving local mayors the ability to use the Notwithstanding Clause to clear encampments. This will do nothing to solve a serious problem. He has also legislated the closing of “safe injection” (CTS) sites instead of trying to deal with their root causes.

As pointed out by Aislinn Clancy (Deputy Leader and MPP for Kitchener Centre) “People are not going to stop using drugs simply because we take harm reduction services away or threaten jail time. When CTS sites close, we’re only going to see more public drug use, more infectious disease spread and more drug poisonings showing up in our ERs.”

Aislinn added, “I want to remind the Premier that we can’t police our way out of a public health crisis. Ontario needs harm reduction and it needs supportive housing and it needs accessible treatment options for people in addictions recovery.”

These health related concerns plus the climate emergency are the most dangerous health and security threats that Canadians will ever face. We need to encourage Green innovation and move our energy sector to renewable sources by 2030. A “green economy” and economic growth are not mutually exclusive. The world’s top economists and scientists have proven that the green economy is nimble, competitive and rapidly growing.

In summary, it is clear that decisive action must be taken now to make the transformative changes that are required to reduce our carbon emissions which eventually will have a positive impact on our health.