ONA Launches New Ad Campaign ‘Priorities and Promises’; calls on Ford government to stop unravelling health care, consult with experts

TORONTO, June 21, 2019 – The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) is launching a province-wide “Priorities and Promises” ad campaign to call out the Conservative government’s shot-in-the-dark approach to health-care reform and urge the public to voice their opposition.

“Doug Ford’s Conservatives are charging into the biggest unravelling of health care we’ve seen in decades, but we still don’t have any real details,” said ONA President Vicki McKenna, RN. “All we’re getting is sound bites.”

ONA’s new campaign starts with prominent newspaper ads this weekend, and continues and expands over the coming weeks.

McKenna says that the government is starving the health-care system of adequate funding, and nurses are already seeing layoffs and job losses in their workplaces. “Ford keeps saying there won’t be any reductions on the front lines. Well, they’re happening. Our hospitals are being forced to cut staff, cut registered nurses. We’re losing skilled nurses, and that’s bad for patients. Hallway health care will not be solved by planning for the future – we cannot ignore the needs of our patients in Ontario today. We should all be worried about that.”

ONA’s new campaign is a direct response to the Conservative government’s reckless approach to managing health care. “Ford’s mishandling of public health was a real turning point,” McKenna says.

“Everyone can see that Ford is trying to download cuts to our communities, and people will suffer,” she adds. “It’s reassuring to see the public outcry, but we definitely need to keep the pressure on or these cuts will keep happening on a much larger scale.”

ONA is asking the public to keep the heat on Doug Ford and his government. “If this is how the government intends to handle health care, they’re going to be hearing a lot more from us,” says McKenna. “This campaign is just the beginning.”

ONA is the union representing more than 65,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

Visit our campaign website http://nursesknow.ona.org

Send your email and tell Doug Ford to stop cutting health care!

For more information:

Sheree Bond, Media Relations Officer. Cell: 416-986-8240 Office: 416-964-1979 ext. 2430 shereeb@ona.org