B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad says he has no plan for user-pay health care in British Columbia, after the rival NDP released a recording of him calling the Canada Health Act 鈥渟illy鈥� for not allowing such a system.
Rustad told a news conference in Nanaimo, B.C., that the NDP鈥檚 claim was 鈥渏ust another lie.鈥�
鈥淲e have never said that is what we鈥檙e going to be doing,鈥� Rustad said. 鈥淭hat would be contrary to the Canadian health act. We have not talked about that one little iota.鈥�
NDP Leader David Eby had earlier said Rustad was planning an 鈥淎merican style鈥� user-pay model, saying he would let people 鈥渂uy their way to the front of the line.鈥�
In the recording of an event that the NDP said happened in August, Rustad can be heard criticizing the Canada Health Act for not allowing a user-pay model and saying that 鈥渉opefully, one day we鈥檒l get some changes there.鈥�
Eby continued his focus on the Rustad health-care recording at an evening campaign event in the Victoria-Beacon Hill riding, where NDP incumbent Grace Lore is facing a challenge from Green Leader Sonia Fustenau.
鈥淗e says it鈥檚 silly,鈥� said Eby. 鈥淚t鈥檚 silly that you are not able to take a group of doctors and nurses out of our stressed health-care system and put them behind a paywall so that you can only access them with a credit card.鈥�
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, the president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said voters in B.C. should be concerned about Rustad鈥檚 agenda, especially when it comes to privatization of health care, education and forestry.
鈥淛ohn Rustad is the fifth horseman of the apocalypse and he carries the name of privatization,鈥� he said.
In religious teachings, the fifth horseman is invisible and has the power to disrupt weather, extend deserts, set fire to forests, cause floods and storms, melt ice caps and raise sea levels to disastrous levels.
Phillip said he was in Victoria to support Lore, who has been a champion for children and family rights, especially for Indigenous people.
鈥淲e need her,鈥� he said, acknowledging the political battle she faces to hold onto her seat against rival Furstenau.
鈥淎 vote for the Greens is a vote for Rustad,鈥� Phillip said.
Earlier, in Nanaimo, Eby said that Rustad presented a risk to the health-care system at a time when the province had a shortage of health-care workers.
鈥淭aking some of those health-care workers and putting them behind a paywall doesn鈥檛 help,鈥� Eby said. 鈥淚t just means that some people are able to buy their way to the front of the line while you and your family are stuck with less care. It鈥檚 not a solution.鈥�
Rustad released his party鈥檚 costings on Tuesday for a platform that makes no mention of a user-pay health-care model and instead promises a single-payer system delivering care through public and non-governmental facilities.
He said Wednesday that the system proposed by the B.C. Conservatives was based on European models where the government remains the only payer for health care.
鈥淚t鈥檚 universal health care, but it鈥檚 delivered by both government and non-government agencies,鈥� Rustad said. 鈥淎nd by doing that, we鈥檙e going to be far more efficient in terms of the services we can deliver, in terms of attracting and retaining the professionals that we need.鈥�
Rustad was in Nanaimo to announce a plan to expand the local hospital, including the construction of a new patient tower and the installation of a catheterization lab for heart-disease patients.
