Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 14/04) - The pressure to deregulate and privatize Canadian health care is tremendous, Shirley Douglas told members of the NWT Federation of Labour.

Douglas, a health care activist and national spokesperson for the Canadian Health Care Coalition, was in Yellowknife recently as one of the guest speakers for the 15th annual convention of the NWT Federation of Labour.

"Don't tell me we can't afford health care -- we've never had so much money in the history of the country," Douglas told the 45 union delegates from across the North.

Active for decades in the fight to save medicare from privatization, Douglas told the workers to demand the federal government establish a territorial health care fund equal to 0.5 per cent per territory of any new federal health care funding.Douglas comes by her activism credentials honestly. She is a daughter of health care legend and former premier of Saskatchewan, T.C. "Tommy" Douglas.

Bob Haywood, past president of the territorial labour federation, said workers gathered for the conference to discuss political action within the format of the election. "We're discussing issues with other workers and learning what is happening around the North," Haywood said.

Also speaking at the conference was Hassan Yussuff, secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress; Palliser, Sask., MP Dick Proctor; Todd Parsons, president of the Union of Northern Workers; and Doug Workman, president of the Nunavut employees union.

The president-elect of the FLC is Mary Lou Cherwaty.