How much is Ontario really spending on health care?

Natalie Mehra is hoping her travels across the province will inform and infuriate people to the point of involvement.

Mehra wants action from Ontarians regarding proposed cuts to health care in the province.

"The main goal of this tour is simply to start the work," said Mehra, director of the Ontario Health Coalition. "We need a bigger, stronger push by the people of Ontario."

Mehra (shown above right with Dr. Gayle Broad of Algoma University) was in town on Wednesday evening to speak with people about the provincial budget and proposed cuts to health care as part of her 15 city tour.

Around 50 people attended the meeting at the Moose Lodge, put on in partnership with the Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma Health Coalition, where Mehra explained their First Do No Harm report on health care reform.

In the report, statistics were sited from the Canadian Institute for Health Information about how much money the province is putting into health care.

According to the report, Ontario spends $440 less on a per person basis than the average of other provinces on health care.

The province spends $3,911 per person on health care, while the rest of Canada averages $4,351.

"Health care funding is actually decreasing, not increasing," said Mehra. "When it comes to funding health care our province is unfortunately near the bottom."

Robert Giovagnoli, president of Canadian Autoworkers Union 1120, said cuts are affecting the quality of care Saultites receive.

"Very recently I've had a bunch of work load issues," said Giovagnoli. "We have personal support workers and health care aids working short on a daily basis and people aren't getting the care they deserve."

Giovagnoli's union represents personal support workers, registered personal nurses and health care aids in the community.

Mehra said the Ontario Health Coalition sent their report to government officials when it was released in February and has met with 77 of the province's 107 MPPs.

Government reaction has been less than warm, according to Mehra, but is optimistic cuts can be avoided before the budget is passed.

"Cuts should be the last resort when it comes to budget reduction, not the first," she said.

"Often times, the problem about cuts is it's too late to do anything when you find out about them, but this time we've at least got a head start."

With the Ontario budget still yet to be passed, Mehra encourages people to write letters to the premier's office and attend any budget hearings in the community.

Feedback from her tour across the province will be included in an alternatives report - to be released sometime in June.

Earlier in the day, Sault MPP David Orazietti issued a news release (http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/details.asp?c=43103) taking issue with what he dubbed a "fear mongering" campaign by Mehra.

Mehra said she thinks Orazietti is being manipulative with the numbers in his release.

"It's very manipulative to say over the last 10 years you've increased spending without giving any context," said Mehra. "If health care spending didn't increase by anything, we'd be falling behind."

She is referring to those touting Premier Dalton McGuinty for raising health care funding by approximately 65% since taking office.

What Mehra has taken issue with is not the numbers, but the context in which government officials are using them.

Mehra said the government should be using non-inflation numbers and doesn't think the Liberals deserve credit for simply raising funding.

However, she does think the Liberals and McGuinty deserve praise for their action immediately after taking office in 2003.

"I don't want to trash the entire record of the McGuinty government," said Mehra. "We saw even deeper cuts in the 1990s under the (Mike) Harris government and in the early years of the current government we did see the refunding of hospitals and reopening of many services.”

For those who want to view it, the Ontario Health Coalition's First Do No Harm report is available online