Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) President
Warren “Smokey” Thomas made a presentation April 24 to the Standing
Committee on Social Policy on Bill 171 - the Health Systems Improvement Act,
2006. Joining him was the union's First Vice president-Treasurer, Patty
Rout.
OPSEU told the Standing Committee that the union’s concerns
with the bill fall into four main areas:
1. The accountability of the new Ontario Agency for
Health Protection and Promotion;
2. The plan to transfer of about 600 public health lab
workers out of the Ontario Public Service and into the new agency;
3. The omission of a strong worker safety role for the
new agency; and
4. The broad definition of psychotherapy and its
sweeping implications for many public sector professions.
Bill 171 ignores key recommendations in Justice Archie
Campbell’s final report on SARS - including the need to adopt the
precautionary principle in health care settings, and to bring worker health
and safety into the new agency, the union says.
