HAMILTON - Deputy premier and former health minister George Smitherman failed to show up at a Nov 28 ceremony in Hamilton at which unionized health care workers demonstrated against job losses and service cuts against a backdrop of new hospital construction.

More than 100 members of OPSEU, CUPE and USW Local 1005 rallied outside – and later, inside – the Centre for Mountain Health Services of St. Joseph’s Healthcare.

“We are here to hold the deputy premier accountable for LHINs – the agency responsible for under funding both SJH and Hamilton Healthcare Services,” said Ed Zacharewski, vice president of OPSEU Local 206. “Not only has the government and the LHIN failed to adequately resource the hospitals, they’ve abdicated their responsibility to ensure that scarce public money is being spent wisely.”

Zacharewski said despite the growing hospital deficit scarce cash was found in order to send managers to a “conference” in Las Vegas three months ago.

The demonstrators never got the chance to confront Smitherman directly. He was replaced by local Liberal MPP, Sophia Aggelonitis, parliamentary secretary to the minister of small business and consumer services, who attended the ceremony to unveil a new sign at the Centre for Mountain Health Services.

When demonstrators learned that Smitherman would miss the ceremony, they took their demonstration indoors where they shouted down Aggelonitis with chants of “No cutbacks! No layoffs!”

Zacharewski pledged the demo on Saturday was only the first step in a campaign to stop the threat of job losses. “Hospital layoffs are not the answer in a faltering economy. Healthcare workers can support the economy when they keep their jobs,” he told media at the demonstration.

Next in the campaign is a move to revive the Hamilton Health Coalition and form alliances with concerned citizens who are unhappy with the LHINs and the McGuinty government’s handling of healthcare.