455 Second Avenue North -- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan -- S7K 2C2
Phone: 306-652-0300 -- Fax: 306-664-4120

Saskatoon Community Clinic Celebrates Member and Community Involvement

June 23, 2011 -- Saskatoon: The Saskatoon Community Clinic, a primary health care co-operative which offers a wide range of health care services at its Downtown and Westside locations, elected five new directors at its annual membership meeting June 21^st.

The new board members bring a diverse range of skills and experiences to the clinic, which has been providing health services to Saskatoon and area since 1962. They are: Dalton Cameron, Sheena Rowan, Elizabeth Scott, Lisa White and Derek Wilkinson. Ron Wheeler was re-elected for a second term.  The 12 member board of directors is elected from the clinic’s 10,000+ members, who play a vital role in shaping the health services offered by the clinic.

The clinic membership also welcomed new Executive Director Tim Archer, who brings a wealth of health care experience and a keen interest in co-operatives and community involvement.  “I feel that in taking on this new role at the Clinic I have in a sense come home. I am very excited to be involved in an organization that has such strong roots in the community and has such an active interest in providing health services in partnership with our patients and our community partners,” said Tim. He replaces long time Administrator Patrick Lapointe, who retired in April.

The new organizational leadership comes at a time when the clinic is on the cusp of its 50^th anniversary in 2012. “This will be a big year for the Community Clinic, as we celebrate our anniversary, the 50^th anniversary of Medicare, and the International Year of the Co-operative. Health care co-operatives are alive and well in Canada and represent a model of care that we believe provides great benefit to our patients,” said President Anne Doucette, chair of the board of directors.

Anne also thanked the outgoing board members for their valued service and commitment to co-operative values. They are: Don Bear, Nancy Carmichael; Kathy Cram; Jason Cruickshank and Wendy Wilson.

The 70 plus members in attendance voted in favour of three resolutions on the following topics: affordable housing; federal anti-smoking policies; and Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement.

• Affordable Housing
• Federal Anti-Smoking Policies for CHSA Annual General Meeting
• CETA - Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement

That the Saskatoon Community Health Services through the Political Action Committee demand that the Provincial Government create a provincial housing strategy that includes:

1. A building programme of affordable housing in which through direct subsidy and low interest loans that group of the middle class that have been excluded from the market by the present situation will be able to get into the market.

2. A building programme of social housing providing affordable good rental homes.

3. A building programme to provide housing for people living with disabilities.

4. Strengthening Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP)  for the upgrading of existing housing.

5. The encouragement of Co-op and Co-Housing.

6. Extend the period the period of occupation before qualifying for reduced capital gain taxation.

7. Restore Housing/Community-Based Organizations (CBO) funding that supported innovative community housing solutions.

8. Encourage sustainable housing through green building innovations and greening existing building codes for all homes.

9. Strongly encourage secondary suite construction.

Be it further resolved that the Provincial Government develop a provincial strategy to end homelessness so that all have a safe place.

Further be it resolved that the Provincial Government pressure the Federal Government to initiate a national housing programme that will ensure that everyone has adequate shelter.

Moved/Seconded/Carried

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Resolution #2  Federal Anti-Smoking Policies for CHSA Annual General Meeting

That the Saskatoon Community Clinic (CHSA) take the following steps:

1. Write to the Federal Minister of Health, the Hon. Leona Aglukkaq, urging her to:

   1. make tobacco control a priority for her department

   2. invest in anti-smoking social marketing at the least the same number of dollars as was spent in 2001 ($27 million)

   3. build up the staffing of the tobacco control directorate

   4. provide effective funding to community-based anti-smoking initiatives

2. Inform our members about the failure of the Federal government to act on the Tobacco Control Strategy and provide them with sample letters to send to the Federal and Saskatchewan Ministers of Health

3. Write to the Premier of Saskatchewan and to the Saskatchewan Minister of Health urging them to advocate strongly with the Prime Minister for a revitalized federal Tobacco Control Strategy and

4. Ask other groups and organizations such as the Lung Association of Saskatchewan to take similar actions with the goal of reducing further the number of smokers in Canada.

Moved/Seconded/Carried

Background

Over the past decade all levels of government and private industry have made considerable progress on tobacco control.  For example, smoking bans in public places and workplaces are now the norm.  Canada has signed the Framework Convention on  Tobacco Control, a massive international effort and the smoking rate in Canada has fallen from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.

Nevertheless, this rate falls well short of the target of 12 percent set by the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy created in 2001.  Smoking claims an estimated 37,000 lives a year in Canada, almost five million Canadians are still regular smokers and the fact that the smoking rate has held steady for several years indicates that new smokers are replacing those who die.

Furthermore, the Tobacco Control Strategy of the Federal Government expired on March 31, was renewed for only one year and health experts believe that its future is uncertain.  Health Canada is not investing adequately in tobacco control spending nothing in recent years on social marketing, under spending its programme budget by millions of dollars, downsizing the Tobacco Control Directorate and cancelling its anti-smoking programmes for Inuit and First Nations communities.

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Resolution #3  CETA - Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement

Saskatoon Community Health Services will:

1. Demand that the Federal government stop trade agreement negotiations with the European Union until the government has consulted broadly with Canadians.

2. Request a copy of the provincial government's CETA offers that it has provided to the federal government for negotiation.

3. Urge the Federal and Provincial governments to stop private health care clinic/public-private health care within Canada as it opens up the privatization of health care in Canada.

4. Urge municipal governments to demand that federal and provincial governments allow municipal governments to retain local control over procurement

5. Educate its members about the risks CETA poses to public services, municipal water services, local jobs, the environment and democratic rights

6. Support the work of the Trade Justice network and other organizations that actively oppose CETA.

Because:

• Negotiations to date have been held in secret and Canadians have not been consulted on what is at stake in CETA

• The Canada - EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is more comprehensive than NAFTA and will open up our public services to privatization

• CETA will strengthen corporate rights and allow corporate investors to sue federal, provincial and municipal governments

• The European Union and European corporations are insisting on full access to procurement (purchasing) by sub-national governments such as municipalities, school boards, universities, hospitals which could prevent local governments from giving preference to local suppliers or engaging in economic development activities; and

• The European Union has more to gain from a trade agreement including access to Canadian resources, our public water system and other public services.

Moved/Seconded/Carried

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