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Ninety-eight per cent of people who participated in a cross-province “people’s referendum” voted against privatization of Ontario’s public health services, the Ontario Health Coalition says.
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With more vote results still coming in, the coalition said in a news release Wednesday that “no” votes against privatization totalled 378,726 compared to 7,001 “yes” votes in favour, and there were 341 spoiled ballots.
In Ottawa, the tally was 16,639 “no” to 248 “yes.”
“We are unalterably opposed to the gutting and dismantling of our public hospitals and the privatization of them,” Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, said in the release. “This is the beginning of what will be a relentless campaign to stop them from privatizing our public hospitals. We have no choice because, once we lose them, I don’t know how we will get them back. It will be very difficult, if not impossible, to get them back.