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SIMCOE COUNTY VOTES NO TO PRIVATIZED HEALTH CARE: COALITION

BRETT GLOVER bglover@metroland.com

A provincewide referendum on the privatization of Ontario's health-care system saw more than 15,000 signatures coming from Simcoe County alone, with the vast majority voting no.

The Simcoe County Health Coalitionwas at Barrie's Sunnidale Park to release the results of its local efforts on Tuesday (May 30), joining similar organizations from across the province in highlighting the referendum's outcome.

Anisa Carrascal, co-chair of the Simcoe County Health Coalition, says there were 15,385 votes collected throughout the county since the campaign began on April 18. Of those, 15,247 votes were against the privatization of health care, while 138 votes were in favour.

"This has teeth. This is people actually going to the streets and voting," Carrascal told Simcoe.com, adding the majority of votes cast were done at polling locations throughout the county, with fewer votes cast online.

"Many told us they had travelled to the polling locations specifically to vote," she said.

The Simcoe County Health Coalition was expected to join similar organizations in dropping off the ballots of the referendum at Queen's Park on Wednesday (May 31). There were 382,306 votes cast across Ontario, with 6,083 in support of a privatized health-care system.

When asked if she feels the province will hear the message, Carrascal said at least organizers got people talking.

"The important part is not necessarily the number of votes at the end of the day, it's the conversations we started in the community. A lot of people didn't know that this was happening. They didn't know that Bill 60 had been passed, they didn't know what Bill 60 implied to the wider picture of privatization," she said.

The Simcoe County Health Coalition held 60 advance polls and 20 polls on the main day of voting over the six-week campaign.

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2023-06-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://communitynews.pressreader.com/article/281522230485861

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