I'm looking forward to seeing this movie. If you're around you should definitely come too! Seriously, leave the college homework for later, and tell your friends you'll meet them after the movie. Better yet, invite them too. Get a babysitter or drop the kids off at Grandma's. And if you're old and tired (which actually includes me), have a nap in the afternoon and then come out in the evening. I'll be the one sitting at the Public Interest Alberta table, so come by and chat, and pick up some of our leaflets and materials regarding our current campaigns.
POP CULTURE TIDBIT: You'll notice at the end of this post that it says that the movie is narrated by Kiefer Sutherland. If you aren't really into healthcare history and/or a pop culture junkie like me, you may not realize the significance of this. Kiefer Sutherland is the son of Canadian actress, Shirley Douglas, who is the daughter of Tommy Douglas, the father of Universal Healthcare in Canada.
This documentary provides the real story of how the health care systems in Canada and the United States evolved to be so completely different, when at one point they were essentially the same. Most people under the age of 50, in both countries, are not aware of the intensity of the political struggle that led to the universal medical care system in Canada. Nor are they aware of the public relations campaigns, still active today, that have been prevalent in the United States since the early 1900’s to dissuade the public from supporting national health care.
Produced by Canadian/American couple Laurie Simons and Terry Sterrenberg, The Healthcare Movie reveals the personal and emotional impact on Canadians who now have access to universal health care because of the heroism of people who took a stand nearly 50 years ago. It also reveals the continuing struggle in the United States between the fear of government intervention and the right to quality health care for all people.
Every day people are dying or going bankrupt due to the ills of the United States system. Who are we in the face of this human tragedy? If you agree that people are more important than profits, then you must watch this film.
Feature: 65 minutes including credits, followed by an Addendum entitled “The Second Stage of Medicare”: 10 minutes
Hi Alison,
ReplyDeleteI live in New York, and am part of a public employee union. Every year, every contract, we lose more health insurance benefits, get higher copays, and our right to vote on changes to our health care benefits has been eliminated. Our union does not pay towards health insurance premiums, but that's the main reason most if not all the employees took the jobs, because the salary is lower for the public employee than the private sector employee. The tide in the USA right now is anti-union, anti-public employee. The budgets from the federal level to the town level are being balanced on the backs of the poor and middle classes and public employees are being laid off, or being squeezed for more concessions under the threats of layoffs. All the while US companies like General Electric pay $0 in corporate taxes, and Us Exxon/Mobil posted its highest profit ever for last year. I'm going to spread the word about this documentary on my website and facebook pages. Thank you Canada.
Thank you, Linda. We made this movie so that people like you and people like us in the United States can also live worry free when it comes to our health care.
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