Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a public health emergency. Uninsured individuals in Alberta and Canada are often denied access to health care and can face huge costs to get treatment. There are concerns that these barriers to health care already have had public health implications in the context of COVID-19. Uninsured persons can include newly-landed permanent residents, temporary foreign workers (TFW’s), international students and undocumented residents. COVID-19 assessment centers and related care should arguably be accessible to all people, regardless of immigration status during a pandemic such as COVID-19. Furthermore, TFW’s often work in essential services such as agriculture and health care related jobs. As witnessed at the Cargill Beef Packing plant near High River, safe working and housing conditions were not prioritized and early warning signs were ignored causing a massive COVID-19 outbreak and plant closure. The speaker will explain his advocacy role in bringing these and many other issues f