Alberta doctors ask gov’t and corportions to take care of temporary foreign workers, including quadriplegic Filipina asked by CIC to leave Canada
Alberta doctors ask gov’t and corportions to take care of temporary foreign workers, including quadriplegic Filipina asked by CIC to leave Canada
The Alberta Medical Association (AMA), an advocate for almost 10,000 physicians in Alberta, is concerned about the medical care for Temporary Foreign Workers in this province, including the situation of Maria Victoria (Vicky) Venancio, the worker who came to Alberta from the Philippines, was hit by a car on her way to work, is quadriplegic since then and has been asked by Citizenship and Immigration Canada to leave the country.
“We share your humanitartian concern for her situation,” said the President of the AMA, Dr. G.R. Johnston, in a letter to Dr. John O’Connor, a prominent physician who is supporting Vicky. Dr. Johnston said “that the issues around her experience raise an important question about what is right for the patient.”
Dr. Johnston said:
“Specifically, once an individual has begun a course of medical care, it is important the care be completed as required. The need for care and support does not end because a worker is due or required to leave the province. We need some clear definitions around the start and end of the
province’s responsibility for health care. The corporations for whom the individual works should also bear some obligation. We would encourage discussions to clarify these things. The temporary workers who come here to contribute to the economy deserve support.”
Migrante Alberta, an advocacy group for migrant workers, and the Coalition supporting Vicky Venancio are asking Alberta’s new Health Minister, Sarah Hoffman, to reinstate Vicky’s health care benefits, so her medical needs will be taken care of again.
And Vicky has appealed to the federal Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Chris Alexander, to let her stay in Canada on compassionate and humanitarian grounds.
The community support for Vicky Venancio continues to grow. There will be a Benefit Concert for her on Saturday, June 27, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., in the MacNeil Hall at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Mill Woods, 7908 – 29 Avenue. Tickets are $20, and there will be entertainment, food, drinks and a silent auction. All proceeds of this event will go to the medical and legal fund of Vicky Venancio.
(PRESS RELEASE)
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