Chapter Two: Entering the Political Arena
This is an excerpt from the book A Physician in the Political Arena: Ethics, Duty and the Pandemic. The Chapter “Entering the Political Arena” is a confession of what motivated me to leave a medical practice and enter politics. For years I engaged in medical politics: writing and speaking on health care reform and participating in professional bodies like the Ontario Medical Association and Ottawa’s Local Health Integration Network. However, it was my family’s experience in caring for my father that brought the necessity of health care reform into clear focus. I tell the story of the 2018 election, my initial reactions to Queen’s Park, and sobering observations of what practically can be accomplished by an elected representative.
The full text of chapter one can be found online at MerrileeFullerton.com.
Campaigning as an Ontario PC
It was only a few months after my father passed in 2015 that I ventured into politics by seeking the nomination for the Progressive Conservatives in my local riding of Kanata-Carleton.
In 2017 I became the nominated candidate for the PCs with a promise to be a “strong, positive voice” for my home town at Queen’s Park. My nomination literature underlined the fact that “I have spent my career speaking out for and helping people” and I would “help leave our community a better place for the next generations.”
Not surprising, my lead issue was improving health care. Throughout my candidacy I articulated a reasoned argument on how I personally wished to proceed in prodding changes to Ontario’s health care.
My key message was to the point: “Ontario needs a health care system that provides more care for more people, not rationed care across the population. Government must do better to create access to universal health care in a system in which people can access the care they need when they need it, regardless of their ability to pay. I am a medical doctor and I see a lot of possibilities to improve our health care. There is far too much bureaucracy and waste. Things need to change and I am confident they can with new leadership committed to a patient-focused public system.”
I outlined a principled approach to tackling the systemic issues impairing the province’s health care.
I am for a stronger universal health care system. “Government must do better to create access to universal health care.”
Ontario’s health care system must be focused on patient’s needs -- in reality, not just in theory.
Ontario needs more front-line care, not more bureaucracy! Wherever possible, cut bureaucracy and support front-line personnel.
Ontario must establish ways to provide more accessible care, not more rationed care. Stop creating obstruction to care and over-regulation. Instead, create a climate for innovation.
Ontario must work towards sustainable long-term care. Settling for short term optics to handle our elders’ health can no longer be an option.
Physicians and medical staff must be allowed to do their jobs! They need to focus on efficient health care delivery, not be forced to divert their energy to more and more administration.
I explicitly stated four key areas where I wanted to make a contribution: greater accessible long-term care, improving hospital and ER capacity, putting front-line care over bureaucracy, and addressing the opioid crisis (a serious issue for Ottawa). In my campaign, I went further to lay out how I would begin to address these priorities….
In the 2018 election campaign I was referencing my medical background when speaking of health care, sharing my knowledge as a physician as well as my recent family experiences. In my door-to-door conversations I quickly discerned that health care was a priority issue for most constituents. The many health related exchanges on the doorstep strengthened my commitment to make health care better for Ontarians.
It certainly helped me in the 2018 campaign that the PC Party platform emphasized health care reforms: “Cut wait times and put an end to the ‘hallway healthcare’ epidemic that has Ontario hospitals stretched to the breaking point.” The PCs were committed to improving health care by “listening to health care professionals, including the nurses and doctors who are on the frontlines.”
There was also a specific campaign promise to improve elder care: “We’re going to cut wait times by opening up new long-term care beds across the province. An Ontario PC Government will invest in 15,000 new long-term care beds in five years, and 30,000 new beds over the next 10 years. This will ensure that people who need care can always get the best possible care, while taking the strain off our hospitals for everybody else.”
With health care issues a priority, PC Leader Doug Ford chose the riding of Kanata-Carleton as the first stop of the election campaign. The Leader’s tour pulled into Carp and the first scrum of the day featured the PC promises for improving health care.
As a rookie candidate who was championing health care reform, though I had much to learn about the mechanics of campaigning, the election itself was a rewarding experience. How could it not be? I had a chance to voice my concerns about the health care system and an opportunity to discuss improving care for elders.
On June 7, 2018, I was elected MPP for Kanata-Carleton.
You can read the full text of Chapter Two: Entering the Political Arena here.