Day 4: PETERBOROUGH

Although the forecast called for rain, it turned out to be a beautiful day in Peterborough. We arrived around noon and headed straight for Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal's constituency office. On the bus ride over, we got the creative juices flowing and created posters showing our concern about the healthcare cuts. We had some really great ones!! For example, "All trained and nowhere to go", "Health Care not Health cuts," and "Don't hate, negotiate!" Signs in hand and of course, clad in our white labcoats, we stood in front of Leal's office, hollering our new cheer, "Pharmacy Students for Patient Care! McGuinty's Government doesn't care!" We got quite a bit of attention from passersby. Many people stopped to ask questions, giving us a chance to educate the Peterborough community about our position. Alot of cars slowed down when they saw us, some stopping to read our signs and others honking with support. MPP Jeff Leal was a no-show, which wasn't really a surprise, given that it was a Monday and he was probably at Queen's Park. However, no one came out of his office. The blinds were down and everything was dark. It was surprising that there was no staff member in sight to acknowledge us. His absence didn't stop the media. We had four opportunities with the media today. My classmates Heather Bannerman and Nadeem Remtulla were interviewed by My Kawartha and Chex TV, respectively. Check out Heather's story and the group here at http://www.mykawartha.com/news/article/809495--pharmacy-student-protest. Also see Chex TV's coverage here. Fourth year student Joshua Lieblein was interviewed by the Peterborough Examiner. More coverage can be seen here. I also had a taped interview with a local radio station.

After about an hour, we hopped back on the bus and lined a busy street with our signs and again, were very vocal in letting the Peterborough community that we were not in favour of the cuts. Drivers passing by honked showing their support and we just fed off their energy!

That afternoon, we took to the streets of Peterborough, talking to people about how these cuts would directly impact them. I was surprised at how many people really had no idea about the cuts or that who Deb Matthews was. I guess this is an important story for people affiliated with pharmacy, but people who don't go to a pharmacy very often may flip over this story in the newspaper. It just shows the importance of getting out there and spreading our side of the story to people. It gives it a personal touch and people can ask questions and really get to know what's going on. Having dealt with the media and talked to probably about a hundred people to this point, I think our group felt pretty confident in the message. The general consensus was that students were able to answer difficult questions with ease and thought they were making a difference (hundreds of signatures were collected and many people said that they would definitely contact their MPP).

After going door to door for about an hour, Heather and I stationed ourselves in front of a Peterborough pharmacy. I talked to the people going in the store, and she talked to the ones coming out. The response was great!!!! Probably the best I've had so far. No one brushed me off, everyone listened to what I had to say and many asked insightful questions. I had some great conversations with people. A particularly memorable one was when a patient was telling me that he was on many prescription drugs, and if the costs of those drugs went up (i.e. if pharmacists were forced to charge a higher dispensing fee to make up for the lost funding from Professional Allowances), he would no longer be able to afford the medications he needed. He would have to simply stop taking them. It was an eye-opener and a bit frustrating, too. It's funny how the McGuinty government thinks it's being more efficient with these cuts, when the reality is that it will end up in a deterioration of patient care--Ontarians like this particular gentlemen could stop taking their medications for financial reasons and could end up in ER with more complicated health complications. And the government would just be adding to an already overburdened hospital system.

Today was a success!! I feel that we really reached out and made an impact on the people of Peterborough. I feel privileged to be a part of such an enthusiastic and hard-working group of students. Together we can make a difference.