Renfrew County Health Coalition

03/01/2026

SoPa has offered to open early on Tuesday March 3! It is good to know a place to sit, get warm, use the washroom and have refreshments! We will have the overflow of people from Isabella St meet here to rally on the Pembroke St bridge!

They are risking the backlash to their business that this rally poses.

We are so grateful for their hospitality and courage! Other restaurants in the vicinity were given the suggestion to do the same. Respect that it may be at a great cost to them.

Pay parking $10/day is available beside SoPa.

4.9 ⭐ · Restaurant

02/28/2026

Thank you County of Renfrew and Long Term Care administration!

02/27/2026

How do you say "Keep health care close to home" in French, Polish, German, Algonquin etc? Please show us! Write it on your signs when you attend the rally Tuesday, March 3, at 10:00am. Head to the bridge on Pembroke Street if the Isabella Street location is crowded. Note that parking around the rally site at 84 Isabella is prioritized for low mobility residents.

02/27/2026

Saying you can't support the upcoming rally for health care in Renfrew County, is like saying paramedics will only save victims of Conservative voters at car crashes!!!

Businesses fear losing Conservative customers if they put the rally signs in their windows. Organizations are afraid their funding will be cut if they speak out. They speak of their support for the rally, and agree we are hurt by the privatization and underfunding but they are too afraid to go public. Politicians say rallies are not the way they do things. They have their political processes to achieve the best health care for us.

We can acknowledge that this loyalty and respect to the political leaders in Renfrew County hasn't been going both ways. If we were respected they would have addressed our concerns about health care close to home by attending a candidate's debate when they were running for office.

Doug Ford's ongoing spending on private for-profit clinics after saying "Ontarians will pay for health care with their OHIP card not their credit card" is not loyalty or respect.

We agree that it takes a lot of courage to risk your livelihood or close relationships by supporting a rally. We won't ask anyone to do that. But will you allow the rally goers to use your washroom or park in your parking lot? Will you help make posters and banners? Will the City of Pembroke ensure the sidewalks are easily accessible at the rally site? Slowly organizations and businesses are agreeing to these ways of making sure we can come together on this issue.

We don't need the rest of Ontario or Canada to speak for our benefit as they have been doing. There were opportunities at the rally arranged by the Canadian Health Coalition on February 10 on Parliament Hill and across our province throughout February with OCHU-Ontario Council of Hospital Unions - CUPE. Our chance in Renfrew County is on March 3 at 10:00 at and offices, 84 Isabella St, Pembroke. Overflow rallyers can meet on the bridge on Pembroke St or Mary St!

02/26/2026

We are looking forward to many of our French speaking residents at next Tuesday’s rally! It would be tres bien to see them🤗

« Les infirmières, les infirmiers et les travailleurs de la santé soulignent le sous-effectif chronique et les charges de travail dangereuses comme les enjeux les plus urgents dans le domaine des soins de santé de notre pays. Les choix politiques qui canalisent des fonds publics vers la privatisation aggravent ces pressions.

Les conséquences se font déjà sentir au chevet du patient. »

En savoir plus: https://fcsii.ca/opinion-les-soins-de-sante-sont-un-droit-de-la-personne/

02/26/2026

We can include this message on the rally posters! Join us at the offices of Bill Denault,MPP and Cheryl Gallant MP on Tuesday March 3 when the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions - CUPE winds up its provincial campaign in Pembroke! They are encouraging all of us to speak out on behalf of all our friends and family who work in health care and struggle to get adequate health care due in part to the underfunding of hospitals. The Ford government continues to give our tax dollars to private companies to provide health care. The companies earn their money from greater OHIP payment than our public services get.

Everyone deserves to get health care because it’s a basic human right.

Health care is a basic human right → everyone should get their basic human rights → everyone includes immigrants → immigrants deserve health care

We won’t stop fighting until that’s a reality for everyone.

02/26/2026

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