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<body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'><br><div><br> <div class="ecxWordSection1"><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE:14pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">United Church
Members Are Being Asked to Sign a Pledge for Medicare</span></b></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';"> </span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">Toronto:
</span><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';" lang="EN">For 60 years The
United Church of Canada has advocated in support of universal health care. Now
the church is calling on its members </span><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">to sign the
Medicare Pledge launched by the Canadian Health Coalition, </span><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';" lang="EN-US">a
public advocacy organization dedicated to the preservation and improvement of
Medicare. </span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';"> </span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">The Medicare
Pledge is part of an ongoing campaign spearheaded by the coalition, of which the
United Church is a member. In part, the pledge says that “</span><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';" lang="EN">quality
health care must be based on need, not ability to pay” and that we “must improve
our public health care for everyone, instead of expanding private for-profit
services that benefit only a few.”<i> </i></span><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">So far over
10,000 Canadians and more than 100 organizations, including the United Church,
have signed the pledge.</span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';"> </span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">The United
Church’s call for its members to sign the Medicare Pledge comes just days before
a National Day of Action for a New Health Accord on March 31. The day of action
coincides with the date that the current health accord between the federal
government, the provinces, and the territories expires. Thus far, the federal
government has refused to renegotiate the agreement.</span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">The coalition
argues that without a new health accord it will be impossible to ensure national
health care standards across the country.</span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';"> </span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">“Medicare is not
something that Canadians should take for granted,” says The United Church of
Canada’s Moderator, the Right Rev. Gary Paterson. “Signing the Medicare Pledge
is one way to ensure that, for generations to come, the health care system that
we have been privileged to enjoy is preserved and
protected.”</span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';" lang="EN"> </span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';" lang="EN">For more than
half a century, the United Church has supported the concept of universally
accessible health care for all Canadians. In 1954, the church first endorsed the
principle of a national health insurance plan, and urged all levels of
government to move toward the establishment of such a plan. In 1994, it strongly
affirmed its support for the core principles of Medicare: that Canada’s health
care system remains universal, accessible, comprehensive, portable, and publicly
administered.</span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';"> </span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">To sign the
Medicare Pledge go to </span><a href="http://medicare.ca/medicare-pledge" target="_blank"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">http://medicare.ca/medicare-pledge</span></a><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">
.</span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';"> </span></b></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">For more
information</span></b></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">Mary-Frances
Denis</span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">The United
Church of Canada</span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">416-231-7680
ext. 2016</span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">1-800-268-3781
ext. 2016</span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><a href="mailto:mdenis@united-church.ca"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">mdenis@united-church.ca</span></a><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Times New Roman','serif';">
</span></p>
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