Sorry for the delay in the post! I had typed out a first draft for the post; however, I was not able to post it on the same day that I had finished it, even if I had intended to do so. So, to make it clear, this is the entry for May 7. Stay tuned for the next entry for our next stop to Ottawa on May 8!
Perhaps this is the day that all of us on the Stop Cuts Student Tour were anticipating. Today, we went to London, where we can meet Deb Matthews, the Minister of Health and the one who announced the decision to cut all professional allowances from pharmacies and not replacing sufficient funds for funding pharmacy services. Because today was Friday and all MPPs were obligated to stay in their constituency offices each Friday, it was practically guaranteed that Minister Matthews will come to meet us. Yes!
5 students, including me, had volunteered to provide a formal media statement in front of Deb Matthews. This statement was to provide a glimpse of the student perspective under the aspects of jobs, education, profession and patient care. We had carefully planned it out to make sure that our messages were each short and sweet. So what if it were scripted? It's scripted so that we are clear when we make our messages to the media and Deb Matthews. No one wants to stumble and sound stupid in front of the Minster of Health! These were all words that came from the hearts of pharmacy students and were not by any means manipulated by the Coalition. After all, we are not pawns, and what we have to say is what we feel strongly as pharmacy students.
Afterwards, we had chosen 2 pharmacy students (2 of the same charismatic individuals who have done many interviews for us) to do more interviews with the media. The rest of us had rallied briefly on the streets to gain more support. The Minister wanted to have a conversation with all of us at her office without the media's presence, and we had chosen 5 individuals, including me as well, to enter the conversation. For now, I shall not disclose the information, as I am not sure whether it is of ocnfidential nature or not. However, I will try to post a short summary should this information be allowed to be revealed. Sorry everyone!
As usual, canvassing was done in the community; however, the public, at least for me, did not seem to welcome our presence or words. There was even one individual who told us that he “had [his] own church”, as he thought that we would be “preaching” to him about the pharmacy services. I'm speechless about that and I can only say this. While I respect his opinions about pharmacy, a little open-mindedness would have been appreciated.
Anyway, onward to Ottawa as our next stop!
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