John Rustad couldn’t answer basic questions about the details of his healthcare plan, but his own documents reveal a plan for the biggest healthcare cut in BC’s history.
Buried on page 12 of Rustad’s background document is a plan to reduce healthcare spending from 12.5% of GDP to 11%. That’s a 12% cut – $4.1 billion.
John Rustad couldn’t answer questions about the costing of his plan. He said “I don’t have the precise numbers.”
John Rustad couldn’t answer how much his plan to compensate unvaccinated workers would cost: “I don’t know exactly what that amount will look like.”
He said he supported wait time targets but couldn’t explain what they were: “So again, I don’t have all those, those targets, of course, on hand.”
Rustad is a career politician with a 20-year record of backing healthcare cuts.
- He rejected the second medical school in Surrey that David Eby is delivering on;
- He abandoned a promise to provide family doctors for every British Columbian;
- He voted for $360 million in healthcare cuts that led to canceled MRIs and surgeries;
- He allowed the wealthiest to pay to skip the line, taking doctors and nurses out of the public healthcare system.
Ravi Parmar, BC NDP MLA:
“John Rustad’s plan to cut $4.1 billion would be the biggest healthcare cut in B.C. history. This would mean firing doctors and nurses, longer wait times in the ER, and cancelled surgeries. But it’s no surprise because John Rustad has a 20-year record of backing healthcare cuts. In 2012, he voted to shortchange hospitals by $360 million. He’s done it before and would do it again. He’s a risk we can’t afford.”