Ontario 2025 Election and Take-Home Cancer Drugs
4 MINS to read
The Ontario election is upon us. It’s happening on February 27 and that means now is a terrific time to talk Take-Home Cancer Treatments, especially with all those candidates who come knocking on your door!
So many of you reading this have helped with advocacy for our #BitterestPill campaign. And you celebrated a major win with Rethink and the CanCertainty Coalition last Ontario election.
Remember? After years of advocacy (meetings, media articles and op-eds, reports, roundtables, budget submissions, powerful posts and videos, events and even stunts like jumping through hoops) we were so thrilled that for the first time ever, all political parties in Ontario committed to tackling the inequities faced by cancer patients who need take-home cancer drugs. And then we really celebrated when the Government made a commitment to tackle the take-home cancer drug inequities faced by cancer patients younger than 65 in their 2022 budget announcement.
But then things got stuck. Really stuck. And with no action on the horizon, we got bitter over #BitterestPill.
The past year, we’ve regrouped and have been working hard to try and get things unstuck. There have been glimmers of progress but still nothing concrete.
Conversations with candidates at your door can help make it happen. It shows the candidates what matters for their constituents. And it doesn’t matter what party they are affiliated with – chat them all up – because all parties and all MPPs need to be aware that this issue causes delays, dollars and distress for too many cancer patients in Ontario. I tested it myself with a nice young volunteer who knocked on my door on Saturday. He couldn’t answer my question, and while I think I caught him a bit off guard, I made it a positive exchange. The more they all hear “take-home cancer drugs” the more it’ll stick with them as a hot topic and issue to report back to their leaders. All political parties in Ontario and all MPPs need to be aware that this issue causes delays, dollars and distress for far too many cancer patients in Ontario!
So, we created a little script, which you can even print and keep by your front door so you’re ready when any candidates or their volunteers knock.
When you answer your door, ask:
Will you commit to providing equal access to take-home cancer drugs to all patients, regardless of their age? Currently in Ontario, people under the age of 65 face a maze of administrative challenges, stressful delays and expensive out-of-pocket costs.
Follow up:
Right now, cancer patients in Ontario face a two-tiered and out-of-date cancer system. When patients need an IV cancer drug, there is no cost and no delay. However, when the treatment needed is in pill form and taken at home, patients under 65 face costs of thousands of dollars and have to wait weeks or even months before they can start treating their cancer.
Governments in Western Provinces, Northern Territories, and Quebec have all developed mechanisms to offer equal, faster, and more affordable access to take-home cancer drugs alongside IV drugs. Ontario is more than a decade behind.
Can I count on you to stand up for cancer patients in Ontario who need these life-saving medications?
Feel free to add your own anecdote with your own experiences. Thank you!
P.S. The volunteer I chatted with gave me a postcard with the candidates email address and said I could write. So the script works great for that too. Another party texted me asking me for a “REPLY > YES” if i support their team. Not as sure it will reach anyone but I threw in a bit of the script in response!
MJ DeCoteau
Founder + Executive Director
Rethink Breast Cancer
