How fossil fuel companies are harming health care in Canada

Earlier this month, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) launched a campaign this month highlighting how the fossil fuel industry in British Columbia is increasing healthcare system costs and reducing access to care. The campaign shared billboards and transit ads, held a press conference in front of Vancouver General Hospital and shared an open letter from over 300 doctors and nurses calling for immediate action to protect communities and the healthcare system.

Today on rabble radio, Dr. Melissa Lem, the president of CAPE, joins rabble labour reporter Gabriela Calugay-Casuga to discuss in more detail about this campaign, and how CAPE works with other healthcare organizations and unions to create a healthier planet and population. 

Lem last joined us on rabble radio in 2022 as part of our Boiling Point series. She and Stephen Wentzell explored the many ways in which climate change is a health issue and why it’s so important for governments, at all levels, to put policies in place to protect people during extreme weather events.

About our guest 

Dr. Melissa Lem is a Vancouver family physician who also works in rural and northern communities within Canada. President of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, she is an internationally recognized leader in the field of nature, biodiversity and health. Lem has also engaged in advocacy and policy work on a broad range of other issues ranging from extreme heat and hydraulic fracturing to sustainable health care and low-carbon transportation. A widely published writer, climate change panelist on CBC Radio's Early Edition, in-house medical columnist for CBC TV Vancouver and clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, one of her major priorities is knowledge translation.

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