Eby promises health-care reforms at kitchen table session [Video]

The leader of the BC NDP announced several election promises around health-care reform at a literal kitchen table discussion with Burnaby residents, sending voters a clear message about how he wants them to see him.

David Eby made Monday’s policy announcement at a Burnaby home, flanked by the homeowners and two sisters, who shared personal stories about their experiences with the health-care system, and how they’d found new family doctors after losing their longtime providers.

Eby announced that if he forms government after next month’s election, he will expand the current diagnostic powers of pharmacists to include testing for routine conditions like strep throat and urinary tract infections, slash paperwork for doctors, including short-term sick notes, and push through provisional licences for doctors and nurses qualified to work in other parts of Canada to practise immediately.

The NDP government has been under pressure to provide more primary care due to …