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Introduction

Along with hospital closures and deep cuts in health care services, privatization is a key element of the Campbell Liberals attack on public Medicare. As part of their ideological agenda, the Liberals have earmarked $700 million in health care services to be turned over to the private sector. Its a move that even the governments own documents admit wont save money.

And with huge chunks of our health care system for sale, corporate interests are circling like vultures trying to cash in. One of those companies is a French multinational called Sodexho Inc.

The passage of Bill 29 the Campbell governments contract-breaking legislation that ripped up freely negotiated contracts with B.C. health care workers cleared the path for predators like Sodexho to descend upon our province. Thats because those contracts contained protections for health care workers jobs and prevented wholesale contracting out of the services they provide.

Sodexho has a dismal record in Europe and the United States, where it has been called on the carpet for many safety and cleanliness violations as well as cost overruns. In Canada the company has also come under fire for the quality of their service.

The Northern Health Authority recently hired this multinational predator to advise them on cost-cutting measures, but the evidence contained in this HEU-commissioned report shows Sodexho is not only guilty of neglect when it comes to safety and cleanliness, but their own record on holding down health care costs is abysmal.

The report makes it clear: Sodexho is bad news for British Columbians.
Who is Sodexho?