Fax or email your MLA

Send an email

As part of our campaign to bring back universal masking in BC healthcare, we’re flooding BC policy-makers with emails and faxes. You can use our one-click email tool here – but if you prefer to send your own, find some wording below to get you started!

Send a fax

Want to send a free fax? Download our letter as a document, and just add the policy-maker’s name and your own:

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Find a list of people you can fax here. We recommend starting with your MLA and the Minister of Health, then go from there!

SEND FREE DIGITAL FAXES

Template wording

Subject: Urgent: restore universal masking to BC healthcare

Dear [title and name],

I’m writing about BC’s decision to drop healthcare mask requirements. The loss of consistent mask protections directly affects me and my loved ones. It means we can’t safely access medical care, and when we have no choice but to go, we’re forced to endure unnecessary risks.

In the last couple weeks, vulnerable British Columbians have sent over 18,000 messages begging BC maintain and improve healthcare mask protections. This choice shuts out the voices of those most impacted, and can only contribute to avoidable illness, disability, and death.

Not only does COVID continue to circulate in BC, but we are facing warnings about measles and tuberculosis, and the looming threat of H5N1 (avian influenza). Despite claims about the “end of respiratory illness season”, NACI guidance clearly states that “the seasonality of COVID is not yet established”. The spring vaccination campaign underscores the ongoing risks to many British Columbians – including immunocompromised people, for whom vaccines often provide less protection.

These risks aren’t theoretical. Last year, BC’s experiment in healthcare mask removal was followed by multiple COVID outbreaks. Research shows hospital-acquired COVID is at least 70 times more deadly – and multiple polls show 85-91% of respondents must delay healthcare due to lack of COVID safety.

Unless you take action to reverse this, it will be an indelible stain on your legacy. Please learn more at DoNoHarmBC.ca – and then please, use your voice and decision-making power to help restore universal masking to healthcare.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]
[Your postal code – this ensures your message is prioritized!]

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Seeking a template letter from a past campaign?

Find them below. (Click to expand.)

Subject: Vulnerability isn’t seasonal. Keep masks in healthcare.

Dear [title and name],

I’m writing as a concerned BC resident regarding safety in healthcare.

Currently, our province has mask requirements in hospitals and long-term care to help protect vulnerable patients, staff, and our healthcare system. However, so far policymakers have only committed to these measures for a limited time period, during the fall/winter.

Me and my loved ones need safe access to healthcare year round. That’s why I’m urging you to support maintaining the healthcare mask requirement – and to advocate for practical steps to strengthen these protections:

1. Maintain and enforce mask requirements in hospitals and long-term care settings year-round, for all BC medical staff, contractors, visitors and volunteers.

2. Restore mask requirements for patients, with reasonable exceptions and accommodations. At present, patients aren’t included in mask requirements, but they’re often the ones who are sick / infectious in places like ERs, wards, and crowded waiting rooms.

3. Improve airborne precautions with wider use of N95-equivalent masks (respirators). Consider following the lead of numerous European countries in making them the default, or at minimum, use them around vulnerable patients and on request. These are the only medical masks rated to protect against airborne disease, which is particularly crucial given the rising measles risks this spring highlighted by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

4. Issue a clear directive to private and community healthcare settings, requiring the same minimum mask coverage as government facilities.

Continued mask protections are crucial to BC patients like me, especially since illnesses like measles and invasive strep are on the rise, and hospital-acquired COVID is at least 70 times more deadly than COVID contracted in the community. Multiple surveys have shown 85-91% of respondents must delay healthcare due to the lack of masks and Covid safety. Meanwhile, study co-authored by Dr. Bonnie Henry on SARS-CoV-1 states, “Consistently wearing a mask… was protective for the nurses” and “[r]isk was lower with consistent use of a N95 mask than with consistent use of a surgical mask.” (All references can be found at DoNoHarmBC.ca/vulnerability-isnt-seasonal)

Thank you in advance for your attention. I look forward to your reply, letting me know how you’ll take action to support safe, accessible healthcare for me and my loved ones throughout 2024.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]
[Your postal code – this ensures your email is prioritized!]

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Subject: Pandemic provisions in 2024 budget

Dear MLA [their name],

I’m writing as one of your constituents to express my deep concern regarding the expiration of BC’s Pandemic Recovery Contingencies – and to urge you to support some provincial budget recommendations put forward by DoNoHarm BC.

The Pandemic Recovery Contingencies have supported economic recovery; the well-being of vulnerable British Columbians; and vital health measures like vaccination, testing, and PPE for healthcare workers. As we head into 2024, we need to apply lessons learned from COVID-19 and climate emergencies, and make strategic investments that continue to strengthen public health.

That’s why I’m asking you to support DoNoHarm BC’s Budget 2024/25 Recommendations:

1. Renew a three year-plan for economic recovery, sustainable health management of communicable diseases, and resilience against future pandemics;

2. Establish a Clean Indoor Air Act to harness the cost-effective public health benefits of clean air (which has a benefit-cost ratio from 3:1 to 100:1);

3. Support a comprehensive building retrofit strategy that includes cooling and indoor air quality improvements in the BC Building Code;

4. Provide a tax credit of $5 million/year offsetting PPE costs for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities (bolstered by expanding medical equipment coverage, and raising rates of income and disability assistance indexed to inflation);

5. Include Long COVID care in support for complex chronic illnesses;

6. Invest in improved digital health solutions including better usability and interoperability between health authorities.

You can read the full budget recommendations at donoharmbc.ca/budget2024-recommendations/ – I hope I can count on you to take positive action protecting the health and prosperity of British Columbians.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]
[Your postal code – this ensures your email is prioritized!]

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