Face to face
Premier had to accept viral video challenge to meet with cancer patient: prof
HALIFAX — Premier Stephen McNeil really had no choice but to agree to a faceto-face meeting with Inez Rudderham, says a Dalhousie University political sociologist.
“As a leader it’s hard to ignore a video that has had this kind of widespread response,” said Howard Ramos. “The very least the premier can do is reach out after Ms. Rudderham’s video has gone viral with over three million views and it’s clear that she has suffered some duress and has raised a concern that a number of people feel is a problem that deserves attention.”
The 33-year-old mother with cancer broke the news of her upcoming meeting with McNeil on her Facebook page. The development came six days after she posted an emotionally charged video declaring a health-care crisis in Nova Scotia and dared the premier to have a face-to-face meeting.
“I want to say a big and sincere thank you to everyone who took the time to watch, share and comment on my video,” she wrote. “I am slowly making my way through the messages.
“I want to let you know I’m pleased that the premier’s office has reached out to me and we currently have a tentative date set for a meeting.”
McNeil did not comment. David Jackson, the premier’s spokesman, said details of the meeting are being finalized.
Ramos says the premier made the right decision. He said he hopes it will help Rudderham and ultimately spur “systemic changes that can improve the health-care system.”
“I think it’s proper leadership to sit down and meet and find out the details of her story to try to better understand the problem,” said Ramos. “It certainly has hit the national media and it’s become part of the conversation in the news cycle for an entire week now so as a leader the premier really has to respond to her story and engage the issue.”
Like many, Ramos is concerned about the province’s chronic family doctor shortage and particularly how it’s playing out in rural areas. The latest Nova Scotia Health Authority data shows 51,119 people on the province’s family practice wait-list.
“If we have a public health-care system are we happy with one in 10 of us not being able to access the system? This is really where this sparks a lot of attention and why so many people have responded to Ms. Rudderham’s video,” Ramos said.
“I think that if Inez became the face of collective fear and exasperation about where a lot of people are feeling the healthcare system has come to, I think we’re all looking to the premier to be the face of kindness and to give us a collective word of reassurance that we will figure out how to make this OK,” says Mary Jane Hampton, a Nova Scotia health-care consultant.
Since Rudderham’s video emerged many others have called on the premier to admit the province faces a health crisis.