Patient Advocacy
Patient Advocacy is Patient Representation
We urgently need your help. Now is a critical time to push for provincial and federal support for equal timely access to new treatments for all Canadian melanoma patients, ocular melanoma, and non-melanoma skin cancer patients.
Advocacy is a process by an individual or group aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems. Advocacy can include many activities, including: media campaigns, public speaking, commissioning and publishing research, or government relations and meetings. If you’d like a general overview of patient advocacy, you can also download our advocacy outline.
We urge you to consider writing to your Federal Health Minister and to your local government representatives to convey a request for support. We have also included this letter as a download below. as well as links to appropriate government contacts below, making it easy to find out who your provincial and federal representatives are.
To help us in the fight for Canadians affected by melanoma, ocular melanoma, and non-melanoma skin cancers, please look through the resources on this page and get involved in the ways that make the most sense for you. We appreciate your support!
Get involved! Save Your Skin Foundation has assembled materials to assist in the following:
1. Write to your Members of Parliament to share your thoughts or to request a meeting – contact your local elected officials
2. Write to your MLA/MPP asking that he/she write to the Minister of Health (click here to download sample letter)
3. Prepare for and have a meeting with your MLA (talking points and fact sheet)
4. Email or phone us to report the results of your MLA meeting
5. Write a letter for your MLA to send to the Minister of Health
6. Write to your provincial Ministers of Health, listed below
7. Write to the Minister of Health: Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos
Health Ministers by Province/Territory:
Nova Scotia: Hon. Michelle Thompson
New Brunswick: Hon. Dorothy Shephard
Prince Edward Island: Hon. Marc V. McLane
Newfoundland and Labrador: Hon. Tom Osborne
Quebec: Hon. Christian Dubé
Ontario: Hon. Sylvia Jones
Manitoba: Hon. Audrey Gordon
Saskatchewan: Hon. Paul Merriman
Alberta: Hon. Jason Copping
British Columbia: Hon. Adrian Dix
Yukon Territory: Tracy-Anne McPhee
Northwest Territory: Hon. Julie Green
Nunavut: Hon. John Main
Canada: Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos
Additional Resources
Updated list of Canadian Members of Parliament
Blog: Bringing Advocacy to Canadian Melanoma Patients
Glossary of Terms from CADTH:
Canadian Healthcare System – Who is Who?
International Advocacy for Patient Access to Treatment |A³ ~ ADVOCACY: ACCESS IN ACTION