1,000 to rally at Cornwallis Park as Canada's nurses stand up for health care

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, June 4, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Up to 1,000 nurses wearing white will march down historic Barrington Street in Halifax on Friday as their national organization, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, officially launches its effort to emphasize health care issues during the federal election campaign.

For the first time, nurses from across the country are asking Canadians to vote for the health care they deserve. To date, no political party has made its platform clear, but nurses feel an obligation to address key areas of concern as Canada's election date approaches. The CFNU has urged all political parties to make their positions on federal support for public health care clear during the campaign for the October 19 federal election.

The nurses will assemble in Parade Square on Barrington Street at 11:00 a.m. The march will end at Cornwallis Park at 11:30 near the intersection of Barrington and South Street, where CFNU President Linda Silas will address the nurses.

Janet Hazelton, president of the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union, Hassan Yussuf, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, and Cameron Westhead, newly elected New Democrat MLA for Banff-Cochrane in Alberta, will also address participants.

The march will be one of the final major events of the CFNU's 17th Biennial Convention which began Monday at the Halifax World Trade and Convention Centre. The CFNU represents approximately 200,000 frontline nurses across Canada through its affiliated unions. Nursing union leaders from throughout Canada, including the presidents of most Canadian nurses' unions, are attending the Halifax conference.

For more information, contact Christie Blotnicky of Nova Scotia Nurses Union, 902-818-4453, or by email at christie.blotnicky@nsnu.ca