
By Lincoln DePradine
Individuals and organizations, including The Walnut Foundation (TWF) — a support group focused on increasing awareness about the heightened risk of prostate cancer among Black men — perhaps have no greater political advocate for their cause than Ontario New Democrat Wayne Gates, MPP for Niagara Falls, Fort Erie and Niagara-on-the-Lake.
More than once, Gates has gone to the Ontario legislature seeking parliamentary approval to have screening for prostate cancer, using a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, be paid for as part of coverage under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).
Thus far, Gates has not succeeded in his efforts. But he has promised to be unrelenting and not give up.
“I’m going to continue to fight this until it gets passed,” Gates told The Caribbean Camera.
“I’m calling on the Ford government to do the right thing, come together across party lines, and support my motion. It’s the right thing to do.”
Gates was among speakers at a news conference hosted Monday, September 16, at the media studio of the legislative building at Queen’s Park.
TWF president Anthony Henry, who attended the event, said he is one of four family members, including his father, impacted by prostate cancer.
“My dad did not get the PSA test and his disease was discovered at an advanced stage. It was because of this that prompted myself and my other family members to initiate a screening protocol and I started screening at age 40,” Henry said.
Henry and Gates were joined at the news conference byDr Stuart Edmonds from the Canadian Cancer Society and Burlington MayorMarianne Meed Ward andher husbandPete Ward, who was diagnosed days before his 30th wedding anniversary and his 60th birthday, after deciding to pay out-of-pocket for a PSA test.
“Costs shouldn’t be a barrier for men getting tested,” Ward said. “By the time I got my test results, my numbers were off the charts, which reduced my treatment options and plunged me and my family into 10 months of hell and uncertainty.”
According to Ward’s wife, “If this government can remove the fees for vehicle registration for cars, we can do it for people”.
Prostate cancer accounts for one in five male cancers in Canada, which is observing September as “Prostate Cancer Awareness Month”.
Research indicates that men of African descent may be genetically predisposed to prostate cancer; that “one in six Black men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer”; and that “Black men are two times more likely to die from prostate cancer than other populations”.
Eight Canadian provinces cover the cost of PSA testing for men, but Ontario is not one of them. Gates, TWF and other prostate cancer advocates and lobbyists — including Dr Anthony Dixon — want that to change.
They’re urging the conservative administration of Premier Doug Ford to allow OHIP to cover the cost of the PSA testing when it’s recommended for a patient by a health care provider.
In Ontario, the cost of a PSA screening test ranges from $39 to $42.
Dixon, an emergency room physician, was diagnosed with prostate cancer four year ago and underwent surgery and other treatment.
“It came as a complete surprise and shock,” said Dixon, who remained off work for eight months.
“The best test that we have for all men at the moment is the PSA screening test. This test is important for the health of all men and it should be covered as part of our routine health insurance that we have in Ontario.”
PSA testing paid for by OHIP should be part of “common-sense solutions that benefit people with cancer, with a nearly 100 percent survival rate if prostate cancer is found early”, said Edmonds of the Cancer Society.
Gates — three times between 2019 and 2023— tabled a motion in the legislature, calling for free PSA testing for Ontario men.
He intends to reintroduce the motion and is appealing for support from government and opposition politicians. At the press briefing, Gates was supported by others MPPS from the NDP and the Liberal Party, and by Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner.
“I believe that men’s lives are worth saving,” said Gates. “I don’t believe that any man should die unnecessarily because we have a government that won’t cover their testing by OHIP. They’ll do a lot of other things. They’ll give $225 million to a beer store; yet, they won’t pay for the testing that’s going to save men’s lives.”
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter