Speaking Up For A Healthier Society | Voices for Change
[A series of four women speak separately to the camera.]
Kirsten Watson: My name is Kirsten Watson.
Chantel Bourgeois: My name is Chantel Bourgeois.
Srini Correa: My name is Srini Correa.
Manna Wescott: Hi, my name is Manna.
[Kirsten Watson speaks to the camera.]
Words on screen: Kirsten Watson, diagnosed with breast cancer
Kirsten Watson: At the age of 40, I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer.
[Chantel Bourgeois speaks to the camera in front of a Canadian Cancer Society backdrop.]
Words on screen: Chantel Bourgeois, former cancer caregiver
Chantel Bourgeois: Cancer has impacted me because I lost my mom in 2020 to lung cancer.
[Srini Correa speaks to the camera in front of a Canadian Cancer Society backdrop.]
Words on screen: Srini Correa, former cancer caregiver
Srini Correa: How cancer has impacted me is that I was a caregiver for almost four years to my husband.
[Manna Wescott speaks to the camera in front of a Canadian Cancer Society backdrop.]
Words on screen: Manna Wescott, diagnosed with colon cancer
Manna Wescott: I was diagnosed in 2019 with stage four colon cancer.
[Kirsten Watson talks to a group of women wearing Canadian Cancer Society lanyards.]
Kirsten Watson: In my first year of active treatment, I spent over $10,000 out of pocket.
[Chantel Bourgeois talks to a group of women with Canadian Cancer Society notebooks. A woman takes notes as she speaks.]
Chantel Bourgeois: These costs are unfair to cancer patients because the last thing that you should have to worry about is the affordability of your cancer care and the services that you require.
[Manna Wescott speaks to a man across a table laden with Canadian Cancer Society notebooks and lanyards.]
Manna Wescott: I was lucky to have benefits from my work, so I didn't have to pay out of pocket for medications, but I did have to pay out of pocket to access my oncologists, who were a three hour drive away in Victoria, or a ferry ride away in Vancouver.
[Dozens of well-dressed people wearing Canadian Cancer Society scarves, pins, and lanyards mill about a conference room, talking.]
Kirsten Watson: I advocate with CCS because I learned so much about going through my diagnosis and my treatment, and I saw areas of opportunity for change.
[Manna Westcott smiles as she talks to someone off-camera.]
Manna Wescott: I advocate for improved cancer screening so that people don't have to go through what I went through.
[A Canadian Cancer Society booklet reading ‘Our Advocacy Work’ sits open on a table.]
[A series of people wearing Canadian Cancer Society scarves, pins, and lanyards speak passionately to each other in a conference room.]
[Canadian Cancer Society merchandise, including a shirt reading ‘ÇA PREND UNE SOCIÉTÉ’ and a greeting card reading ‘IT TAKES A SOCIETY’ sit on a table.]
Chantel Bourgeois: I was hoping that by advocating, that someone would listen to our story and, you know, realize that Canadians are struggling a lot more with cancer care and with the costs involved, as well as just, you know, with the support that they require. And our needs are not being met.
[A series of people wearing Canadian Cancer Society scarves, pins, and lanyards speak passionately to each other in a conference room.]
[A man writes in a yellow notebook reading ‘IT TAKES A SOCIETY’.]
Srini Correa: These conversations are so important, especially when they come from personal stories. One concrete thing that I hope for is that we all get the support that we need, whether it's physically, mentally, emotionally, and that we have people that support and rally around us.
[Dozens of people wearing Canadian Cancer Society scarves, pins, and lanyards mill around a conference room, talking to each other.]
Chantel Bourgeois: When you hear the word cancer, it's extremely overwhelming and you honestly don't know how to handle it. You're not processing things right away.
[A series of filled-out forms reading ‘3 things I’m saving money for’ in English and French read: shopping, my future (university), investments; university, a house, my future; a car for my job and for school, post-secondary school, to create my own salon someday.]
[A series of people wearing Canadian Cancer Society scarves, pins, and lanyards speak passionately to each other in various conference rooms.]
[Chantel Bourgeois speaks to the camera in front of a Canadian Cancer Society backdrop.]
Chantel Bourgeois: But if you search up the word cancer or even, you know, Canada, you tend to get this website. And the Canadian Cancer Society has so many resources and so many amazing things that they provide to patients that are going through cancer treatments as well as caregiver support groups. And there's so many aspects to it, even if you're just looking for someone to talk to. So I think they do amazing things, and I honestly don't know what cancer care would look like in Canada if CCS hadn't done even a quarter of the work that they have.
[A man standing beside a banner reading ‘HELP MAKE CANCER CARE BETTER’ talks to someone off camera.]
[A yellow booklet reading ‘IT TAKES A SOCIETY’ sits on a table.]
Chantel Bourgeois: And there's so much that they've been able to accomplish to improve the lives of Canadians with cancer.
Words on screen: Be a Voice for Change
Visit cancer.ca/advocacy
[The Canadian Cancer Society and It Takes a Society logos appear on screen.]
