At a ceremony Thursday recognizing her lifetime of work as an actress and activist, an ailing Shirley Douglas rose from her wheelchair, leaned on a cane and, with the aid of her assistant, moved gingerly toward a microphone.

There, she delivered an impassioned speech in which she warned that Canada's publicly-funded health-care system is in dire risk and “is going to disintegrate because of benign neglect.

“(Stephen) Harper will never, never say he's against the Canadian health-care system, but the results are all around you,” said Douglas, 76, adding the system is “being starved to death.”

In an address that, at times, was reminiscent of speeches given by her father, the late Tommy Douglas, who is hailed as the father of health care, she urged people to write Prime Minister Harper and demand increased funding.

Douglas, the mother of actor Kiefer Sutherland, told the crowd of 500 that she quit working three years ago because of immense pain caused by a degenerative spine condition. In recent months Douglas said she has felt a bit better, but is still trying to control the pain.

She delivered her speech at the annual meeting for the Toronto chapter of the Canadian performers union ACTRA, which presented her with an award for service.

Douglas, who was born in Weyburn, Sask., was also presented with an honorary degree by the University of Regina. Her speech, which was videotaped, will be shown at convocation in June.

Representatives from both ACTRA and the university praised Douglas's illustrious career as an actress and her tireless support for a variety of causes, including the American civil rights movement, the rights of women and immigrants, and health care.