Ontario

Friday February 8, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 8, 2019

Ford government autism program overhaul met with outrage by some parents who fear kids will lose out

The Ford government’s plan to overhaul Ontario’s autism program has sparked anger among parents — including a PC political staffer and father of two autistic teens who quit in disgust over the changes Wednesday.

January 25, 2019

Under the revamp, aimed at clearing a therapy wait list of 23,000 kids, parents will be given funding and the power to choose the services they want. But families will face a lifetime limit of $140,000 per child and high-earners will no longer be eligible.

Parents, who say funding should be based on need and not on age or arbitrary cut-offs, were devastated by the move.

“In light of today’s announcement, I told my minister I did not feel I could continue in my role as legislative assistant,” said Bruce McIntosh, who joined Progressive Conservative MPP Amy Fee’s political staff when the Ford government was elected last spring.

McIntosh is the former president of the Ontario Autism Coalition, a parent advocacy group that has pushed for more government support but has been critical of age-based funding.

November 17, 2018

Fee (Kitchener South—Hespeler) is parliamentary assistant for Lisa MacLeod, minister of children, community and social services, who announced the autism overhaul at Toronto’s Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.

Fee, the mother of two children with autism, spoke about her own family’s experiences during the news conference.

An estimated 40,000 children in Ontario have autism, a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication. About 2,400 of them are waiting for a diagnosis, 23,000 are on a wait list for behavioural therapies and just 8,400 are receiving services.

MacLeod said the government will double funding for diagnostic hubs to $5.5 million a year for the next two years, clear the therapy wait lists and ensure families get their funding within the next 18 months.

The program under the previous Liberal government was inefficient and did not address children’s needs, she said. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Thursday February 7, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 7, 2019

Health inspections, air ambulance won’t be privatized, minister says

December 3, 2002

Ontario’s health minister was forced to make assurances Monday that long-term care inspections and the province’s air ambulance service will not be privatized, as leaked documents appear to peg those services for “outsourcing.”

Christine Elliott’s comments came after the NDP released a second set of confidential government documents following the release last week of a draft version of the Progressive Conservative government’s upcoming health-care transformation legislation.

“The NDP have intentionally created confusion about the way care is delivered in this province,” Elliott said. “As we bring forward desperately needed and overdue change to health-care in this province, Ontarians will continue to access reliable, public health-care.”

December 21, 2016

The Ontario Provincial Police have been notified about the document leaks and the person responsible is no longer employed by the government, the head of the public service said in a memo.

Both sets of leaked documents show the government is creating a health “super agency” that would be in charge of managing health services, quality improvement, patient relations, digital health and tissue donation and transplants, among other responsibilities.

The draft legislation would allow the government to roll local health integration networks, Cancer Care Ontario, eHealth Ontario, the Trillium Gift of Life Network and other government health agencies into the super agency. The local health networks are responsible for delivering home care, and one document warns of a risk of service disruptions.

Animated!

Elliott said the plan is not final and consultations are ongoing, but the NDP say the documents they revealed Monday include references to cabinet already approving the overall plan and appointing super agency board members.

One document, as part of a Dec. 13 workshop for assistant deputy ministers, references outsourcing laboratories — many of which are already privately run — inspections, licensing, devices and the province’s air ambulance service, Ornge.

Elliott said none of those services will be privatized. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Friday February 1, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 1, 2019

1,000 Ontario hospital patients a day being treated in corridors: Report

Roughly 1,000 hospital patients in Ontario are getting medical attention in corridors instead of proper treatment spaces on “any given day,” Dr. Rueben Devlin says in his first report to Premier Doug Ford on improving health care and ending “hallway medicine.”

While the retired head of Humber River Hospital notes there is “much to be proud of” in the provincial health care system, his report found it is “too complicated” to navigate after hearing from more than 340 patients.

“People are waiting too long to receive care and too often are receiving care in the wrong place; as a result, our hospitals are crowded,” Devlin, an orthopaedic surgeon, wrote in the 32-page document titled “Hallway Health Care: A System Under Strain.”

“There needs to be more effective co-ordination at both the system level, and at the point-of-care. This could achieve better value (i.e. improved health outcomes) for taxpayer money spent,” he added. “As currently designed, the health care system does not always work efficiently.”

Animated!

One problem is people with mental health and addictions troubles often go to hospital emergency rooms when they could get better care from a family doctor or community agency, but wait too long and reach a “crisis point.”

According to one survey last year, 41 per cent of Ontarians who went to hospital emergency departments, and 93 per cent who went to walk-in clinics, were treated for conditions that could have been handled by a family physician or nurse practitioner in a primary care setting. This is often because hospitals are the only health care centre open 24 hours a day. (Toronto Star) 

 

Wednesday January 30, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 30, 2019

Provinces not co-operating to get infrastructure projects underway: Trudeau

Unco-operative provincial governments have been making the effort to get more infrastructure dollars into Canada’s cities a challenge, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday.

Trudeau, whose government has struggled to fulfil tens of billions worth of infrastructure commitments, made the remarks in Ottawa before a meeting with more than a dozen of Canada’s big-city mayors. He didn’t single any provinces out by name.

His Liberal government has been criticized for how slowly federal money has moved for big civic construction projects, despite its big-ticket plan to spend more than $185 billion on them over 12 years.

“It’s not always easy — we understand that the political context varies a little bit from one end of this country to the other and there are provinces that don’t completely have the same attitude when it comes to tangible investments in their communities and in the big cities,” Trudeau said in French before switching to English.

This cartoon has been animated!

“We’re having sometimes certain challenges with the provinces in various ways.”

Trudeau called big cities the economic engines of the whole country and argued that investing in infrastructure is one of the best ways to create jobs in the short term and growth over the long term.

Federal Infrastructure Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, who also met with the big city mayors Monday, said challenges have surfaced following several recent provincial elections.

Champagne, for whom speeding up the rollout of infrastructure investments is a top priority, said the arrival of new governments has slowed down some of the intake, review and approval of projects. He did note these delays are normal when there’s a change in government. (source: CTV) 

 

Friday January 25, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 25, 2019

Ontario education minister says no decisions made yet on removing class size caps

Ontario teacher and education worker groups raised concerns Thursday that the government’s consideration of removing kindergarten and primary class size caps sets the stage for vast cuts.

The Progressive Conservative government met with education partners Wednesday to launch consultations on class sizes and teacher hiring practices.

A government consultation document poses questions such as whether hard caps on class sizes should continue, and if they were removed, what would be an appropriate way to set effective class sizes.

Ontario teacher and education worker groups raised concerns Thursday that the government’s consideration of removing kindergarten and primary class size caps sets the stage for vast cuts.

The Progressive Conservative government met with education partners Wednesday to launch consultations on class sizes and teacher hiring practices.

A government consultation document poses questions such as whether hard caps on class sizes should continue, and if they were removed, what would be an appropriate way to set effective class sizes. (Source: Global News)