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Beer

Saturday July 27, 2019

August 3, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday July 27, 2019

Ontario’s health reforms loaded with risk and reward

This week The St. Catharines Standard and The Hamilton Spectator did something uncommon. The sister news organizations published a joint investigative feature on health-care reform in Ontario.

April 6, 2019

We did it together because the issues and challenges involved are shared by citizens of Hamilton and Niagara. The Local Health Integration Network, to be replaced by a new oversight body, covered both regions. It made sense to share our joint expertise, personified by Joanna Frketich of The Spectator and Grant LaFleche of The Standard.

We’re proud of the series, which is the most comprehensive reporting on the most significant reform to Ontario’s health system in recent history. We explained what we could, and were forthright about what we don’t know — which is a lot given the vagueness and lack of detail in the strategy.

March 19, 2019

That’s the worry. There is great potential in the reform plan. While we are not among those who describe the current system as broken, there’s no doubt it is underperforming, and too often failing health-care consumers. So you cannot fault the Ford government for wanting to improve the system, especially at a time when an aging population will increase use of and stress on health care.

There is also great risk, as there would be with any attempt to change something as vast, complex and critical as health care. If it’s not done right, the costs could be very high. Unfortunately, this government’s track record at getting things right is not stellar. The autism debacle. Public health cuts that had to be temporarily reversed. Breaking a beer company contract that will probably cost millions. Killing cap and trade for ideological reasons, forcing Ottawa to implement a carbon tax, and depriving towns and cities in millions from cap-and-trade revenue.

February 16, 2019

Can we trust the Ford government to get health reform right?

The government’s reform blueprint is called the Connecting Care Act. Read it and you’ll be surprised by the lack of detail. We know that an uncertain number of Ontario Health Teams (OHT) will be put in place. They will be made up of health-care stakeholders — hospitals, primary care (family docs and family health teams), community-based and long-term care providers. They will provide the local input on health care across the spectrum. They will report to a new super agency, called Ontario Health.

In and of itself, this structure is puzzling. Part of the province’s rationale is to reduce bureaucracy. But in the future, instead of having LHINs, we’ll have OHTs, reporting to the new super agency, which presumably reports to the ministry of health. This isn’t a smaller bureaucracy, it’s the opposite.

December 15, 2017

The new system also collapses previously independent health agencies, such as Cancer Care Ontario, under one umbrella. But CCO is recognized as a world leader. Does it really make sense to break what isn’t broken in cancer care?

It’s also the same model Alberta has had in place for years. And health-care costs in that province have not gone down under the super agency system, they’ve gone up to a point where Alberta has higher per patient costs than any other province.

It’s not all bad news. Innovative initiatives, liked Bundled Care, which was developed at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, will be rolled out across the province, promising shorter hospital stays with remote support provided to patients at home.

Once it comes back from its extended summer holiday, health reform will be prominent in the news, and we’ll continue to cover and try to explain it. For Ontarians who care, and we all should, this wave of reform demands close scrutiny and robust public discussion. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: 2019-27, Beer, Buck-a-beer, Doug Ford, emergency, Hallway healthcare, Hamilton, health, health care, Hospital, overcrowding, patients

Thursday May 10, 2019

June 6, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 30, 2019

Ontario to end Beer Store deal, paving way for beer in corner stores

The Progressive Conservative government has tabled legislation that would terminate a contract with The Beer Store.

The previous Liberal government signed a 10-year deal with the brewers that permitted an expansion of beer and wine sales to hundreds of grocery stores.

Premier Doug Ford has indicated he plans to put beer and wine in corner stores, but he has to break that agreement to do so and the industry has warned that could trigger steep financial penalties.

While tabling today’s bill, Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said the current system is a monopoly that is a bad deal for consumers and businesses.

The legislation comes after the province’s special adviser on alcohol delivered a report Friday to Fedeli on ways to improve consumer choice and convenience.

The Tories also announced a number of loosened alcohol restrictions in last month’s budget, including allowing alcohol to be served at 9 a.m., seven days a week, letting people consume booze in parks, and legalizing tailgating parties near sports events.

Meanwhile, there’s been a swift reaction from Labatt Brewing Company Limited and Molson Canada 2005 — two of the three large brewers who predominantly own The Beer Store — to the legislation tabled Monday.

CBC Toronto obtained a copy of a lawyers’ letter from Labatt  and Molson putting the government on notice of a potential legal challenge to the beer legislation. Blake, Cassels and Graydon LLP represent Labatt, while Molson is represented by Gowling WLG.

In the letter, the lawyers note that the 2015 Master Framework Agreement was negotiated with the province to enhance customer convenience, choice and shopping experience, while ensuring that customers in Ontario can purchase beer at prices below the Canadian average, and to enhance the beer retailing system for all brewers selling beer in Ontario.

“The Bill will destroy those benefits, legislate 7,000 Ontario-based The Beer Store employees out of work and cause billions of dollars in damages … and result in higher costs and prices for consumers,” the lawyers wrote. (CBC) 

 

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: 2019-20, adoption, baby, Beer, Beer store, boondoggle, Buck-a-beer, corner stores, Doug Ford, monster, Ontario, pet

Saturday May 4, 2019

May 11, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 4, 2019

Province’s funding cuts jeopardize 6,166 subsidized child care spaces in Toronto, staff says

Provincial funding cuts and policy changes could result in 6,166 fewer subsidized child care spaces in Toronto and cost the city more than $80-million this year alone, according to city staff.

In a memo to the mayor and council obtained by CBC Toronto on Thursday, City Manager Chris Murray detailed the potential impacts of a reduction in child care funding that was outlined in the province’s recent 2019 budget. The fallout will be compounded by considerable changes to existing child care-related cost-sharing models, the memo says.

“As with recent changes to the provincial/municipal cost-sharing arrangements for public health, the City was not consulted or provided with any advance warning of these changes,” the memo says.

Murray cautions that city staff are still awaiting precise numbers from the province, but they estimate that, cumulatively, the changes will cost Toronto $84.8 million this year. That figure includes a $28.6-million reduction in direct provincial funding and $56.2-million due to cost-sharing changes, the memo explains. 

“This represents a direct pressure on the 2019 Children’s Services Operating Budget, which city council has already approved and for which the municipal levy bylaw has been passed,” it continues.

The result is the potential loss of 6,166 subsidized child care spaces in Toronto, the memo estimates.

The overall number of child care spaces is not expected to change, but a smaller number will be filled by children who have access to the subsidy, the city says. (Source: CBC News) 

 

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: “For the People”, 2019-16, Beer, Buck-a-beer, Carbon taxes, corner stores, daycare, Doug Ford, horse racing, Justin Trudeau, Kathleen Wynne, Ontario

Thursday August 9, 2018

August 8, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 9, 2018

Buck a beer is back, but Doug Ford’s plan for cheaper suds is falling flat with some brewers

February 10, 2011

Ontario Premier Doug Ford confirmed this morning that he would introduce legislation to lower the minimum price of a bottle or can of beer to $1 from $1.25 ahead of the Labour Day weekend. 

At a news conference Tuesday in Prince Edward County, Ford said the Progressive Conservative government will approve the buck-a-beer plan by Aug. 27. The minimum price of a beer was raised by the Liberals 10 years ago.

But the PC’s move fell flat with some craft brewers who feared the initiative would hurt their business by asking them to eat the costs associated with lowering prices.  

February 2, 2007

“We firmly believe that you really do get what you pay for,” The People’s Pint, a brewery in Toronto’s west end, said on Twitter.  

Buck a beer only applies to brews under 5.6 per cent alcohol content and participation is not mandatory, said Ford.  

“Nobody is being forced to lower their prices and there will be no subsidies or tax handouts,” he told reporters at Barley Days Brewery in Picton, Ont., around 200 kilometres east of Toronto.

Finance Minister Vic Fideli noted the legislation will “reduce the floor” on beer sales and give brewers permission to sell their cans and bottles for $1 — pricing that has been illegal for a decade.

He added the PCs are offering “non-financial incentives” in the form of “buck-a-beer challenge” to encourage Ontario’s 260 brewers to drop prices. (Source: CBC)

 

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Posted in: Ontario Tagged: Beer, Buck-a-beer, cheap, Doug Ford, Ontario, powder

Tuesday March 28, 2017

March 27, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday March 28, 2017

Trudeau government to legalize marijuana by Canada Day 2018: reports

The Liberal government plans to announce legislation next month that will legalize recreational marijuana use nationally by Canada Day 2018, CBC News reported Sunday night.

The report, aired first on CBC’s flagship TV show, The National, said the government plans to introduce the legislation the week of April 10.

Another report, however, indicated the bill would be introduced on April 20, or 4/20, a symbolic date for marijuana users.

According to the CBC report, Ottawa will secure the country’s marijuana supply and license producers. The national age limit to purchase the drug will be set at 18, but provinces will be able to set it higher.

Provinces will also control price, along with how marijuana is bought and sold.

Also, Canadians who wish to grow their own marijuana would be limited to four plants per household.

The new rules generally follow the recommendations of a federal task force chaired by Anne McLellan, a former justice minister. The task force delivered a 106-page report in December with 80 recommendations.

Bill Blair, the former Toronto police chief who, as a Liberal MP, was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s point person on the issue, briefed the Liberal caucus on the roll-out plan and planned legislation during meetings this weekend, CBC said. (Source: Toronto Star)

 

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: alcohol, beaver, Beer, Canada, cannabis, holidays, legalization, Marijuana, May two-four, Queen Victoria
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