Disability

Saturday November 17, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 17, 2018

Ford government’s 1st fiscal update shows Ontario cut deficit to $14.5B

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government says it has cut the province’s deficit by $500 million, bringing the figure down to $14.5 billion in its first few months in office.

June 25, 2018

The change is announced in the government’s Fall Economic Statement for 2018-2019, its first major fiscal update since winning the spring election.

“The fiscal hole is deep,” Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said in presenting the document to the legislature on Thursday afternoon. “The road ahead is not an easy one and will require difficult decisions. Everyone across the province will be required to make sacrifices, without exception.”

The government said it has made progress on cutting the deficit by finding $3.2 billion in efficiencies in operations, including a hiring freeze across the public service.

The belt-tightening measures laid out also include rolling the positions of three independent officers — the environmental commissioner, the child and youth advocate and the French language services commissioner — into the offices of the auditor general or the provincial ombudsman.

Government staff could not say what will happen to those working in the eliminated offices, but Premier Doug Ford has consistently promised that no jobs would be lost as a result of his cost-cutting.

Plans for a French-language university have also been cancelled, though the government could not immediately say how much money the move would save.

Though it is spending less, the government said it is also taking in $2.7 billion less in revenue in the fiscal year — including $1.5 billion attributed to the cancellation of cap and trade.

More than $300,000 in lost revenue is attributed to cancelling planned tax increases, including one that would have raised taxes for small businesses, the document says.

The Tories had said the previous Liberal government left a $15 billion deficit, a figure disputed by critics, who said it includes spending promised by the Liberals but cancelled by the current regime.

While the document mentions returning the province’s budget to balance, it does not spell out how long it will take to achieve that goal. (Source: CTV News) 

 
 

Wednesday November 7, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 7, 2018

Feds promise $165 million in compensation after shortchanging 270,000 veterans

November 11, 2015

Repaying hundreds of thousands of veterans with disabilities and their survivors for a calculating error that deprived them of some of their pensions for seven years will cost $165 million, the federal government said.

Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan revealed the error and compensation package Monday even as the federal NDP called on the government to ensure all money earmarked for veterans’ benefits is actually spent.

O’Regan’s department miscalculated adjustments to the disability pensions of 270,000 veterans, RCMP members and their survivors between 2003 and 2010 because it didn’t properly account for a change in personal tax exemptions, he said.

June 17, 2016

“Most individuals will receive a few hundred dollars, while the maximum amount to be paid would be a couple of thousand dollars,” he said.

The miscalculation was identified last year by veterans’ ombudsman Guy Parent, who told the Canadian Press his team stumbled upon the problem while looking at another issue and subsequently flagged it to the government.

While O’Regan promised all veterans would be compensated, payments aren’t expected to begin until 2020, which the minister blamed on the sheer number of Canadians affected by the problem.

December 5, 2014

Matters are complicated as many as 120,000 of the affected veterans, notably those who served in the Second World War and in Korea, have died. O’Regan’s spokesperson, Alex Wellstead, said their survivors and estates will still be eligible.

Parent said the error would have had a disproportionate impact on low-income veterans from the Second World War and Korea who relied on their pensions, and while he couldn’t say exactly how it happened, he hoped the government will ensure it is not repeated.

News of the error and compensation came as the New Democrats tabled a motion on Monday designed to pressure the Liberals to spend $372 million that’s been earmarked for veterans’ benefits in recent years but wasn’t spent.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said veterans have received inadequate assistance and faced barriers when it comes to accessing services and support for far too long because money approved by Parliament ends up going unused and being returned to the treasury. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Thursday, April 3, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday, April 3, 2014

Itzhak Perlman was stuck in the Twilight Zone.

That’s the term the celebrated Israeli-American violinist uses to describe the area between his arrival gate and passport control at Toronto Pearson International Airport, where an Air Canada employee left the disabled musician stranded on Monday.

Perlman was in town for a charity concert. Having contracted polio as a child, he requires a scooter or crutches to get around, and is on Air Canada’s list of passengers needing assistance to get to the airport exit.

But on Monday, the employee assigned to assist him would only go so far.

The pair made it down one elevator and the employee helped load Perlman’s carry-on baggage onto a second elevator, but refused to accompany him.

“He said something like: ‘I’m leaving you here. I have other flights,’” Perlman, now back in New York, told the Star on Tuesday.

Feeling abandoned, Perlman gritted his teeth going down that second elevator alone, with his crutches, two small bags around his scooter and a bigger bag on his lap, as well as his precious violin.

Before the elevator doors shut, Perlman recalls asking: “What am I going to do?” to which he says the attendant replied along the lines of: “It’s your problem, you’re the one who chose to carry an extra bag …You’re not paying me, are you?”

He said he was left in the Twilight Zone because, while he did have someone waiting for him at the exit, that person was not able to come in through passport control to fetch him. That’s why being accompanied by an airline official was crucial.

Perlman said he finally got some help from a police officer and made it to his final destination. An ironic situation, given the employee’s first words to Perlman when he disembarked from the airplane: “I’m here to help you.”

He had felt at first that the employee would be sympathetic to his situation, as he told Perlman that his own father was in a wheelchair as the result of a car accident.

“And then he just leaves me,” said Perlman.

Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said the airline found Perlman’s story “very concerning,” and would be investigating, as well as apologizing to Perlman. (Continued: Toronto Star)

Meanwhile the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown approaches this June. “As the 25th anniversary approaches, this could well mark the start of the annual round-up of activists attempting to remember the tragic events of 1989. Rather than ratchet up such persecution the authorities should acknowledge what really happened and deliver justice for the victims,” said Anu Kultalahti, China Researcher at Amnesty International. (Source: Amnesty International)