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Thursday July 3, 2014

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

Hamilton hospital parking will cost you up to $25 a day

For SaleHospital parking is up to $25 a day after both Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joseph’s Healthcare raised their rates.

“It’s a bit rich,” said cancer patient Lionel Morton, who travels from Welland to Hamilton for treatment between two and four days a month and already thought the fees were a “ripoff.”

“They know they have a captive audience,” he says. “It’s not right.”

The price jumped by up to 25 per cent at the acute care hospitals, which are struggling with deficits and aging parking structures.

“We understand that represents hardship for some of our patients and we’re sensitive to that,” said Heather Pullen, spokesperson for HHS. “It’s a decision we make very carefully and we try not to do very often. But the cost of every aspect of our business rises all the time. … It’s a difficult choice, but it’s one we feel we have to make.”

For most of the acute care hospitals, the daily maximum is now $20 after being $15 for the last five years. Premium parking off Charlton Avenue at St. Joseph’s Hospital and the emergency lot at McMaster Children’s Hospital is $25, up from $20. The prices changed June 16 at HHS and April 1 at St. Joseph’s.

The rate for 30 minutes or less remains the same at $3.50 for the acute care hospitals.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal urged hospitals in 2011 to scrap paid parking, calling them “a user fee in disguise.”

“Parking fees are a barrier to health care and add avoidable stress to patients who have enough to deal with,” stated the editorial by Dr. Rajendra Kale, the editor-in-chief at the time.
However, the Ontario Hospital Association rejected that call, saying hospitals rely on parking for at least one per cent of their revenue.

“Every year, St. Joe’s, like many hospitals, face the continued pressure of bridging a gap between our annual funding provided by the Ministry of Health and our operating pressures like increased hydro bills or medical supplies,” said spokesperson Megan Bieksa. “One of the ways we generate revenue is through parking.”

St. Joseph’s needs to make up about $12 million to balance its $600-million budget for the fiscal year that started April 1. HHS has to find $25 million to keep its $1.2-billion budget in the black. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

SOCIAL MEDIA

Thursday June 12, 2014 – Election day in Ontario

 

Election Draft CartoonThursday June 12, 2014

Election day in Ontario – LIBERAL MAJORITY

For SaleDespite being hounded on both sides by rivals who harped on Liberal government scandals during the longer-than-normal campaign, Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne has steered her party to a majority and a commanding electoral victory, based largely on major gains in the Toronto area, while PC Leader Tim Hudak declared he is resigning.

With all ridings reporting, Liberals were elected or leading in 58 constituencies to 27 for the Progressive Conservatives and 22 for the NDP.

The strong Liberal showing had its roots in the Greater Toronto Area, where eight seats are changing hands — seven of those going to the Liberals. Overall, the results mean the Liberals will be even more concentrated in the GTA.

The Liberals also picked up seats from the Tories in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, Barrie andNorthumberland, while they only lost two: Sudbury and Windsor West.  

The outcome was also slightly rosier for the NDP under Leader AndreaHorwath, who was the first of the major party leaders to be declared elected in their home riding tonight. The NDP vote share was at 24.1 per cent, up 1.4 points from the 2011 campaign. (Source: CBC News)

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Added at 9pm on election night…

Because the polls close at 9pm it’s always a major race for newspapers to report the results and get great coverage in an extremely short span of time. Consider that the presses start running at midnight giving reporters, columnists, copy editors, photographers, and of course, editorial cartoonists a very small window of time to the news out. A great deal of planning goes into this evening, and it often entails late nights, frenzied phone calls, and many curve balls. Polls have played an important part to media as they use them as a guide to determine how this night will turn out.

But not this night.

The polls are showing us that the gaps between all the 3 main parties are incredibly close. So close, that it is very difficult to figure out how the popular vote will translate into a seat count. Well we’ll know soon enough.

Never before have I found myself drawing 5 different cartoons for one election.

The most generic one is one that illustrates the status quo return to Liberal government.

Election Draft Cartoon

The next likely one is a PC minority.

Election Draft Cartoon

The chances of the NDP winning a minority is slim in my mind.

Election Draft Cartoon

Even unlikelier is the chance I think we’ll see a majority government of any party. But here’s the one I drew in case the PC’s win:

Election Draft Cartoon

Here’s my favourite cartoon. The Liberal Majority cartoon which I’m guessing will be the least likely scenario. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking.

Election Draft Cartoon

What I didn’t draw is a cartoon in the event Andrea Horwath is crowned Ontario’s new Premier tonight. That just can’t happen on election night. Unfortunately, crazy things do happen on election night. Let’s see what happens.

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TWO DECADES of DRAWING ONTARIO ELECTIONS

LETTERS to the EDITOR

Wynne is no Maleficent

 Your editorial cartoon depicting Kathleen Wynne as Maleficent was irresponsible and unfair, especially given the tone of the editorial which appeared beneath it. Wynne’s success was due in part to her accessibility, openness and likeability. If there was a hint of the potentially nasty in this campaign it came from Tim Hudak and co., who would have pit some among us against others. They lost and rightfully so.

 Paul T. Murphy, Grimsby, Jun 17, 2014 (Source)

‘Malwynnecent’ cartoon right on point

With respect to the letter on June 16regarding the “Malwynnecent” cartoon in the June 13 Spec, I found the cartoon hilarious, provocative, clever, and right on point. Isn’t that what an editorial cartoon is supposed to be? Further, the letter writer clearly didn’t see the movie or he would have understood that Maleficent was ultimately a good fairy who had been betrayed, and ultimately protected and nurtured Princess Aurora. Hardly an attack on the premier.

 Howard Eisenberg, Hamilton, Jun 18, 2014 (Source)

SOCIAL MEDIA

This cartoon was posted to National Newswatch.


 

Post by Dalton McGuinty: Ontario, up yours!

Thursday June 12, 2014

Thursday June 12, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 12, 2014

Hamilton police Chief Glenn DeCaire wants to rescind his retirement notice.

For SaleThe chief told CHML’s Bill Kelly this morning that he wants to stay on and will ask the police board to consider his request Monday.

According to the CHML report, he says members of the public have asked him to stay and there are a number of projects he has been working on that are almost complete and he wants to see through.

The Spectator’s Andrew Dreschel has previously reported that philanthropist Charles Juravinski and businessman Ron Foxcroft are lobbying police board members to let De Caire say on.

De Caire has refused to comment to the Spectator or explain why he told the board last September he didn’t want another term after his five-year contract expires Dec. 31, 2014. The divided board accepted his resignation in a 4-3 vote last December.

The board has already hired a headhunting firm to find a new chief, a contract with a $80,000 price tag. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

 

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Wednesday, May 28, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Andrea Horwath campaign leaves prominent NDP supporters ‘deeply distressed’

For SaleA group of 34 high-profile Ontario NDP supporters say they’re “deeply distressed” by the direction party leader Andrea Horwath has taken in the election campaign and are seriously considering not voting for the party.

In a letter to Horwath obtained by Evan Solomon for CBC’s Power & Politics, the group of longtime supporters, including Michele Landsberg (columnist and wife of former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis) and former federal candidate Winnie Ng, warn she may lose their support “and the support of thousands of others.” The email was dated May 23.

“From what we can see you are running to the right of the Liberals in an attempt to win Conservative votes,” the letter reads.

“It is not clear whether you have given up on progressive voters or you are taking them for granted.”

The letter goes on to say the NDP has risked the election of “the most right-wing and vicious leader of the PCs since Mike Harris,” referring to Tim Hudak, and that the proposed Liberal budget was the most progressive in recent Ontario history.

The warning comes a day after the NDP platform was released and during a campaign where Horwath’s decision to force the election has been criticized by NDP insiders such as Gerry Caplan, along with Liberals.

Long-time activist Judy Rebick is one of the NDP supporters who signed the letter.

 

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“We just don’t get it,” she said. “Where’s the NDP? Where is the party that we all supported?

“They seem to be running on a kind of right-wing populism, not at all on party policy, or in any way talking about social justice or democracy.”

The NDP issued a statement in response to the letter later Friday night.

“Progressives cannot turn a blind eye to corruption because it weakens the very foundations of our democracy. We need to renew democracy by guaranteeing transparency and accountability. Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” said NDP campaign co-chair Gilles Bisson.

“The support our leader is getting from people has never been warmer, our ranks never been stronger. We’re proud to stand for raising the minimum wage, increasing childcare spaces, lowering tuition, and supporting caregivers.”

In a phone interview, Bisson said some of the people who signed the letter are not real NDPers and that it is a Liberal attempt to take attention from their party’s scandals. (Source: CBC News)

 

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Saturday, April 12, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, April 12, 2014

Larry Di Ianni not running for Hamilton mayor

For SaleFormer Hamilton mayor Larry Di Ianni says staying out of the race for the city’s top job has been, “in some respects, the hardest decision that I’ve made.”

It will be the first time since 1982 that the former school teacher and principal has not been on a political ballot. He says after his loss to Mayor Bob Bratina in 2010, he figured he was done in local politics.

Monday, March 24, 2014“But politics is a bit of a drug. Whenever there’s an election, the urge comes back.”

Di Ianni made the announcement Friday morning on Twitter. He also posted a statement on his Facebook page that outlined what he considers his political achievements, including the Red Hill Parkway, airport employment lands, the city’s poverty round table and Randle Reef cleanup.

Speculation had swirled about whether Di Ianni, who has remained outspoken on civic issues, would join fellow former mayor Fred Eisenberger in the eight-candidate race.

Di Ianni says he was “leaned on very heavily by responsible people who think I have something to contribute.”

He expects to throw his support behind a candidate but hasn’t decided who that will be.

Di Ianni started his political life as a Stoney Creek councillor and served one term on Hamilton council after amalgamation before becoming mayor by defeating political heavyweight David Christopherson.

He then took an unsuccessful run as a Liberal candidate in the 2008 federal election, losing to the NDP’s Wayne Marston in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek.

“It will be a different experience not being on the ballot, but I expect to be involved,” said Di Ianni. “Most of the nominated candidates have reached out to me. There are good candidates stepping forward and I expect more will come.”

Both he and his wife were surprised by her support for another run for mayor, says Di Ianni, who has spent his time away from politics volunteering and operating a government relations consulting business.

“She was advocating most strongly that I go for it. … She sees how I light up around political issues. But she’s happy with my decision.”

Di Ianni was mayor from 2003 to 2006. He lost to Eisenberger in an election campaign clouded by Di Ianni’s violations of election expenses laws.

The Stoney Creek father of three says he had already made his decision when he heard of the sudden death of just-retired federal finance minister Jim Flaherty on Thursday.

“It drove home the point that there is a start to one’s life and an end to one’s life. If you continue the hurly-burly activities and push the limits, it doesn’t extend your life. The end point is always there,” said Di Ianni.

“Everyone in that 60 age range thinks about it.” – Larry D (Source: Hamilton Spectator)