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Paul Martin is making a difference
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
Nov 30 2011
In 2008, he launched the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative, a national project that offers programs designed to help lower dropout rates for aboriginal students. He has also created a fund to help aboriginal entrepreneurs start new businesses. At the same time, Martin is co-chair of the Congo Basin Forest Fund, which addresses poverty issues in a 10-nation region in Africa… He’s also taken time out in recent days to speak in support of the Occupy movement, praising it for raising awareness of the income-inequality gap.
Tags: Indigenous, participation, philanthropy, rights, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
The truth about Harper and medicare
Thursday, April 21st, 2011
Apr 20 2011
As prime minister, Harper has done nothing on the health-care file. He has turned a blind eye as provinces allow more and more private health care. He has never met with the premiers as a group on the future of health care. Until two weeks ago when he suddenly promised to continue raising health transfers by 6 per cent, he had stood by silently while his finance minister, Jim Flaherty mused about reducing — not increasing — federal health transfer payments to the provinces. He shuffled off the parliamentary hearings on the health accord renewal to a powerless Senate committee.
Tags: budget, Health, mental Health
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Last chance for McGuinty on health
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
Mar 23 2011
Last month, the Mississauga Halton Community Care Access Centre, which is responsible for at-home and community health-care support, ordered an immediate halt to almost all new rehab therapy in the region until the new fiscal year, which starts April 1. Officials said the reason for the move was that the CCAC’s budget was shot because of “unprecedented demand” for services from “higher need” clients… Physiotherapists and occupational therapists were told to place clients on wait lists and tell them to look in the Yellow Pages for private rehab services or seek help from local charities.
Tags: budget, Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Health support for school kids is a mess
Thursday, January 27th, 2011
Jan 26 2011
… a sweeping new report prepared for the Ontario government has backed up what parents have been saying for years, namely that the School Health Support Services program is a mess… including growing wait lists, declines in funding and conflicting interpretations of the program’s mandate… The problem is most acute for students who need therapy services. Some students must wait up to 650 days for physiotherapy and 500 days to see a speech-language pathologist… It’s a problem that patients across Ontario have also experienced in seeking either community health care or home care.
Tags: Health, youth
Posted in Education Debates | 1 Comment »
Social media play key role in defending medicare
Thursday, November 18th, 2010
Nov 18 2010
Harper has remained disturbingly silent as the proponents of private health care kick up their push to expand two-tier medicine. As well, he has failed to act as provinces delist medical services, allow doctors to extra bill patients and permit queue-jumping… “Defend our health-care system. Stand up for medicare,” says the email that the coalition wants people to send to Harper.
Tags: Health, ideology, participation, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Action promised on community care mess
Thursday, October 7th, 2010
Oct 07 2010
“If there’s a problem, I want to know about it. I want to fix it,” the Ontario health minister says. Matthews made the statement after reading media reports about how widespread funding cuts by local health authorities have left thousands of patients receiving fewer and fewer visits from trained health professionals in their community or home — or going without services at all.
Tags: Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Time for McGuinty to fix health-care mess
Thursday, September 16th, 2010
Sep. 16, 2010
Matthews has caused widespread chaos and misery by failing to stop the rapid deterioration in one of the main pillars of Ontario’s overall health-care strategy. Indeed, on her watch, critical parts of Ontario’s health-care program are in shambles, with funding slashed and angry, often frail patients left to fend for themselves without services or having to pay out of their own pockets for needed help. At the same time, Matthews is being criticized for fostering “a culture of fear” within the health-care sector, for refusing to meet with many professional health-care groups, and of running a “closed and defensive” ministerial office. Her troubles stem from the failure by Queen’s Park to adequately fund outpatient and at-home health services.
Tags: Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | 1 Comment »
Health care in Ontario is cracking under stress
Friday, August 6th, 2010
Aug 05 2010
… McGuinty and Matthews are strangely silent these days about community and home care, one of the most critical parts of the health-care system that’s becoming a province-wide nightmare. Indeed, because of government neglect, the entire health-care system is unravelling at the seams. Since coming to power in 2003, McGuinty has promoted a shift in the delivery of health care away from hospitals and institutions and toward providing more care in the community and at home.
Tags: economy, Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
McGuinty must help those who feel ‘like garbage’ [speech pathology]
Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Jul 08 2010
… tens of thousands of Ontario residents, from youths to senior citizens… are desperately seeking professional care because of severe trouble swallowing food or talking. Because of huge wait lists, patients go years before seeing a speech-language pathologist or… dig deep into their own pockets to pay for private care. At the same time, speech-language pathologists… are being laid off or have seen their workloads drastically cut in the past year. Stunningly, senior health officials insist they know nothing about such cuts or the lengthy wait lists.
Tags: disabilities, Health
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Ontario’s disgraceful cuts to speech therapy
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
May 06 2010
…the entire system for providing services for residents with speech and language problems is in financial crisis, with agencies across the province cutting or drastically reducing staff and programs. What’s worse is that no one is accepting responsibility… Over the last year, however, CCACs have cut the amount of referrals to speech-language pathologists. Instead, they are focusing their money on what they deem to be higher priority cases.
Tags: disabilities, participation
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
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