Earlier I noted that while the provincial government was imposing concessions (and wage freezes) on unionized public sector workers, the Conference Board of Canada was predicting 2.7% increases for non-union employees in Ontario in 2013 (up from 2.6% actual increases in 2012). Now, Statistics Canada data suggests this may be
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Defending Public Healthcare: Ontario homes:1 hour less care per elder per day
The death of a resident at a Toronto long-term care facility, allegedly at the hands of another resident, has raised concerns about inadequate staffing levels in Ontario. Recent Statistics Canada data indicates that Ontario “homes for the aged” fall well short of staffing for homes for the aged in other
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Nursing levels low and getting lower
Yesterday, I wrote about the significant lack of nursing care in Ontario hospitals compared to the other provinces. Even on a Canada-wide basis, there was 5.32 hours more nursing care per patient than in Ontario in 2010-11 (year end March 31). That sounds kind of shocking. But it looks
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Hospital costs lower in Ontario
The “cost per weighted case” in Ontario hospitals in 2010-11 was $5,143, according to a new report from CIHI. (This indicator measures the relative cost-efficiency of a hospital’s ability to provide acute inpatient care.) The Ontario cost per weighted case compares with a Canada-wide average of $5,230.96. In other words, the Canada-wide
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Private sector settlements 2.1% more than public sector
The Ontario government’s report on collective bargaining agreements came out yesterday for the month of January. Naturally it included the “agreements” for school board employees. It also included settlements in other parts of the public sector. Although not imposed, annual wage settlements in these other parts of the public sector
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: It’s OK to close hospital beds
Aside from the predictable (but fun) response from Deb Matthews to yesterday’s Ontario Health Coalition report outlining cuts in Ontario hospitals (“It is OK” to close hospital beds, she opined), we did get a snippet or two of information from the government. The Star reports the Health Minister’s office also made these claims:
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes from the Liberals on bargaining and health
The Throne Speech from the new Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne sticks fairly close to previous Liberal policy. But it does make a few noteworthy new turns. With the past Liberal government, the claim was they would expand home care. The problem was their expansion was more imaginary than real
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Homecare funding falls short – of even aging cost pressures?
The Ontario government likes to suggest that the planned annual 4% nominal increase in “home and community care” funding will offset their cuts to hospital services and squeeze on long term care beds. But it’s not totally clear that this funding will offset cost pressures on home and community care
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Hospital cuts in 1.7% to 2.7% range
More hospital savings. Joanna Frketich reports Hamilton Health Sciences needs to find $20 million to $25 million in savings, while Hamilton St. Joseph’s is cutting $10 million to $12 million, and Burlington’s Joseph Brant must cut $4 million. In total, $34 to $41 million in cuts for Hamilton area hospitals.
Continue readingToronto Lawyer | Omar Ha-Redeye, J.D. » Politics: 2013 Ontario Liberal Party Leadership
Eric Hoskins | Gerard Kennedy | Sandra Pupatello | Charles Sousa | Harinder Takhar | Kathleen Wynne Omar Ha-Redeye will be provided coverage of the 2013 Leadership Convention as an accredited blogger. Featured posts: How Wynne Just Lost My Support Jade Hip Hop Academy Opening Harinder Takhar is No Canadian Obama, but He’s Needed Austerity is the Real Story at
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: A tiny response to growing elder needs
The Ontario government’s 26 page Action Plan for Seniors came out yesterday. There’s not much to it. About half of the report simply rehashes what is already in place. To the good, they at least formally recognize that the elderly population is expanding rapidly and that this is going to require
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Major decline in nursing in Ontario hospitals
There was a sharp reduction in the number of Registered Nurses (RNs) working in Ontario hospitals in 2011, with a cut of 2,750 RNs to 58,699 according to new CIHI data. That’s a 4.47% decrease in one year. Community health numbers also took a very hard hit, while numbers were up very
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: On Prorogation: A Solution To Hand The Power Back To The People
By Joe Fantauzzi jjfantauzzi@gmail.com | @jjfantauzzi When a minority federal government facing a confidence vote over a rejected economic update suspended Parliament in 2008, a constitutional expert told CBC News the move had set a “dangerous precedent.”[1] Several years later, when a minority government in Ontario used the same procedure,
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Public sector employment still lags in Ontario
There has been a lot of claims about how the McGuinty Liberal government has bolstered teachers and other public sector workers. And in fact they did increase the percent of public sector workers as a percent of total employment. Public sector employment in Ontario as percent of total employment. Calculated
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Long-term care beds falling well short of need
The Auditor General reports that the stock of long-term care beds in Ontario has grown only 3% since 2004-5. Over seven years (until 2011-12) that means an annual average growth rate of 0.42% (or about 319 beds per year). Photo: Derek Tyson That falls well short of population growth. But much
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: What’s $1.4 B? Well, it all depends who you are…
Auditor General Jim McCarter The $1.4 billion in, mostly corporate, taxes that the Ontario Liberal government plans to walk away from (according to Auditor General), is exactly equal to the amount of money Finance Minister Dwight Duncan claims he absolutely has to save in the in the first year of the
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Should we tolerate secrecy for public health care?
It’s amusing to review the course of events that led to the revelation of the secrecy concerning the problems at private surgical and diagnostic clinics. The doctors lobbied to move surgical and diagnostics work from the hospitals. The government let the emerging industry slip free of public reporting and
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Je Me Souviens/I Remember Dec. 6, 1989
Geneviève Bergeron (1968-1989), civil engineering student Hélène Colgan (1966-1989), mechanical engineering student Nathalie Croteau (1966-1989), mechanical engineering student Barbara Daigneault (1967-1989), mechanical engineering student Anne-Marie Edward (1968-1989), chemical engineering student Maud Haviernick (1960-1989), materials engineering student Maryse Laganière (1964-1989), budget clerk in the École Polytechnique’s finance department Maryse Leclair (1966-1989),
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: More cuts to Ontario deficit coming in January
The Ontario government’s Fall Economic Outlook retroactively confirmed that the 2011-12 deficit was $2 billion less than set out in the 2012 provincial budget. It also lopped $400 million off the 2012-13 deficit. Our economic elites thought this was no big deal — there was a “lack of significant progress” TD Bank
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: POSITION ANALYSIS: A Scathing Indictment of Neoliberalism And The Privatized Delivery of Social Services in Canada
The increasingly privatized delivery of social services under neoliberal governments is arguably doing real damage to the Canadian welfare state. Discussions about neoliberalism, which as the Oxford Concise Dictionary of Politics points out emphasize deregulation and a diminished role for the state[1], are often closely linked with the rise of
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