Autumn View – Edition 2, 2022

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A Message from the chair

Ontario’s health care crisis: Why privatization is a lose-lose ‘solution’

By Ed Faulknor

Chair of OPSEU/SEFPO Retired Members Division

There can be no doubt whatsoever that we are facing a health crisis right now. The long waits in ER’s, the code red ambulance scenarios, and the number of medical staff off ill or leaving the medical profession, are all proof that the crisis is getting worse; not better.

We need a fix, and we need it soon, but the Provincial government in Ontario seems to think the answer is to open the door to privatization, in many different areas.

We must not jump in this direction because of the immediate need for change.  There are so many things wrong with privatization, but the two basic concerns are that it allows only those who can afford it access to care, and it allows corporations to make a profit from the delivery of health care.

In the first case, the Canadian health care system was created on the premise of universal health care.  If that is changed to a variation of a two-tier system where the rich can jump queue, the blatant equity concerns are obvious. Neighbourhoods in low-income areas will be the first to suffer; untreated health concerns will skyrocket and the cost of health care will rise. The concept of needing medical insurance will appear and create a new layer of bureaucracy, making access to care more difficult and more expensive.

As for corporations getting a piece the health care funding pie – which are taxpayers’ dollars – this directly threatens quality of care and service. Whenever profit is a concern, quality of care and service are sacrificed. This will only result in lower paid staff and less staff to care for the patients, because shareholders always come first. You only need to look at what happened during the early days of the pandemic, where most of the outbreaks and deaths happened in for-profit Long-Term Care homes.

Mr. Ford shoved Bill 7 down our throats to help make room in hospitals, by moving seniors out to places they do not wish to go to. You can bet most of them are the expensive, for-profit places that have vacancies because the average individual can’t afford them.

Extensive studies have shown that for-profit care results in greater mortality and lower quality of service. On top of that, privatization will only exacerbate the problem of demoralized, overworked, and underpaid staff.

What we need is more public money from both Federal and Provincial coffers to shore-up our ailing heath care system; not the knee-jerk reaction of privatization.

Smokey Thomas delivers heartfelt goodbye in final presidential address

Convention  April 7, 2022 – 5:05 pm

By Craig Hadley

After 15 years at the OPSEU/SEFPO helm, President Warren (Smokey) Thomas delivered his final address to over 2,000 attendees. At times, Thomas had to gather himself, as emotion overwhelmed him. His gratitude and appreciation was forefront as he reflected on the union’s success over those years.

Under his leadership, OPSEU/SEFPO’s membership more than doubled to over 180,000. The President graciously thanked members, staff and labour allies for helping turn OPSEU/SEFPO into Ontario’s best public sector union and proudly expressed his confidence that it will continue to grow.

With the list of Thomas’s accomplishments simply too long to list, his fondest memory was OPSEU/SEFPO’s “We Own it” campaign.  It raised awareness of the value of public service and directly staved off the privatization of numerous workplaces across Ontario. As successful as the campaign was, he was quick to point out that fighting privatization is an ongoing battle which will likely intensify as governments wrestle with mounting debts accrued during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s a bittersweet day, as OPSEU/SEFPO’s longest serving president passes the torch to a new leader while leaving behind a legacy of labour advocacy second to none.

OPSEU/SEFPO welcomes new leadership: JP Hornick and Laurie Nancekivell

April 8, 2022 – 2:03 pm

Toronto – JP Hornick has been elected as the new President of OPSEU/SEFPO marking the first change in the union’s presidency in 15 years.

Hornick is the Coordinator of the School of Labour at George Brown College, a long-time OPSEU/SEFPO leader and a women’s rights, equity, LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist. She ran for President on a platform of change, deep renewal, and building a bigger and more inclusive union.

“I am confident that we can build a bigger and more inclusive tent that engages all members and renews our union,” said Hornick. “I will work for a transparent and truly democratic union – where equity is a practice and not a buzzword or performance, and where everyone’s voices are heard and contributions valued.”

Hornick will succeed Warren (Smokey) Thomas, the union’s longest-running President, who held the position since 2007. Under her leadership, Hornick plans to foster connections within the union and strengthen relationships with social justice movements across Ontario.

“I know the power of the labour movement is in working with social justice movements for deep change,” added Hornick. “That’s when we are at our most powerful – when we are part of a bigger struggle for justice.”

Laurie Nancekivell has been elected as OPSEU/SEFPO’s First Vice-President/Treasurer and will serve alongside Hornick. Nancekivell, a Child and Youth Worker by trade and Director’s College graduate, has served on OPSEU/SEFPO’s Executive Board for 10 years.

“As OPSEU/SEFPO First Vice-President, I will ensure our union’s environment is one where diverse thoughts and opinions can be shared freely,” said Nancekivell. “And as Treasurer, I will serve our members with integrity and transparency.”

Hornick and Nancekivell were officially sworn in at the close of OPSEU/SEFPO’s Convention on Saturday, April 9.

Daniel Blaikie’s NDP MP Private Members Bill C-225 An Act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, [pension plans and group insurance plans]

 The Private Members Bill C-225 will:

  1. Amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and the CCAA to require companies to bring any pension plan fund to 100% before paying any secured creditors,
  2. Amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and the CCAA to require companies to pay any termination or severance pay owing before paying any secured creditors,
  3. Prevent a company from stopping the payment of any retirement benefits during any proceedings under the BIA or CCAA.

Current priority of creditors in bankruptcy/insolvency

  1. The Crown (taxes, CPP/EI remittances)
  2. Farmers, fishermen and aquaculturists
  3. Suppliers of unpaid good (repossess those goods)
  4. Unpaid wages and pension contributions that have been deducted
  5. Secured creditors
  6. Unsecured creditors (a lender or any entity to which a company or individual owes money for services provided. Unfunded pension liabilities fall into this category.)

Priority of creditors in bankruptcy/insolvency after passage of C-225:

  1. The Crown (taxes, CPP/EI remittances)
  2. Farmers, fishermen and aquaculturists
  3. Suppliers of unpaid good (repossess those goods)
  4. Unpaid wages and pension contributions that have been deducted
  5. Termination or severance pay, unfunded pension liabilities
  6. Secured creditors
  7. Unsecured creditors

Editor’s Note: This Legislation may never see the light of day as it is a private members bill but it is the kind of legislation that we need to protect the pensions of all workers.

OFL Responds to throne speech: “Ford government is out of ideas, out of touch’

(TORONTO) – The Ontario Federation of Labour is panning the Ford government’s 2022 Throne Speech as “out of ideas and out of touch.”

Just one day after hundreds of frontline workers protested Ontario’s health care and cost-of-living crises, Ford failed to deliver a single measure that would bring relief to Ontario workers and families, says the OFL.

“Ontario’s emergency rooms are shutting down, and working people are struggling to make ends meet,” said Patty Coates, OFL President. “If Ford thinks a month’s-old budget is the solution, he has utterly failed to grasp the scale of the crises facing our province.”

Tuesday’s Speech from the Throne repeated the vague promises Ford made in his pre-election Budget, which he released almost four months ago, but the inadequate spending commitments fail to keep up with surging inflation, Ontario’s population growth, and the growing needs of Ontario’s seniors.

“This is a promise to underfund our health care when Ontarians need it most,” said Coates.

“What Ford put on our plate today is stale warmed-up left-overs,” added Coates. “On its first day back, this government is admitting it is already out of ideas, and clearly out of touch.”

The OFL joined workers, patients, and advocates on Monday to demand the immediate repeal of Bill 124, Ford’s wage suppression legislation that has driven thousands of nurses from their profession and exacerbated a longstanding staffing crisis in Ontario health care.

The OFL also demanded ten permanent employer-paid sick days, a $20 minimum wage, universal WSIB coverage, higher ODSP and Ontario Works rates, affordable housing, greater investments in public services, and other measures to address the cost-of-living crisis.

“Ontario workers know what would make their lives easier, but Ford refuses to listen,” said Coates. “We have no choice but to keep fighting for the Ontario we need, and we won’t stop until we get it.”

The Ontario Federation of Labour represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca  and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information, please contact: 
Rob Halpin
Executive Director
Ontario Federation of Labour
rhalpin@ofl.ca | 416-707-901

Furious at the “grotesque” ageism and violation of human rights, advocates respond to Ford government’s planned regulations to push elderly patients out of hospital

September 15, 2022

Toronto – The Ford government has released its regulations under the euphemistically titled More Beds, Better Care Act (formerly Bill 7) today. The regulations are the details under the legislation to provide new powers to push elderly patients and people with chronic care needs out of hospitals, overriding their right to consent. The hammer that the government intends to use to coerce patients to leave hospital is a charge of $400 per day, or $2,800 per week. According to the Minister’s statement yesterday, hospitals will be “required” to charge patients waiting not only for long-term care, but also for home and community care, the exorbitant fees. Patients can be sent up to 70 km away from the hospital in southern Ontario. In the North, the limit is 150 km, however, if there are no beds available within 150 km, they will be allowed to move patients further away than that*, according to government documents. Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra expressed total outrage at these plans in a press conference today livestreamed and available here: https://www.facebook.com/ontariohealth/videos/1262453651238649

Key Facts:

  • The chief function of the new law is to give new powers to:
    • Assess a patient without their consent
    • Share that patient’s personal information with an array of health provider companies (for and non-profit) without their consent
    • Fill in the applications for the patient without their consent
    • Admit a patient into a long-term care home without their consent, including a long-term care home that is far away, has a bad record for care, is not of the patient’s choice, does not meet their language needs, etc.
  • In the documents describing the changes by the government, they have expanded the scope of the new law to also cover patients waiting for home and community care as well as long-term care. They did not shrink it despite widespread public opposition. They expanded it. This may result in patients being pushed out of hospital into retirement homes, home waiting for home care that may not materialize, or other facilities or places.
  • The government documents also make it clear that in the North the 150 km limit is not really a limit, as if there are no beds available, they can push the patient out to a community further away. Since there are no beds available (there are 38,000 people on the LTC wait list) this will happen.

If a patient refuses, they will be charged $400 per day or $2,800 per week.

Fact checker:

  • Ontario has the fewest hospital beds left of any province in Canada. The downsizing of Ontario’s hospitals is not “normal”. It is extreme, in fact the most extreme in the country. Now, patients – and specifically the frail elderly and those with chronic care needs – are being treated as though they are taking up resources wrongly. This is ageist and immoral. Those patients have the same human rights as all patients. They are not “taking up” resources, they need care. They have nowhere appropriate to go, not of their choice, but as a result of policy choices, continued by the Ford government, not to rebuild our public hospital capacity.
  • Hospitals are not only “acute care” facilities. They have always provided a range of care including chronic care (complex continuing care), palliative care, rehabilitation beds and more. Those services are of equal importance to acute care and it is not in the public interest to allow them to be cut and routinely discounted.
  • Ontario has funded its hospitals at the lowest rate in Canada for years in a bid to force downsizing. (Virtually every service cut from public hospitals is privatized.) Here is hospital funding by provinces as a proportion of provincial GDP and per person. The Ford government continued this when it got into office. Nothing has been done to restore hospital capacity to something approaching reason.
  • There is a staffing crisis, commensurate to the hospital staffing crisis, in long-term care and in home care, where these patients are likely to be forced. Despite repeated demands – with concrete recommendations – to get the Ford government to take real action on the staffing crisis the government has downplayed the situation, refusing to call it a crisis, tried to distract, and ultimately held a lot of PR announcements with very little real action. There are a significant number of actions the government could take to deal with the crisis but it has chosen not to spend the money and is now, instead, violating the rights of mostly elderly patients to deal with the crisis that they still are not addressing.
  • Not all so-called Alternate Level of Care (ALC) are waiting for long-term care. In fact, the minority of ALC patients are waiting for long-term care. A significant block of ALC patients are waiting for hospital beds – complex continuing care (chronic care), rehab, mental health beds and others. A small number are waiting for home care. (Most patients waiting for home care are discharged home, where that care may or may not ever happen.)
  • Hospitals also provide long-term care beds and have done so for decades. There are significant numbers of closed hospitals and closed hospital beds all across the province that still exist and could be opened if they were funded and staffed. In fact, last year public hospitals built four fast-track long-term care facilities on hospital land. The choice not to address the problems by expanding services are policy choices — not necessities — and they reflect the values and priorities of the government and those who lobbied behind the scenes to create the new law and its regulations. Those values and priorities do not accord with the values and priorities of the majority of Ontarians.
  • Any claim that cultural needs etc. will be taken into account is nonsense. Generally, cultural homes have longer waits than those that do not offer those services. Patients will be forced into the only available beds, which are the ones that are far away or to which people do not want to go, often for good reason.
  • The claim that the forced moves are temporary and patients will find their way to a LTC home of their preference is also extremely manipulative. Crisis admissions from hospitals always take precedence. The forced move is very likely the last move of the patient’s life.
  • Across Canada and internationally we have just seen the devastating effects of isolation from families and loved ones for residents in long-term care during the pandemic. Countless elderly residents failed; they lost health status permanently; they suffered enormously from depression, loneliness, desperation and inadequate care, and many died. This is, we fear, the consequence of this policy for the hundreds, and ultimately thousands of elderly people who will be subjected to this abhorrent coercion.

* The specific language used by the government in their Field Guidance to Home and Community Care Support Services Placement Co-ordinators is:

“However, if in these regions there is no suitable LTC home in the applicable radius, or if there are extremely limited vacancies in the available homes within the geographic boundary, the next closest home or homes to the patient’s preferred location(s) can be selected.” [I.e. Beyond the 150 km radius.]

The Fake Choice Between Saving the Planet and Raising the Living Standards of Working Families

Andrew Jackson / March 08, 2022

There is little doubt that rising prices are of serious concern to many working Canadian families, especially those in insecure and low-paid jobs. Inflation was running at 5.1% year over year in February, double the increase in average weekly wages over the same period.

War in Ukraine is now adding fuel to the fire of rising energy and food prices, which risks sparking a popular revolt.

The Right-Wing Response

Populist right-wingers like Conservative leadership hopeful Pierre Poilievre and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney are seeking to turn the issue of rising prices to their political advantage. They are supporting an expansion of oil and gas production and new pipelines to counter rapidly rising prices and calling for the suspension of pending increases in the federal carbon tax, a clean fuel standard, and other clean energy regulations.

The right-wing are claiming that environmental measures to deal with the climate crisis are a major cause of inflation. But we do not face an unpalatable choice between saving the planet and lower living standards. Progressives must come up with a serious alternative.

Policy to reconcile our economic and environmental goals must work to rapidly reduce demand for fossil fuels rather than increase supply through new energy mega-projects which will only accelerate planetary collapse, as highlighted by the most recent IPCC report.

Moreover, it would take years for new fossil fuel projects and infrastructure to have an impact upon global supply and to lower prices.

Shifting Our Reliance

The war in Ukraine has further highlighted the vulnerability to peace and human security posed by over-dependence on fossil fuels controlled by non-democratic states like Russia and Saudi Arabia.

An alternative response must be to dramatically reduce our national and global economy’s reliance on carbon-emitting fuels through massive investments in energy conservation and renewables.

From this perspective, rising fossil fuel prices are actually a good thing, at least to a degree. They function like an increase in carbon taxes to reduce demand and increase investment in energy efficiency and alternatives. This transition can create many new jobs.

Further, high oil and gas prices are massively boosting the profits of the oil and gas industry. These can be drawn upon to fund non-polluting technologies and to meet mandated reductions in emissions which companies have hitherto claimed are not affordable without subsidies.

Soaring corporate profits can also be taxed to fund public investments in the energy transition and to cushion the impacts of higher prices on lower-income working families through tax credits like the GST credit, the Canada child credit and the Canada workers benefit. These benefits should be increased and made available to more families. Just as the proceeds of carbon taxes are recycled to households in most provinces, so should excessive corporate profits.

Paying for the Transition

Many right-wingers, notably Pierre Poilievre, claim that we cannot afford major new public investments or larger tax credits since interest rates have to rise to combat inflation. This will increase the cost of government deficits and public debt. The Liberals, too, are saying the cupboard is bare.

But the Bank of Canada recognizes that rising prices are not so much the product of excess demand in the economy as of specific sectoral impacts of the pandemic which will fade over time. They are unlikely to increase interest rates too far, too fast.

Further, the federal government should and can ensure that financing costs for the needed energy transition as well as affordable housing are cushioned from higher interest rates. We should expand public investment banks like the Export Development Corporation to extend low-cost credit and/or equity to desired investments. These banks could be financed in part by the Bank of Canada subject to agreements between the Bank and the federal government.

Effectively there would be two interest rates – a general one, and a preferred one. Only the former would be manipulated to maintain a reasonably low inflation rate, while essential investments would be protected. Alternatively, commercial and private and investment bank lending could be more closely regulated, for example, by limiting mortgage credit for market housing or by setting different reserve requirements for different kinds of financial assets.

Inflation and rising energy prices are clearly a problem, but they should not be allowed to derail the needed transition away from fossil fuels.

Andrew Jackson is senior policy adviser at the Broadbent Institute.

“They aren’t nursing ‘homes’, they are institutions.

They aren’t long-term ‘care’ facilities, they are institutions.

End the euphemisms. These are institutions.”

Gabrielle Peters, 2020

What does inflation mean for the cost of living and everyday goods in Canada? Here’s what you need to know.

Over the past few months, the term “inflation” has been unavoidable. From rising prices at the grocery store and buying gas to paying for rent and mortgages, it’s gone from being an economic concept to one that’s felt with every purchase. There can hardly be a household in Canada that hasn’t already felt staggered by inflation’s effect on most aspects of daily life.

But what, exactly, is it? Why is inflation driving up the cost of living in Canada and how does raising interest rates solve the problem? Here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know about the big I.

What is inflation and how is it calculated?

Inflation is a decline in the value of money – hence why $100 doesn’t go as far today as a decade ago.

The country’s main measure of inflation is the Consumer Price Index, which Statistics Canada calculates every month. CPI is comprised of a basket of goods and services, weighted by how people actually spent their money. For example, housing costs account for about 30 per cent of CPI, because the typical household allocates a large portion of its budget toward those costs; on the other hand, clothing and footwear is generally a smaller expense, accounting for 4 per cent of CPI.

Statscan tracks how the price of all goods and services in the CPI basket change over time, and ultimately how that factors into the overall inflation rate. A lot of factors affect prices – how difficult a product is to find, the cost of labour and the raw materials used to make it, and competition among the places selling it, to name a few.

According to the Bank of Canada website, policies that stimulate economic growth can also cause inflation. For example, when people have more money, their demand for products and services can rise, and that can pull up prices.

CPI shouldn’t be confused with a cost-of-living index. Such an index measures the cost of maintaining a standard of living. Also, because the CPI basket is based on average household spending, it doesn’t always reflect an individual’s experience. For example, the escalating price of meat might not be relevant to vegetarians.

Which items have been most affected?

Gas prices: Gasoline prices fell slightly in April, although were up 36 per cent from a year earlier. Average national prices are now hitting close to $2 a litre and likely to push higher.

Groceries: Households paid nearly 10 per cent more for groceries in April – the steepest annual gain since 1981. Over the past year, the price of pasta has risen nearly 20 per cent, fresh fruit by 10 per cent and coffee by around 14 per cent.

Meat: The price of meat was up 10.5 per cent in March compared with the same month in 2021, with prices for fresh or frozen beef up a staggering 14.1 per cent. Meanwhile, a recent study from Dalhousie University found that meat alternatives – like faux burger patties or plant-based “chicken” nuggets – remain an average of 38 per cent more expensive than meat.

Household appliances: Refrigerator prices have jumped 23 per cent over the past two years, while washing machines and dishwashers have risen 11.5 per cent.

Lunch: Buying a soup and sandwich now costs nearly $18 on average, up 24 per cent, according to data from digital payments company Square. A hamburger costs $10.86 – up 26 per cent. And an average salad costs $12.63 – up 25 per cent.

New homes: Canada experienced a 25.7 per cent drop in the number of homes sold over the last year and a 3.8 per cent slide in housing prices between March and April, the Canadian Real Estate Association said. The average home price last month totalled $741,517. Economists say, however, that Canada’s housing market is cooling and predict that home prices will fall as much as 20 per cent this year.

Additional home costs: Shelter costs rose 7.4 per cent in April, the highest in nearly four decades, due in part to sharply higher prices for energy to heat homes. Rents rose 4.5 per cent in April, with larger gains in Ontario and British Columbia. Inflation is also picking up in pandemic-hit sectors. The cost of restaurant meals rose 5.4 per cent over the past year, up from 4.7 per cent in February. Traveller’s accommodation prices soared 24.4 per cent on an annual basis, while air transportation jumped 8.3 per cent in March alone.

What will bring inflation down?

Time and interest rates are considered the biggest weapons to slow inflation. The Bank of Canada has been moving aggressively to rein in inflation by hiking interest rates. In April, the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 1 per cent – the largest increase at a single decision since 2000. It usually raises rates by a quarter-point. Several more rate hikes are expected over this year, including at its next decision on June 1, and into 2023.

The Bank of Canada aims to keep inflation close to 2 per cent to keep a stable currency, but the rate has now exceeded the bank’s target range of 1 per cent to 3 per cent for a full year. That streak is expected to last a while longer with the central bank expecting inflation to average more than 5 per cent in 2022.

The above is excerpt from a Globe and Mail article written in May of 2022 and supplied to Autumn View by Leony deGraaf Hastings Financial Advisor of deGraaf Financil Strategies 905 632-9900, www.dgfs.ca   

10 Ways To Help A Grieving Friend During The Holiday Season

Caregivers deal with lots of anticipatory grief and loneliness, even during the holiday season. If you feel awkward not knowing what to say around your grieving friend, here are 10 ways to be more supportive:

  1. Listen – They might be telling you what they need. It’s extremely hard and brave to ask for support. So, if someone asks or even hints about what they need, run with it. Be sure to take it as a huge compliment if they reach out to you.
  2. Say their name – Don’t ignore the elephant in the room – talk about any memories you might have of their loved one. One of our greatest fears is that they will be forgotten.
  3. Extend an invitation (over & over) – Including someone who is grieving in your plans is a terrific gesture. Sometimes they may not come to the first event, but they probably will join eventually in coming weeks or years. Don’t give up on them. It takes time and energy to grieve. Let them know that they are welcome to come and need not worry if they change their mind at the last minute. Also, welcome them to stay as long as they want and remind them that they can leave whenever they choose. Including and accepting someone who is grieving is a gift that enriches your friendship circle for many years to come.
  4. No pressure – Everyone grieves in their own ways and on their own schedule. Hold space by listening and being there. It’s that simple. Judgements and negative comments such as “Get over it.” or “Are you still grieving?” or “Isn’t it time to see a therapist?” are NOT helpful. You too will understand – one day!
  5. It’s the small details – Grieving is really lonely work, so provide support with simple gestures that are comfortable for both of you. Bring over a cup of coffee or a relaxation candle, offer to help hang decorations, babysit, go on a walk together or plan a fun zoom chat. The acts do not have to be large or time-consuming for someone to be reminded that they are valued.
  6. Talk – It may be difficult to begin a conversation, but it will be much appreciated. Here’s a good way to begin the dialogue. Just ask, “How are you doing now?”. It’s a simple question that allows as detailed an answer as the responder would like to give. Because the question is about ‘now,’ it takes away the burden of thinking too much about the answer. And, best of all, you can use the same question over and over. Try it!
  7. Reach out – Yes, you are busy, but can you spare a few moments to make someone feel special in your day? There are so many ways to stay connected in today’s social media savvy world. Connection is important for those who grieve. They are often isolated and filled with self-doubt and guilt. Remember, your text may get them out of bed on a gloomy day because they are reminded that someone still cares, and they are seen.
  8. Ask for help – It sounds like the absolute wrong thing to do, but it’s not. Realizing that their advice is needed reminds the bereaved that they still have something to offer. Don’t feel that you can’t go to your friend because their loss is so much larger than your problem. Everyone wants to feel needed and valued.
  9. Create new memories – These can be cherished and added to the old memories. Often traditions can be very emotional and difficult to follow. Sometimes they are abandoned for years or even forever. How wonderful it is for everyone to be included in making new customs!
  10. Repeat – It doesn’t matter if they are in their first month of mourning or 10th year. Grief lasts a lifetime. It may ebb and flow, but it is always there below the surface. So be patient and continue using these tips annually during the holiday season. They can also be of value during long weekends, summer days, milestones or any other day on the calendar.Although the holidays may not be “the most wonderful time of the year” for everyone, and in time, we shall all grieve. It is so important to learn how to help the bereaved and shatter the taboos surrounding death and grief.Here’s hoping this list can begin the process!Written by: Susan Kendal

Canada’s unions welcome cross-party collaboration on the Pension Protection Act – Bill C-228

June 14, 2022

OTTAWA – Canada’s unions welcome the cross-party collaboration of New Democrat, Bloc and Conservative MPs, who are moving forward key legislation to put workers at the front-of-the-line and protect their pensions when it comes to commercial bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings.

“Pensions are a deferred pay cheque. Workers have put in their hours, their hard work, and have earned those pensions. That investment deserves to be protected,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “At a time when so many families are finding their budgets tight and anxiety around finances rising, it is important for workers to know their pension is protected.”

The Canadian Labour Congress has been advocating for changes to the Bankruptcy Act and the Pensions Benefit Act for decades. Canada’s unions have worked alongside many New Democrat MPs over the years; including Daniel Blaikie (C-225), Scott Duvall (C-259) and Pat Martin (C-281), to previously bring forth elements of today’s Pension Protection Act (C-228). With today’s cross-partisan collaboration, MPs can now make protection for Canadian pensioners the law.

“For decades we have seen companies pay out creditors, even pay out bonuses to executives after declaring bankruptcy, while workers wait at the back of the line,” added Bruske. “The current law says if a company goes bankrupt, their taxes, lenders and suppliers are all paid before employees get their pensions, severance, or even are paid their wages for work they’ve already completed. This is unfair.”

Opposition MPs have now agreed on amendments so the Pension Protection Act, in addition to covering pensions in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings, will also protect termination and severance pay of workers. The bill, with support of these three parties, will now move on to the Finance Committee for review and amendment before returning to the House for final approval. It now has sufficient support to become law.

Bruske: Now let’s get this bill passed quickly – and help end disability poverty

OTTAWA – Canada’s unions welcome today’s re-introduction of a bill to implement the Canada Disability Benefit by Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough.

“The Canada Disability Benefit will provide critical support for people living with disabilities. Designed properly, this benefit could lift hundreds of thousands of working-age people living with disabilities out of poverty,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Our thanks to the many activists and advocates who have worked so hard for so long to make the Canada Disability Benefit a reality.”

Bruske explained that many people with disabilities live without economic security and face tremendous barriers to inclusion. Women, members of the 2SLGBTQI community, racialized people and Indigenous people living with disabilities and those living with severe disabilities are even more likely to be financially insecure.

“From barriers to employment to affordable housing to access to care, so many people living with disabilities face unacceptable barriers to economic security,” continued Bruske. “With rising costs making life even harder, we must make sure the bill is well designed and is a meaningful addition to existing federal, provincial and territorial supports, so help gets to those who need it.”

Bruske added that Canada’s unions will continue to work with the disability community to make sure this bill is a top priority for Parliament to get passed quickly and that, once implemented in each province and territory, leaves no one behind.

“People living with disabilities deserve to live in dignity. Canada’s unions will continue to press MPs to get this bill passed as quickly as possible,” concluded Bruske. “We urge MPs to fast track this bill and work together to end disability poverty for good.”

Billionaires profit from high food, energy and drug costs

Ottawa (25 May 2022) — A briefing note released this week by Oxfam shows that, while high prices for food, energy and medication have left many people struggling, it’s been good news for the very wealthy. According to the briefing note: Profiting from pain, The urgency of taxing the rich amid a surge in billionaire wealth and a global cost-of-living crisis, billionaires accumulated as much wealth since the pandemic started as they did over the preceding 23 years.

Wealth of food and energy company owners increasing by $1B every 2 days

At the grocery store and the gas station, many of us have been shocked at how fast prices are increasing. As the Oxfam briefing note shows, the wealth of billionaire owners of food and energy companies is increasing just as fast.

Since the pandemic began the wealth of billionaires involved in the food and energy sectors has increased by a billion dollars every 2 days. And the wealth isn’t being shared.

The Walton family, who own Walmart, have seen their wealth increase by $8.8 billion since 2020. However, that hasn’t resulted in Walmart increasing the wages of front line workers or abandoning its ruthless opposition to unions.

Tax fairness measures only way to ensure billionaires pay their share

The Oxfam briefing note was released on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This is a meeting of the very wealthy to discuss how to solve the world’s problems.

If wealthy individuals like those who attend the World Economic Forum started paying their fair share in taxes, we’d have the means to fix problems like poverty, climate change and the underfunding of services like health care and education. But, when a Dutch historian told the wealthy participants that the best way they could help was to stop tax dodging, it was as popular as snow in July.

Even though billionaires have far more money than they could possibly spend, they are not going to voluntarily pay their share in taxes. Governments will have to ensure they do by reversing the tax cuts that primarily benefited the wealthy, closing the loopholes they use, and cracking down on tax havens.

Protect yourself against fraud

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

Know how to recognize a scam claiming to be from Service Canada or 1 800 O-Canada

There are many sophisticated frauds and scams in Canada – with new ones invented daily. Many frauds and scams attempt to mimic real federal government services to gain access to your personal and financial information.

You should be vigilant when any person claiming to be a Service Canada or 1 800 O-Canada employee contacts you in a way that you are usually not contacted by the federal government. This could include:

  • requests for personal information (such as a Social Insurance Number, credit card number, bank account number or passport number) by telephone, email or text, or
  • notifications (text or email) or calls that attempt to complete a financial transaction (such as messages requesting to click on hyperlinks to deposit benefits or to pay taxes)

These emails, text messages, letters and calls (including recorded messages) may be fraudulent.

1 800 O-Canada is a general information service and does not usually make unsolicited attempts to contact Canadians.

In very rare cases, Service Canada may unexpectedly contact you in the course of delivering Government of Canada services.

Service Canada and 1 800 O-Canada only send information you have requested and only send notifications through services to which you have signed up.

Canada Emergency Response Benefit scams

The Government of Canada will not reach out by text or email to ask you to apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). Nor will the Government notify you by text or email that you have received a CERB payment.

There are only 2 ways to apply for the CERB:

When in doubt, contact 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232) and ask them to verify the validity of any communication you have received (including government websites).

What to do when in doubt

If you have been unexpectedly contacted by someone who claims to be a Service Canada employee and are doubtful of their identity, contact the 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232) service.  In particular, if the person who contacted you claimed to be an investigator, the agent will verify whether their name is on the list of Service Canada investigators. As required, the agent will refer you directly to the program or service that tried to reach you so that you can obtain more information.

How to protect yourself from identity theft

Caller ID is a useful feature, but criminals can alter the information it displays. Never use only the displayed information to confirm the identity of the caller, whether it be an individual, a company or a government entity

  • Be suspicious if an individual ever asks you to pay taxes or other fees via an email, a call or text message
  • Keep your access codes, user ID, passwords and PINs secret
  • Keep your address current with all government departments and agencies
  • Before supporting any charity, use the CRA website to find out if the charity is registered. You should also obtain information on the way it does business
  • Be careful before you click on links in any email you receive. Some criminals may be using a technique known as phishing to steal your personal information when you click on the link
  • Protect your Social Insurance Number. Do not use it as a piece of ID. Never reveal it to anyone unless you are certain the person asking for it is legally entitled to that information
  • Pay attention to your billing cycle and ask about any missing account statements or suspicious transactions
  • Shred unwanted documents or store them in a secure place. Make sure that documents with your name and SIN are secure
  • Immediately report lost or stolen credit or debit cards
  • Carry only the ID you need
  • Do not write down any passwords or carry them with you
  • Ask a trusted neighbour to pick up your mail when you are away or ask the post office to place a hold on delivery

If you suspect you may be the victim of fraud, contact your local police service.

You can also ask for help from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or by calling 1‑888-495-8501.

Report the theft of your Social Insurance Number (SIN) by contacting Service Canada at 1-866-274-6627. For more information, see the Social Insurance Number page

Long banned in Ontario, private hospitals could soon reappear

By Linda McQuaig Contributing Columnist       Wed., March 9, 2022

Christine Elliott’s recent reference to “private hospitals” was brief but, for veterans of health care battles, it stood out like a bleeding appendage

In many ways, the long-running battle to save medicare from privatization is a battle for the soul of Canada. And it’s a battle that’s about to heat up.

On one side are a large number of Canadians, for whom medicare stands out like a sparkling jewel — a nationwide system dedicated to the proposition that access to health care be based on need, not money.

On the other side are some highly organized, right-wing groups that object in principle to collective, egalitarian solutions like medicare. Among these well-funded groups are the Fraser Institute and the Canadian Constitutional Foundation, a fiercely anti-government organization that raises funds for court challenges to medicare.

And now there’s a new right-wing opponent of medicare — SecondStreet, which is closely affiliated with the ultra-conservative Canadian Taxpayers Federation and has recently financed polls that purport to show Canadians warming to private health care.

Allied with these right-wing ideologues are business interests that want to open up the potentially lucrative Canadian health-care market to private enterprise.

The anti-medicare crowd, which usually faces an uphill battle due to the popularity of medicare in Canada, is sniffing opportunity in the air these days — largely due to the pandemic.

After months of hospitals being overwhelmed with COVID patients, the backlog of delayed medical procedures is enormous — roughly a million surgeries and 20 million non-surgical procedures.

The obvious solution to this massive backlog would be a significant increase in government funding and better use of existing public facilities. That’s because public health care is much more cost-effective than private health care — as illustrated by the fact that the mostly private U.S. system is far more expensive than the mostly public systems in Canada and Europe.

If Ontario turns to the private sector to help with the backlog, the procedures will still be paid for by government (that is, taxpayers); it will just cost us a lot more.

But Premier Doug Ford, who rarely believes a problem can’t be solved through privatization, seems oblivious to this higher cost when the money is to be funneled to private interests.

Ontario currently has about 1,000 private clinics, officially called “independent health facilities,” which mostly carry out diagnostic procedures like ultrasounds and x-rays.

But, with the chaos created by COVID as a cover, the Ford government seems poised to allow a considerable expansion of private health care in the province.

In remarks at a press briefing in Ajax last month, with the premier standing directly behind her, Health Minister Christine Elliott mentioned “private hospitals” as among the facilities that will be dealing with the backlog.

“We’re opening up pediatric surgeries, cancer screenings, making sure that we can let independent health facilities operate private hospitals, all of those things that are possible,” said Elliott.

Her reference to “private hospitals” was brief but, for veterans of health care battles, it stood out like a bleeding appendage.

That’s because private hospitals have been banned in the province since 1973, a year after OHIP was created. (Private hospitals that were operating at the time were grandfathered. A few, such as the Shouldice Hernia Hospital, still operate today, providing services paid for by the province.)

But prying open the long-sealed door to permit the creation of new private hospitals would be a dramatic development, allowing hospitals — the centrepieces of our health-care system — to be governed by corporate boards that prioritize profits, as in the U.S.

Elliott’s statement attracted little media interest, but it certainly caught the attention of Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, who called it a “bombshell.”

Mehra argues that private hospitals would undermine medicare by enabling well-to-do patients to gain faster access to treatment. And she points to the disastrous impact privatization has had on long-term care homes, now largely consolidated into corporate chains, where COVID death rates have been significantly higher than in non-profit homes.

The strong attachment of Canadians to medicare has survived over time, even in today’s corporate-dominated society.

Indeed, in a world where the rich can buy their way to the front of just about every line, there’s something inspiring about a health-care system where they can’t.

Linda McQuaig is a Toronto-based freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @LindaMcQuaig

The Best Way to Brew Coffee Depends on What You Want From Your Java

HEALTH 28 August 2022

By EMMA BECKETT, THE CONVERSATION

Rachen Buosa/EyeEm/Getty Images

Coffee – one bean with many possibilities.

A big choice is how to brew it: espresso, filter, plunger, percolator, instant, and more.

Each method has unique equipment, timing, temperature, pressure, and coffee grind and water needs.

Our choices of brewing method can be cultural, social, or practical.

But how much do they really impact what’s in your cup?

Which is the strongest brew?

It depends. If we focus on caffeine concentration, on a milligram per milliliter (mg/ml) basis espresso methods are typically the most concentrated, able to deliver up to 4.2 mg/ml. This is about three times higher than other methods like Moka pot (a type of boiling percolator) and cold brewing at about 1.25 mg/ml.

Drip and plunger methods (including French and Aero-press) are about half that again.

Espresso methods extract the most caffeine for a few reasons. Using the finest grind means there is more contact between the coffee and water. Espresso also uses pressure, pushing more compounds out into the water.

While other methods brew for longer, this doesn’t impact caffeine. This is because caffeine is water soluble and easy to extract, so it’s released early in brewing.

But these comparisons are made based on typical extraction situations, not typical consumption situations.

So, while espresso gives you the most concentrated product, this is delivered in a smaller volume (just 18–30ml), compared to much larger volumes for most other methods.

These volumes of course vary depending on the maker, but a recent Italian study defined a typical final serve of filter, percolator, and cold brews as 120ml.

Based on this math, cold brew actually comes out as the highest dose of caffeine per serve with almost 150mg – even higher than the 42–122mg totals found in finished espresso.

Although cold brew uses cold water, and a larger grind size, it is brewed with a high coffee-to-water ratio, with extra beans needed in the brew.

Of course, “standard serves” are a concept, not a reality – you can multiply serves and supersize any coffee beverage!

With the rising price of coffee, you might also be interested in extraction efficiency – how much caffeine you get for each gram of coffee input.

Interestingly, most methods are actually pretty similar.

Espresso methods vary but give an average of 10.5 milligrams per gram (mg/g), compared to 9.7–10.2mg/g for most other methods.

The only outlier is the French press, with just 6.9mg/g of caffeine.

‘Strength’ is more than just caffeine

Caffeine content only explains a small part of the strength of coffee.

Thousands of compounds are extracted, contributing to aroma, flavor, and function.

Each has their own pattern of extraction, and they can interact with each other to inhibit or enhance effects.

The oils responsible for the crema – the rich brown ‘foam’ on top of the brew – are also extracted more easily with high temperatures, pressures, and fine grinds (another potential win for espresso and Moka).

These methods also give higher levels of dissolved solids, meaning a less watery consistency – but, again, this all depends on how the final product is served and diluted.

To further complicate matters – the receptors that detect caffeine and the other bitter compounds are highly variable between individuals due to genetics and training from our usual exposures. This means the same coffee samples could invoke diverse perceptions of their bitterness and strength in different people.

There are also differences in how sensitive we are to the stimulant effects of caffeine. So, what we are looking for in a cup, and getting from it, is dependent on our own unique biology.

Is there a healthier brew?

Depending on the headline or the day, coffee might be presented as a healthy choice, or an unhealthy one.

This is partly explained by our optimism bias (of course we want coffee to be good for us!) but may also be due to the difficulty of studying products like coffee, where it is difficult to capture the complexity of brewing methods and other variables.

Some studies have suggested that coffee’s health impacts are brew-type specific. For example, filter coffee has been linked to more positive cardiovascular outcomes in the elderly.

This link might be a coincidence, based on other habits that coexist, but there is some evidence that filter coffee is healthier because more diterpenes (a chemical found in coffee which might be linked to raising levels of bad cholesterol) are left in the coffee and the filter, meaning less make it to the cup.

The bottom line?

Each brewing method has its own features and inputs. This gives each one a unique profile of flavor, texture, appearance, and bioactive compounds. While the complexity is real and interesting, ultimately, how to brew is a personal choice.

Different information and situations will drive different choices in different people and on different days. Not every food and drink choice needs to be optimized!

Emma Beckett, Senior Lecturer (Food Science and Human Nutrition), School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

Long-Term Care

March 1, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed horrific negligence in the for-profit homes compared to public and non-profit homes

  • For-profit residents are 60 percent more likely to become infected with COVID-19 and 45 percent more likely to die than residents in non-profit homes.
  • Death rates in for-profit homes were five times greater than those of publicly-owned homes, and double those of non-profits.
  • Healthy residents reported being kept in rooms with residents with COVID-19, increasing their risk of infection.

How Long-Term Care is Being Privatized

There have been two big initiatives to privatize LTC in Ontario in recent decades:

In 1998, Ontario’s Conservative Mike Harris government built 20,000 new long-term care beds and allocated the majority of them to for-profit corporations, including large chain companies. This tipped the balance from a majority public and non-profit LTC in Ontario to a majority for-profit LTC. Mike Harris went on to become the chair of Chartwell, one of the large for-profit LTC chain companies.

Now, the Ford government is building more than 30,000 new and rebuilt LTC beds, and a majority of them are allocated to for-profit chains. The top ten bed winners are all for-profit chains, including those with the very worst records for resident deaths, negligence, and inadequate care.

Why LTC Should Not Be Private

Public money and residents’ fees go to profit versus care

All LTC homes are funded by the public through taxes and residents’ fees for their beds. For public and non-profit homes, money goes to improving care, programs, and services for residents. In municipal homes, additional property tax money goes into improving care levels of and better wages and working conditions for staff.

For-profit homes spend 24% less per year on care for each resident than for non-profit homes. Profit is removed from public funding and residents’ fees for investors and shareholders. In fact, the for-profit chains report to their shareholders that they are taking tens of millions of dollars out of the homes in profits every single month.

For-profit homes have lower staffing and care levels and worse working conditions for staff

  • There is no care without staff.
  • For-profit LTC homes gain profits in part from setting low wages for staff.
  • For-profit homes experience high staff turnover rates resulting in lower-quality care, lower wages, and heavier workloads.
  • Compared to non-profit homes, for-profit homes hire more part-time and casual staff to avoid providing benefits and supports to workers.

For-profit LTC homes have poorer outcomes for their residents

  • For-profit homes have more cases of diseases and ulcers, complaints, and transfers to hospitals.
  • Residents in for-profit homes are 25% more likely to be hospitalized and 10% more likely to die than in for-profit homes.
  • After spending three months in a for-profit LTC home, residents’ risk of being transferred to a hospital increases to 36%.
  • Residents in for-profit homes are more likely to be hospitalized with pneumonia, anemia, and dehydration than non-profit LTC homes

____________________________________________________________

Letter to Minister John Yakabuski from Region 4 Retiree – Ben Treidlinger 

Re Bill 7

Date: Thu, Aug 25, 2022 at 3:24 PM
Subject: Bill 7
To: Yakabuski, John <john.yakabuski@pc.ola.org>

John

I am 62 and may find myself in hospital where i will be needing future care options and I am disgusted that you are limiting my rights as a human being to choose my own options and forcing me to go to a home not of my choosing so that beds can be filled and hospitals beds emptied. This is shameful.

Even more shameful is the fact that your government that claims to be for the people is pushing this through with little or not public input. Stop this bill and stop the privatization of ou health care system. Everyone knows that there are better options than privatization and that privatization will lead to a two tier system and suck valuable resources out of the public system.

Please do your job and work for the people who elected you. This plan does not do that.

Ben Treidlinger

Eight S’s for happiness

by Rayman Yuang, Local 526

Life is a fun game, not a misery to be endured. Here’s simple and easy manual on how to play and win the Game of Life.

Sleep
Quality sleep is the foundation of your health and well-being. Nothing – diets, nutrition, food choices and even exercises – beats a good night’s sleep to rejuvenate and recharge your energy.

Poor sleep can result in weight gain. It’s often the root cause of many ailments and discomforts, including mood-swings and depression.

Serenity
Peace, inner or global.

Know that all is well, no one and nothing is broken and needs to be “fixed”. You are perfect as you are. Don’t be hard on yourself: Others’ comments and opinions about you are none of your business.

Don’t feel sorry for your past “mistakes” or ”failures”: what you could’ve/should’ve/would’ve done differently for a different or better result.

You did nothing wrong. In fact, you did your best under the circumstances back then. Remember, you can never fail: You either win or you learn.

Smile
Enlightenment is to lighten up. Life is a fun game. Smile often! It makes yourself and everyone happier. Laughter and joviality are infectious and work wonders on your immune system. They also open doors to opportunities, attract favourable events and benefactors into your life. Don’t believe me? Try it, you will be pleasantly surprised.

One smile dispels 1,000 worries. One smile makes you 10 years younger. It’s the best cosmetic.

Simple
Life is simple. Don’t complicate things.

Simple and polite answers are best. “Sorry, no,” is a perfect reply to panhandlers. “Why don’t you get off your ass and get a job like everyone else?” Not so much.

After your kids move out, consider downsizing to a smaller house.

De-clutter. Less is more. Cluttered closets lead to cluttered minds.

Donate the hundreds of pairs of shoes and clothes you haven’t worn in years.

Slow
Contrary to common belief, we do have time – a lot of it, in fact. There’s no need to rush into anything.

Did you known that 96 per cent of all traffic accidents are related to human risk behaviour, where speed is a major factor? Slow down. Don’t try to beat that yellow light. Make sure to reach your destination alive and in one piece.

Take your time in breathing, eating, drinking, enjoying the view and smelling the roses along the way. Haste will not get you anywhere. More haste, less speed.

Silence
Speech is silver; silence is golden.

Don’t offer unsolicited, unwelcome advice or make snide comments. Grandparents should not meddle with or lecture their children on how to raise and educate grandkids.

Disasters and conflicts start with careless mouths. Four horses can’t chase down a spoken word.

Sports
Exercise releases endorphins that promote happiness. It gives you an immediate boost in mood and energy.

Our bodies consist of many parts and joints like machinery, all of which are subject to wear-and-tear. It’s important that we take good care of them while exercising so we can live long, healthy lives.

Share/support
We humans are creatures who value and crave social interactions, emotional support and a sense of belonging.

Sharing and giving back benefits everyone, including yourself. It has a boomerang effect on the personal happiness scale.

For the common good, let’s share physical assets, wealth and property, or intangible knowledge and experience, and uplifting, feel-good stories.

As a parting thought, I’d like to leave you with one of my favourite quotes:

Stop existing (reactively by default). Start living (intentionally by design).

Wishing you a happier and more prosperous life, one day at a time, starting today.

Understanding a power of attorney for property

Updated: August 2020

A power of attorney for property is a legal document you sign when you want to give someone the authority to manage your financial affairs. The person you appoint is known as the “attorney” and has the power to make financial decisions on your behalf while you are alive. Pension benefits are considered “property,” and may be handled by your attorney.

Appointing a power of attorney for property is an important decision. You may want to consult with a lawyer to discuss whether a power of attorney is appropriate for you and to get help preparing a document that is suitable to your circumstances.

OPTrust cannot provide you with legal or financial advice about appointing a power of attorney. This material is provided for information purposes only.

Appointing a Power of Attorney for Property

If you are interested in appointing a power of attorney for property, Ontario’s Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee can be a useful resource and provides a free Power of Attorney Kit available from the Ministry of the Attorney General website at www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca. You can contact the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee at 1-800-366-0335 or 416-314-2800.

OAS Increase Leaves Too Many Seniors Behind

August 18th, 2022

By Carol Hughes MPP

Last month, many seniors across the country will have received a 10 percent increase in the amount they receive from Old Age Security, while others may have been left scratching their heads as to why they didn’t receive it. This is because the federal government saw fit to increase the amount OAS recipients received, but only for those 75 and older, leaving seniors between 65 and 74 out of the equation. It’s a baffling decision that creates a two-tiered system of seniors, based not on need, but by an arbitrary age gap.

The former Minister for Seniors who oversaw the changes to OAS justified the increase by stating that it was because “Many older seniors face more challenges securing employment to supplement their income. Few seniors work beyond age 75, (and) are almost twice as likely to be widowed, adding further financial pressure.” This argument is bizarre. The presumption that seniors should be forced to consider employment to secure their income after the age of retirement is ludicrous. Many people do wish to keep working after the age of

65 for a variety of reasons but supplementing their income to be able to make ends meet should not be one of them. Work at this age should be an option, not a necessity.

Seniors, like all Canadians, are experiencing the impact of a sharp increase in inflation. The cost of groceries has risen to uncomfortable levels. The cost of housing, particularly for those who rent, has increased dramatically. While OAS is indexed to increase with the cost of inflation using the Consumer Price Index, these increases don’t always result in OAS recipients being able to keep up. In June, the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s Inflation Monitor examined this phenomenon and put it fairly succinctly: “the increase in CPI since the start of the pandemic has outpaced the increase in the maximum OAS payment (of 5.7 per cent), due to the time lag in the indexation of monthly payments. With the increase in inflation during the pandemic, the gains in purchasing power experienced in the two years prior to the pandemic have been eroded.”

Seniors receiving OAS aren’t receiving enough to cover inflation, and, worse still, those seniors who have not reached 75 are not eligible for the 10 percent OAS increase. Also, while the CPI is a reliable indicator for adjustments in spending patterns and price increases across broader society, seniors spend differently, and we have data from Statistics Canada to back this up. Seniors, for example, spend less of their pay on transportation, less on recreation and sports equipment, but spend a larger portion of their income on food, housing, and health and personal care items, such as drugs. Food prices have risen faster than many other items, with Statistics Canada noting a 9.7 percent increase year-over-year in May. The average cost of rent on a 1-bedroom apartment has shot up 13.7 percent this year. So while inflation is hitting everyone, seniors are getting hit particularly hard, and these increases aren’t just being felt by seniors above 75.

This isn’t the first time that recent government policies aimed at seniors have caused havoc. This wrongheaded idea of creating a two-tier senior scheme for OAS has received condemnation from major seniors’ organizations such as the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP), the National Association of Federal Retirees, and Réseau FADOQ since it was first announced. When seniors in receipt of the GIS started noticing funds being clawed back due to receiving pandemic supports, the Liberals were forced to admit their mistake of shortchanging seniors by $742.1 million and provided a one-time payment that reached over 183,000 seniors living in poverty.

There is obviously a need to consider the implementation of a Pension Advisory Commission which would be focused on developing a long-term plan to enhance OAS, boost GIS, and strengthen the Canada Pension Plan so that the government doesn’t have to create a piecemeal approach when seniors start to feel the crunch of inflation.

We need to build a pension system that works for the people who have spent their lives building this nation. Ensuring they don’t end up in poverty is literally the least we can do. With costs going up consistently, the time to do this is now.

NUPGE elects new President and Secretary-Treasurer

Bert Blundon, from NAPE/NUPGE and Jason MacLean, NSGEU/NUPGE have been elected by delegates to serve as President and Secretary-Treasurer of the 400,000 member National Union of Public and General Employees

St. John’s (18 June 2022) — Over 500 delegates, observers, and guests from across the country are in St. John’s for the Triennial Convention of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE).

In addition to debating public policy issues, like labour rights, economic and social justice, and the climate crisis, delegates voted for the positions of President and Secretary-Treasurer. Delegates to the convention also had the opportunity to discuss policy, hold elections, and lay out a strategic plan for the next 3 years.

Delegates elected Bert Blundon as the National Union’s next President. Blundon has served NUPGE as the Secretary-Treasurer for 1 term. Blundon previously held a position with the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE/NUPGE) as an Employee Relations Officer before being elected as NAPE’s Secretary-Treasurer. In 2019, Blundon was elected as the NUPGE Secretary-Treasurer.

“I am honoured to be elected as NUPGE President,” said Blundon. “We have enormous challenges ahead of us, as our country recovers from pandemic. At this convention, with the hard work of our delegates, we have built a strategic agenda that paves the way for the next 3 years. This plan is grounded in our core values of fairness, equality, and justice that lifts up our members, and all working people.”

Leaving after long distinguished career

Current President, Larry Brown, who held positions in the union for over 32 years, announced his retirement in March 2022.

“I am very proud of the work we did together over the years,” said Brown, “and I know our over 400,000 members are in good hands with the election of these new officers. Bert and Jason lead with wisdom, integrity, and compassion. Advocating for working people, public services, and social and economic justice are their life’s work. I congratulate them on their election!”

Jason MacLean moves from NSGEU President to NUPGE Secretary-Treasurer

Former president of the Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union (NSGEU/NUPGE) Jason MacLean is NUPGE’s new Secretary-Treasurer.

In 1995, Jason began his career in the public service as a Corrections Officer first at the Cumberland Correctional Facility in Amherst and then at the Cape Breton Correctional Facility in Sydney. Jason became a leader in his union local and soon was elected to the NSGEU Board of Directors, Provincial Executive, before being elected President in 2016.

“I believe this is a pivotal moment in history for the labour movement in Canada, and there is a great opportunity ahead of us to improve lives for all workers and members,” said MacLean.

“I am humbled by the support of the delegates, and my colleagues and look forward to representing our amazing members, and continuing to build a strong, thriving union.”

Challenges ahead

Both officers are looking forward to the challenges ahead. The Convention is taking strong positions on fighting for public services and opposing the policies of austerity, expanding and enhancing efforts for greater diversity, implementing anti-racism measures, addressing the climate crisis, and supporting struggles for Indigenous rights.

No mental healthcare without pharmacare

Broadbent Institute / September 13, 2022

When thinking about mental health care, one would expect medication coverage to be included. While mental health and pharmacare are parts of universal health care for many countries, Canada lags behind as the exception.

Currently, pharmacare coverage only includes medically necessary medications given in hospitals and physician services. In Ontario for instance, those below 24 years and over 65 years may qualify for the Ontario Drug Benefit program, however this program only covers a select number of medications. Unfortunately, there is no coverage for community-based, non-physician mental health services or prescription medication for mental health therapies.

According to the Advisory Council on Implementation of National Pharmacare 1 in 5 Canadians struggle to pay for medications and either do not have prescription drug insurance or the plan they have is inadequate to cover their medical needs. According to Statistics Canada, 2.3 million Canadians do not have their mental health care needs adequately met. The limited access to medications does not help save money, either. In actuality, the pharmaceuticals industry plays a big role in our economy with medications being the second biggest expenditure in the Canadian healthcare system after hospitals.

The current mix of private and public drug programs leaves us with a fragmented system that creates accessibility gaps and high costs of medication, putting many Canadians’ health and well-being at risk. In addition, each province governs its pharmaceutical system, leading to disparities in the system. This has also led to disparities in mental health services across Canada.

The financial barriers Canadians face to accessing pharmaceuticals is an important factor to the under-use of mental health treatments. Even those with private insurance lack access to some mental health medications, with only 19.3% of individuals actually receiving treatment.

Canada is the only country with a “universal” healthcare system that does not include pharmacare. Countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom offer universal drug coverage that includes access to psychiatric medication. The United Kingdom, for example, provides free prescriptions in Scotland and Wales. While England requires some prescription charges, however, the majority of prescribed medications are offered free of charge, or come with the option to purchase a prescription prepayment certificate.

Where do we go from here?

Building a universal public drug coverage program has been attempted throughout Canada’s history of medicare, but it has been a continued political struggle. Opponents of universal pharmacare believe the current system works well for most Canadians, and we should just fill the gaps in coverage without building a real alternative to the for-profit system. However, this is far from true. We have seen in the United States that the fragmented system of filling in the gaps actually widens the accessibility gap of resources. Without pharmacare, we cannot truly make progress in treating mental health illnesses. The Broadbent Institute report Pharmacare Now outlines two pathways for Canada to achieve a national Pharamcare program.

One option is to have a Federal-Provincial-Territorial program, which has the federal government set standards similar to the Canada Health Act while providing some transfer funding. Under this option, the funding would be provided under two kinds of schemes: universal coverage for essential drugs with no co-payments or deductible; or have an arms-length body identify a list of essential drugs and negotiate with drug companies on prices.

The second option to consider is a federally funded agency in charge of financing, regulating, and administering coverage programs. This approach was successfully used to establish Canadian Blood Services and was able to achieve cost savings.

Solving the inequality in medicine is not something that can be solved by one policy change. Still, if we want mental health to truly be a part of our healthcare system, we need pharmacare to treat these health issues. A major shift is needed towards a universal pharmacare plan. It is not a matter of if we can do it, but a matter of when our government will take action and make the change.

Amal Abdulrahman is a fellow of the Diversity Youth Fellowship hosted by the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, and graduate student in International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Header photo by Laurynas Mereckas on Unsplash.

Busting Myths About Care Work

Care work is the foundation of the economy – it is the labour that allows all other work to happen, but it is still often misunderstood. It’s time to create a better understanding of care work, so we can all see its value and build a better future.

Myth: Only children and seniors need care.

Reality: Everyone needs care at some point, and throughout our lives our care needs will vary. Others who need care: people living with disabilities, people who are ill or recovering from an injury, people who are dealing with mental health or addiction challenges, people who are fleeing a violent relationship, etc.

Myth: Care work = health care.

Reality: Care work is the work of caring for others. It supports individuals, families associated with health care, but it also includes social and education services including early learning and child care; domestic work; personal care; social work, and mental health services. In fact, people in care occupations make up nearly one-fifth of Canada’s labour force. Care work can be paid or unpaid and exists in the formal and informal economy, so the proportion of workers in care occupations is likely even higher.

Myth: Families should be responsible for caring for their family members.

Reality: Many may want to provide care to family members and find it rewarding to do so, but this is not universal, realistic, or equitable. Many families are unable to provide care due to competing priorities including childcare, paid work and other responsibilities, and not everyone has family support available. Care is a human right and governments have a responsibility to ensure access to the care. That means investments in universal public care systems to take the onus off families and ensure equitable access.

Myth: Care work isn’t skilled work.

Reality: Care work requires extensive training, knowledge, skill, long hours and a deep commitment. The work also requires physical strength, emotional intelligence and strong interpersonal skills. Through the pandemic, care workers have faced new challenges including increased workloads and additional risks in their day-to day-work. Care services are part of our social fabric. Without care, our society couldn’t function. We must take the lessons we learned in the pandemic and invest in care as we invest in critical infrastructure. Care work supports families, communities and the economy. It needs investment, policy and programmatic support. 1 2 3 4 www.canadianplan.ca

Myth: It makes sense for women to do the majority of care work, they are inherently nurturing.

Reality: Women shoulder a disproportionate burden of unpaid care and are over-represented in care jobs because of gender stereotypes and social norms. Globally, women perform more than three times as much unpaid

Myth: We can’t afford public care services.

Reality: Care work is the labour that allows all other work to happen. Not only that, but investment in care is a powerful economic stimulus tool with economic and social benefits including job creation and increased GDP. It should be seen as critical social infrastructure. If governments fail to address the current care crisis with investment and policies, the cost of care will continue to grow, and so will the barriers to quality care.

Myth: The unequal division of care doesn’t have any real impact.

Reality: Women shoulder a disproportionate burden of unpaid care and are over-represented in care jobs because of gender stereotypes and social norms. Globally, women perform more than three times as much unpaid care work as men. Reality: Care work is the labour that allows all other work to happen. Not only that, but investment in care is a powerful economic stimulus tool with economic and social benefits including job creation and increased GDP. It should be seen as critical social infrastructure. If governments fail to address the current care crisis with investment and policies, the cost of care will continue to grow, and so will the barriers to quality care. Reality: The feminization of occupations such as nursing, personal support work and child care has led to these jobs being undervalued and underpaid. Black, racialized, immigrant and migrant women are also over-represented in care work and face racism and discrimination. The unequal division of care exacerbates the gender pay gap, as the time taken to provide unpaid care lowers a woman’s lifetime earning

This article was taken from the Canadian Labour Congress website

Ford Government to Move Hospital Patients to Long-Term Care, But Proactive Inspections Still On Hold

Resident Quality Inspections, all but stopped in 2018, are crucial for protecting residents, advocates warn

by Mitchell Thompson, Ontario Reporter

September 16, 2022

The Ford government’s More Beds, More Care Actis set to move designated hospital patients to long-term care homes, and charge those who refuse, as early as September 21. But it will not restart annual, unannounced Resident Quality Inspections before the transfers start — even though Doug Ford has been promising to do so for two years.

The Ford government’s new long-term care bill, which will automatically transfer some “alternate level of care” hospital patients to long-term care homes, in some cases notorious private ones, has proven enormously controversial.

In particular, advocates for the elderly warn that those patients who refuse to move could be forced to pay a fee of $400 per day, and that many of the private homes, in particular, are not safe.

“It is really unheard of that we would see outbreaks to this extent in long-term care homes in the middle of summer, where at one point 30% of long-term care homes in outbreak across the province,” Palliative care physician Dr. Amit Arya said.

The homes, Dr. Arya said, “are chronically understaffed and when there are outbreaks, the staffing becomes worse as people are off and need to isolate. That worsens patient neglect and burnout.”

Ontario Health Coalition Executive Director Natalie Mehra noted, the Ministry of Long-Term Care has not reinstated annual, unannounced Resident Quality Inspections (RQI) the Ford government scaled down significantly in 2018.

“Going into the homes and asking residents if they feel safe is how you find out about abuse,” Mehra said. “Its how you can tell if the resident is declining, or losing weight or have bruises or that they’re staring up at the ceiling because no one has positioned them to even watch TV. If inspectors don’t go into the home, they don’t see that.”

RQIs are “proactive inspections” that provide “an objective review of the whole operation of the long-term care home,” the 2018 Long Term Care Homes Public Inquiry notes.  RQIs uncovered cases of neglect, abuse and poor sanitation among other things — in contrast to “critical incident inspections” which follow specific complaints.

Critical Incident Inspections, Mehra said, differ crucially as they “are not an inspection of the whole home.”

While, in Summer 2020, Premier Ford promised “We are going to do surprise inspections right across the province, so my message to all long term care homes is to get your act together” that did not materialize.

As CBC News reports, the inspections were “all but stopped” in 2018 until former Minister Rod Phillips promised to relaunch them by the end of 2022.

“They want to force people out of hospital or make them pay $400 per day to go to the worst homes that no one wants to go to — for a good reason,” Mehra said.

Asked if there were plans to expedite the RQI process, Ontario’s Ministry of Long-term care did not respond.

Critical family physician shortage must be addressed: CMA                              

May 9, 2022

Over the past few weeks, examples of the challenges patients face in finding a family doctor have multiplied across Canada. Both family doctors and those seeking care are sounding the alarm bells. The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is urging key stakeholders to work together to address the structural issues that are decimating primary care across the country.

Family physicians provide comprehensive patient support, ensuring patients have continuity of care and the help they need to navigate our complex health system. The lack of access to family doctors is a growing crisis.

Statistics Canada reported in 2019 that approximately 4.6 million Canadians did not have regular access to a primary care provider. And there is a concerning supply and demand gap developing: in December 2021, 2,400 family physician positions were advertised on government recruitment websites across Canada. In 2020, however, just over 1,400 family physicians exited the postgraduate training system to enter practice. This trend isn’t new: in the six-year period between 2015 and 2021, the percentage of medical graduates choosing family medicine fell from 38.5% to 31.8%. Meanwhile, the average age of today’s family doctors is 49 years.

Family physicians face immense pressure. Whether it is administrative tasks such as updating electronic medical records, completing medical forms, coordinating care across multiple agencies and providers, or managing increasingly complex care plans for an aging population, the expectations of family physicians are at all-time high. Many also work in hospitals, in long-term care facilities and in specialized areas of practice including obstetrics, anesthesia and emergency medicine that take time from office practice. Without access to family doctors, patients turn to emergency departments, overwhelming other parts of the health care system.

Family medicine is the foundation of our health care system. We need federal leadership and collaboration with provinces and territories to reimagine family medicine and move to interdisciplinary team-based care. This will improve efficiency, increase health system capacity and better meet the needs of patients and physicians in a holistic, responsive and timely manner.

The CMA is calling on governments to partner with family doctors to find solutions, including the creation of a nationwide data framework to better assess and project future family medicine needs across the country and the implementation of a national licensure model to facilitate the mobility of the current workforce between provinces.

Dr. Katharine Smart

President, Canadian Medical Association

In Memory of OPSEU/SEFPO activist John Rae

April 21, 2022 – 5:03 pm

OPSEU/SEFPO Disability Rights Caucus has chosen to honor one of our most valued members that had served on our caucus, also a member who cherished all injured workers and their plight towards fair and equitable treatment, John Rae.

John was totally blind most of his life and lobbied on eliminating existing barriers with an overarching goal of creating a fully accessible inclusive society where those with disabilities could participate with dignity both within their workplace and the broader society or and in their communities.

John worked for the Ontario government for 24 years before taking early retirement. He worked as a Consultant in the Centre for Disability and Work, an Education Officer for the Employment Equity Commission, and a Program Officer with the Accessibility directorate of Ontario.

He was also elected to offices in Canada’s labour movement at the local, provincial and national levels. He was a local steward, on OPSEU/SEFPO’s Race Relations and Minority Rights Committee, member of the Disability Rights Caucus and the Provincial Human Rights Committee. He also served on the Canadian Labour Congress’s Disability Rights Working Group, and NUPGE’s Equality Committee on Human Rights and International Solidarity.

John has also held the position as Board and committee Chair of many disabilities and broader human rights organizations, two at the national level.

At the time of John’s passing, he was a member of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities National Council, Co-Chair of the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians’ Government Relations Committee, and a Board member of both the Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic and PAL Reading Service.

He was a world traveler, lover of live theatre and acoustic music, and a published author on a wide range of disability rights and museum access topics. John was a wealth of knowledge, and he was a guest speaker at many events.

On April 8, 2022, John passed away, suddenly, after a typical whirlwind day where he had a Red Lobster meal (his favorite place to eat) the night before with his OPSEU/SEFPO brother Greg Snider. John followed through with his plans to join the OPSEU/SEFPO Convention crowd on Friday April 8. He met up with the Disability Rights Caucus at our booth in the Convention Marketplace, while supporting Ukraine. Greg and Sandra Snider, along with Cindy Haynes went to lunch with John. There was plenty of laughter, sharing of stories, political opinions, as well as issues closer to home. Little did we know, minutes after eating, John would be leaving us. He was a priceless treasure, an asset to all the committees, boards, and groups he was involved with. John will be greatly missed by all. The picture below was taken around 11:45 on Friday April 8, 2022. It greatly exemplifies John’s humor if you can see his face!!

Rest in Eternal Peace, John! You are already missed!

In memory from the OPSEU/SEFPO Disability Rights Caucus (Cindy Haynes, Janet Heyman, Susan Fournier, Gillian Axten, Rina Gulli, Nadine Vaillancourt)

In Memoriam

Lawrence Joseph Barter Region 2 July 27, 2022
Rudolph (Rudy) Beny Region 6 January 26, 2022
Roma Hampel Region 7 July 29, 2022
Dalton Jones Region 3 May 1, 2022
Roy Krueger Region 1 December 20, 2021
Lynda Myatt Region 1 November 18, 2021
Carol Marie Quigg Region 2 June 4, 2022
John Rae Region 5 April 8, 2022
Terrence Whelan Region 4 May 24, 2021

 

If your friend or co-worker who was an OPSEU/SEFPO Retiree was missed or has passed away since this publication, please notify your regional RMD Chair (see contact information on pages 2-3) or Sandra Snider at 13sasnider@gmail.com so that they can be included in the next edition.

Autumn View welcomes articles written by our members. Please send submissions to your regional RMD Chair (see contact information on pages 2-3).

For a copy of the Retired Members Division Application Form and/or the Retired Members Division Information Change Form, please contact the Equity Unit at equity@opseu.org.