"Ambulance
redirect affects patient care:paramedic...'
If, as Mr. Hudak says, the current government is not responsible
for the cuts to hospitals' budgets, the fact that it is unwilling to do anything
or that it denies there is a problem makes it complicit in the current situation.
The insensitive and ill-informed statement that emergency patient care is
not jeopardized by critical care bypass particularly concerns me....In emergency
treatment, time is precious, and any delay jeopardizes treatment and ultimate
recovery (how long do you think a human can survive with a blocked airway,
for example?)...As Niagara Falls only has two emergency vehicles, the results
of the Niagara Falls hospital closing [due to redirect] to ambulances are
obvious.'" [To ALL except the Tory MPPs apparently!]
�������������Rick
Ferron, Paramedic 1, Niagara Falls Review, Mar. 13th.
"Harris
vows to fund kid classes. 'The minister
has assured those boards who are currently delivering JK that the funds
will be there next September' Johnson said...Harris also seemed to suggest
boards that offer JK may be able to cut the program and use the money elsewhere...
The
Tories promised in the Common Sense Revolution to make JK optional for Ontario
school boards. JK funding was cut in half in 1996, which prompted 27
public and Catholic boards to dump the popular program." (emph.
added)
������������������������������James
Wallace, Toronto Sun, (?)
"Not
too late to sign kids up for Mir space camp...
Tuesday: Let the little ones sleep in a bit....But once
they're up, it's off to Queen's Park for a special provincial program of
arts and crafts. Using scraps of paper, glue, toilet paper tubes and Popsicle
sticks, children will attept to rebuild the Tories' credibility after the
Dionne fiasco."
���������������������������Linwood
Barclay, Toronto Star (?)
�
"From the start of this sorry episode in
November, Harris has been defensive and chippy. Last month, in response
to a question about a possible public inquiry ...he suggested that the surviving
quints wouldn't live long enough to see the results. Last week, he
tried to deflect blame on to the quints' father and the opposition parties.
This tough facade was shattered yesterday as the Premier personally delivered
an apology to the Dionnes. The problem for Harris is that...(his apology
and compensation) came only after a week of negative headlines and public
outrage, they appeared more forced than genuine". (emphasis
added)
��������������������������������Ian
Urquhart, Toronto Star, Mar 7th.
"Dionne
fiasco offers Harris a good lesson...If Harris
and his not-so-whiz-kids crew think this is just a hiccup that will go away
with a swallow of humble pie and some big cash, I don't think so. They need
to look elsewhere like health care and education where Ontarians are also
waiting impatiently for them to do the right thing."
���������������������������������Ellie
Tesher, Toronto Star, Mar. 8th.
"Dionne
family surprised as Harris limits inquiry. Premier decides monetary issue won't
be part of judge's probe". (The beginning of "Dionnegate"?)
���������������������������Ellie
Tesher, Toronto Star, Mar. 10th.
"(The
Common Sense Revolution) was a 'tough love' message but the Tories are still
'kind and caring and compassionate' at heart. 'We need to explain and
communicate that a lot better '(said Harris)... The public sees them
as moving too fast and bullying anyone who gets in their way. To counter
this image, Harris and his ministers have been attempting to soften their
rhetoric by larding their speeches with words like 'caring' and 'listening'
[on the advice of their spindoctors!]. But a softer image may be difficult
, if not impossible, to achieve because it runs counter to the Tories'
political instincts." (emphasis added)
Ian
Urquhart, Toronto Star (?)
"Curriculum
reform exercise called a farce...Parents and experts invited to advise the province on a
massive revision of Ontario's high school curriculum are branding the exercise
a farce. 'There's great suspicion that there's a hidden agenda,' said Daryl
Copeland, of the Institute of International Affairs, an independent non-governmental
agency....'What scares me is the speed that this is going',said Margot
McGrath-Harding
of Brampton Education Network. 'This is being driven by a political agenda
rather than by students'".
����������������������Peter
Small, Toronto Star Mar. 13th.
"Greater
Toronto board plan blasted...The new board's poorly defined powers drew shapr crticism
from leaders in Toronto and neighbouring regions. Deputy Toronto Mayor Case
Ootes dismissed the province's plan as a 'half-way' solution...while Mississauga
Mayor Hazel McCallion complained that it 'says nothing, and says it well.'"
(emphasis added!!!)
��������������Joel
Ruimy & John Spears, Toronto Star, Mar. 13th.
"Casino
deal called a bust...
Star
investigation shows the government's charity casino initiative is in a
shambles...Not one contract, called an 'operating ageement', has een signed
between the province and the private casino operators...Thirty-nine of the
44 casino licenses offered by the province have been rebuffed by host cities.
Those cities say it will be a long time - and never in cities such as Toronto
and London - before they allow a casino. Only Hamilton and Windsor have
given a blanket approval, while Brantford, Sarnia and Fort Erie said yes,
if certain conditions are met...Around the province , mayors and their councils
are balking. 'I think quite frankly this shows the bankruptcy of the government's
policy,' says Ajax Mayor Steve Parish...'"
���������������Moira
Welsh & Kevin Donovan, Toronto Star, Mar. 15th.
"Hospital
restructuring chief criticizes provincial government
...Dr. Duncan Sinclair said it (the government) has been quick
to cut hospital funding but slow to re-invest those savings in community
health care services...'I've been critical of their failure to re-invest
quickly enough in community servces...I'm really at a loss as to why it
has taken so long to make the commitments about home health care' Sinclair
told reporters afterward."
Gord Howard, Niagara Falls Review, Mar. 16th.
"Niagara
Agency member draws fire...The province has tossed a handfull of grit into the smooth
operations of the Niagara Escarpement Commision, environmentalists charge.
A past-president of the Aggregate Producers Association, Dave Arnillis one
of eight new members appointed by the Conservative government...It was gravel
industry abuse of the escarpment's resources that led to the creation of
the 17-member commision in 1973 to act as a watchdog over development...Liberal
environment critic Domenic Agostino plans to call Arnhill and two others
before (the Legislature's commitee on government agencies)...Agostino wants
the committee to hear from nominees Sam Luckhardt, an Owen Sound farmer and
friend of Bill Murdoch, the area's anti-escarpement commission Tory MPP,
and Jaquelyn Fraser, a Guelph consultant who has done work for the aggregate
industry. The government's nominees will provide a balance on the commission,
said Peter Hickey, an aide to Natural Resources Minister John Snobelen."
(emphasis added!!!!!!!!!!)
����������������������Brian
McAndrew, Toronto Star (?)
�
"These
changes are nothing but nasty..."
�����������Ruth
Mott on Janet Ecker's welfare "reforms".
"'I am not just a guy who would give a
tax break to the well-heeled at the expense of the poor. I am also a sweetheart.
A sensative guy. A teddybear. That's the message we want to communicate...So
we are all clear' the premier told his troops."
������������Linwood
Barclay, Toronto Star, March 2.
"Stressed
-out hospital staff pins hopes on operating study
...Staff representatives say employees are worn out from cutbacks
over the past two years, and also want a quick solution. They fear more
jobs may be in jeopardy if Greater Niagara General Hospital's debt isn't
brought under control soon. Those worries were reinforced by a newspaper
advertisement the hospital's board of governors ran three weeks ago. It
was a warning to the community that they might consider cutting services�if
the government didn't help find an answer...Vacarro (chief steward for clerical
workers union) said most workers feel that hospital has been understaffed
for several years, as provincial funding was reduced...Tom Roy (president
of technical workers union) expects the review (slated for later in the
year) will show what staff already believes: That there just aren't enough
people working at GNGH now....Six years ago, the hospital underwent a similar
review and got good grades...'We've probably got 25 percent less staff now
than we did then. If they were telling us we were okay then, obviously it
stands to reason we must be understaffed now....Ontario Nurses Association
local 60 President JoAnne Shannon said local workers need a break. 'The
full-time staff are exhausted...people can't work overtime on a regular
basis, they just can't keep that up,'she said. At times, the stress has
reduced some nurses to tears, she added."
�����������������������Gord
Howard, Niagara Falls Review, Mar. 18 th.
"
Curriculum renewal: it's kids versus plolitics...
...[The process] involved tapping the expertise and winning the confidence of some
300 representatives of the educational and professional groups...Two dozen of the participants,
told to say nothing, defiantly announced to the press that the process was a farce,
that they were there to 'adorn and not advise', that there were 'hidden agendas',
that therewould be 'change by decree, not by degree' - each a perfectly reasonable
interpretation of what had happened....We would like to see the government
[forget about the next election and] take an extra year to test the new curriculum....This extra year is needed because it could well make a lifetime of difference to a generation of Ontario kids." ( emphasis added)
���������������������������Editorial, Toronto Star, Mar. 18th.
"The
Eves of Destruction"
�������������������Mel
Lastman, Feb. 17
"Gov't to break deal:OPSEU...Casselman (union
president) said the government's agreement to make'reasonable efforts' to
protect the jobs of staff transfered to the private sector has hobbled Tory
privitization plans....Management Board spokesman Mike Low said the government
is reviewing the reasonable efforts clause."
���������������James
Wallace, Toronto Sun, Mar. 19th.
*"Tax hike real crime: Merchants."
����������������Don
Wanagas, Toronto Sun, Mar.20th.
"Why do we need referendums?...And
the questions you'd really like to vote on will never make it to the ballot.
How about 'Should Paul Bernardo and/or Karla Homolka receive the death penalty?'"
���������������Christian
Blizzard, Toronto Sun, Mar. 20th.
"Reform appointment seen as bid by Harris to quell dissent...Tory
strategist Leslie Noble believes (Line) Maheux will help the party repair
its bedraggled communications strategy [remember the spindoctors' 'kind
& caring' and the Dionne fiasco?] and help the party sell itself in
the next election."
�����������������John
Ibbitson, Niagara Falls Review, Mar.21st.
"Balanced budget a sure bet: Liberals....Soaring
casino revenues will help Ontario's Conservative government balance its
books a year ahead of schedule, the oppositon Liberals predict. And the province has set aside $1 million to establish a stand-alone
communications group TO SELL WARY TAXPAYERS on controversial video lottery
terminals, finance ministry documents show."[emphasis added]
��������������Jeff
Harder, Toronto Sun, Mar.22nd.
"Harris like Hitler: Grit."[Tsk!'Tsk!]
������������James
Wallace, Toronto Sun, Mar.17th.
"I'm
sure I'll have to ...(work to defeat the Harris government in the next election)...
I
have no choice."
����������������������������Mel
Lastman, Feb.5th.
AND FINALLY...
"Mike Harris you are a liar!" [Mendacity
is a MUCH more pleasant word]
Guess who?
Some of my favourite links!
My federal politics archive. Political commentary on the federal and civic scenes.
Mike Harris vs. Ghengis Khan. Guess who emerges the hero?
More Later!�
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