Ontario has so far approved thousands of green energy contracts, ranging in size from a few solar panels on the roof of a family home to industrial-scale projects, in which they agree to pay several times the going electricity rate for periods of up to 40 years. It has also signed a controversial $7-billion deal with a consortium led by South Korean giant Samsung that includes a massive investment in wind and solar electricity. The hope is that all the spending will seed a new green energy industry in Ontario (all projects must source a percentage of materials locally), creating some 50,000 new jobs in the process.
Monthly Archives: June 2010
CAW study finds job gains aren’t as great as they seem
Ford Canada St. Thomas Assembly Plant
The economic recovery is leaving workers behind, while others are toiling in “survivor” jobs with low pay and little security, states a report released Monday by the Canadian Auto Workers union.
The study, called the Workers Adjustment Tracking Project, followed a group of laid-off workers in three communities — Kitchener, Toronto and Brampton — for one year and concludes they’re struggling to find work.
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Blue Flag to fly this summer over Port Stanley’s Main Beach
“Central Elgin will be proud to fly the Blue Flag. The Municipality and community have worked hard over several years to achieve this international beach quality designation,” said Mayor Tom Marks. “Port Stanley Main Beach is an important tourist draw. With the Blue Flag designation, this beach is now formally recognized as one of the best beaches in the world.”
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A shift in behaviour or beware of the trash troopers
You have been forewarned, a staff report to be reviewed Monday by St. Thomas council is designed to generate “a permanent shift in resident’s behaviour.”
Michelle Shannon, the city’s waste management coordinator, has submitted a draft version of a waste diversion and curbside collection bylaw designed to achieve the province’s 60% diversion target.
To do so, Shannon says the city “will need to utilize a combination of policy mechanisms and incentives to stimulate waste diversion and discourage excessive generation of garbage.”
Having read the report, the thing we see diverted most is cash from our wallets. And if anything is to be generated, it likely will be frustration.
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Long Term Care Waitlists Growing – Homes Challenged to Respond
The Ontario Health Quality Council’s annual report, released today, sheds light on the stark reality in the province’s long term care system – demand far outstrips supply.
“There are about 76,000 long term care beds in homes across the province, which are 98 per cent full, and there is a waitlist of over 25,000 people. It’s not hard to see that this is creating backlogs in patient flow across the health care system,” said Donna Rubin, CEO of the Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors (OANHSS).
In an analysis of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s waitlist data, OANHSS calculates that the greatest demand exists in the not-for-profit sector. Not-for-profits account for just over 40 per cent of all homes in the province and less than one half of all beds, but they are the number one preference of two thirds of individuals on the total provincial waitlist.
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Failure to reduce long-term care and emergency waiting lists a black mark against McGuinty and LHINs
Too many people in Ontario are still waiting too long for the medical care they need, the Ontario Health Quality Council said Thursday in its 2010 annual report.
The council, an independent, arm’s-length agency, said progress had been made in reducing wait times for some surgeries and procedures, but others were still unacceptably long.
“When only 53 per cent of those urgent cancer cases are completed within the two-week target, when about one-quarter of people spend more time in the emergency department than is recommended and desirable, and when the wait time for a long-term care bed is three times what it was in 2005, then it is obvious that the system has some significant issues to address,” said council chair Lynn McLeod.
“In many areas of care too many people still wait too long.”
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Plans announced for Lake Erie wind farm
General Electric Co. announced Monday that it plans to harness the power of winds blowing across Lake Erie by developing the world’s first freshwater wind farm several miles offshore from downtown Cleveland.
GE and the nonprofit Lake Erie Energy Development Corp., or LEEDCo, announced a partnership to develop five wind turbines about 6 miles north of Cleveland Browns stadium. The turbines, which would stand about 200 feet tall, would aim to generate about 20 megawatts of power by 2012 and 1,000 megawatts by 2020.
The announcement came weeks after the Obama administration cleared the way for America’s first offshore wind farm in Massachusetts. In late April, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved a $2 billion Cape Wind project off the shores of Cape Cod after more than eight years of lawsuits and government reviews.
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Bottom line is Navistar employees want to go back to work
Navistar workers in Chatham are only asking for decency, respect and a job. And, they’re at a point in their battle where they need the power of the government to step up to the plate.
“For the last 10 years, International Truck was the top employer in Chatham-Kent,” said CAW president Ken Lewenza. “And for the last 10 years, those employees gave back to their community.”
Now, those workers need that same community to support them, he said.
“This is not a fight for CAW. This is a fight for our jobs. This is a fight for the future,” he said.
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New Long Term Care Funding Agreements to be negotiated with Local Health Integration Networks
Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) are bound by the Local Health System Integration Act, 2006 to have service accountability agreements in place with all their Health Service Providers (HSP), including municipal long term care homes. The Long Term Care Service Accountability Agreements (LSAA) are the Agreements by which LHINs will flow funding to providers of long term care services including municipalities.
The LSAA template Agreement for LTC homes was developed on behalf of all LHINs by a steering committee co-chaired by Ministry and LHIN staff, in consultation with organizations representing service providers and funders. The LSAA consultation process began in the fall of 2009 and continued through to May 2010. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) was a member of the consultation table along with the City of Toronto, the Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors (OANHSS), the Ontario Long Term Care Association (OLTCA) and the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA).
The LSAA was developed under challenging circumstances that include the introduction of the new Long Term Care compliance regulations. Both the LSAA and the regulations come into effect with the proclamation of the Long Term Care Homes Act in July.
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