Tag Archives: Tim Hudak

08.20.11
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New minor hockey rule ‘smacks of discrimination’

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Jennifer Swales is hot enough under the collar to melt the ice at the Timken Centre.

In an email to this corner, Swales expressed concerns about rule changes adopted this season by St. Thomas Minor Hockey Association.

Apparently under the new rules, if a child has received a subsidy for hockey they cannot tryout or play on a travel team, advises Swales.

“This rule at the very least smacks of discrimination,” she continues.

“How these families raise the money should have zero bearing on this league. These children work delivering papers, cutting grass, saving birthday money. These families have to qualify for subsidy.”
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08.10.11
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Public-private partnerships (P3) need to be an Ontario election issue

Taken from the OPSEU Diablogue website. Full story also available here.

As the coming Ontario election unfolds, it is unlikely the opposition parties will go after the dozens of public-private partnership (P3) deals signed by the McGuinty government.

The darling of governments of all stripes who want to move debt off-book, P3s have been a costly boondoggle across Canada. At a time when the public is bracing for cuts to public services, the lack of debate over the squandering of billions on such enterprises is sadly missing.

The Maritime Provinces were early adopters of so-called “public-private partnerships” to build and operate public infrastructure.

The Confederation Bridge betweenPrince Edward Island and New Brunswick was one of the first mega projects developed under the model, while Nova Scotia embarked on an ambitious program to privately build and operate public schools.
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04.19.11
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PC candidate Jeff Yurek responds to Health Minister Deb Matthews

At the nomination meeting where Ald. Lori Baldwin-Sands was acclaimed provincial Liberal candidate for Elgin-Middlesex-London, MPP Deb Matthews made a rather outlandish claim.

She suggested PC leader Tim Hudak has a true allegiance to ‘Big Pharma’ in Ontario and that’s why he’s running pharmacists as candidates across the province, a reference to popular St. Thomas pharmacist Jeff Yurek, who recently won the provincial PC nomination for EML. Read full story here.

Via a letter to the editor, Yurek responds to Matthews . . .

In response to the allegations made by the Minister of Health, Deb Matthews, it is necessary to clarify her misstatements.
While I am flattered Ms. Matthews would think that I was hand selected by the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, Tim Hudak, her statement is false.

Through a democratic process, I was elected from a field of five candidates by the members of the Elgin-Middlesex-London riding association for the provincial Progressive Conservative Party. Mr. Hudak played no role in the nomination process.

I was elected by the party membership because of their confidence in my experience and abilities. I am a husband, a father, a business owner and a healthcare professional who understands and can bring an educated and experienced point of view to Queen’s Park.

It is important to focus on the real issues in healthcare.

Dalton McGuinty has wasted over one billion dollars on the E-Health scandal and one of the top bureaucrats during the scandal was paid $763,000 in 2010, even though he quit in 2009. The bureaucracy of the Local Health Integration Networks consumes resources that would be better used for frontline healthcare.

A Tim Hudak Progressive Conservative government will put an end to E-Health waste, scrap the LHINs and reinvest the money into frontline healthcare.

Jeff Yurek
Progressive Conservative Candidate
Elgin-Middlesex-London

03.19.11
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Return of CAO enhanced by promotion of city clerk

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After seven years of doing without, St. Thomas will re-establish the position of chief administrative officer at city hall with the appointment of clerk Wendell Graves to the post, effective April 4.

Read full announcement here.

It’s a move this corner has endorsed for at least a couple of years, to the chagrin of former mayor Cliff Barwick and more than a few faithful readers who have questioned the move to promote Graves into the office without a full-scale search.

He is more than qualified for the CAO title, he’s proved himself a key asset to the city and the financial implications will benefit city ratepayers.
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04.29.10
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A response to Tim Hudak’s call for the Health Ministry to end failed LHIN experiment

Posted by Ian:

A rebuttal to PC leader Tim Hudak from Julie White, representing the South West LHIN, on improving the healthcare system. Read the full document here. South West LHIN provides facts on improving the health care system

The Tim Hudak posting can be found here

04.28.10
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PC leader Tim Hudak calls on Health Ministry to end failed LHIN experiment

Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak Wednesday called for the end to Local Health Integration Networks, the agencies set up by the McGuinty government in 2006 to allocate provincial health dollars on a regional basis.

At a news conference in front of Victoria Hospital, Hudak called LHIN’s a “bloated bureaucracy” that costs money that should go to front-line health care.

Full story