Ontario Nurses' Association Weekly Media Scan & Media Release Summary - Local 80
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Ontario Nurses’ Association
Weekly Media Scan & Media Release Summary
May 16 to 20, 2022
ONA coverage:
• Niagara nurses spent International Nurses Day rallying against Bill 124 (St.
Catharines Standard, May 13, 2022). ONA members marched in front of PC
candidate Sal Sorrento’s campaign office, to raise awareness of the harm the bill is
doing to healthcare. ONA regional vice-president Erin Ariss, says the bill is the top
reason that nurses are being driven out of the profession. “When you don’t have
enough nurses at the bedside, you’re not getting the care that you need. The
workloads have increased significantly, there’s less nurses trying to do the same or
more work…You will see closed emergency departments … you’ll see delayed
procedures, delayed surgeries, and it contributes to negative outcome for patients.”
• About 100 nurses spent International Nurses Day protesting Bill 124 outside a PC
candidate’s office in St. Catharines (Newstalk 610 CKTB, May 12, 2022). “It is a sad
irony that nurses are holding a rally about the disrespect of nurses of the Ford
government on a day on which people across the globe honour nurses,” says ONA
President Cathryn Hoy. “On this day, nurses should be celebrated.”
• ONA members at the Ottawa Hospital are concerned about their employer’s plan to
hire more RPNs to fill nursing positions (The Ottawa Citizen, May 13, 2022). ONA
bargaining unit president Rachel Muir says that while RPNs are a “valuable” part of
their team, their patient population is “inherently unstable with unpredictable
outcomes” and “Those are not the kind of patients RPNs should be caring for.” While
the hospital does employ RPNs, they currently make up a small fraction of its
nursing staff. Muir says the hospital has notified the union that it wants to change its
model of care and hire an additional 130 RPNs. “Registered nurses’ hours are being
given to registered practical nurses. Because they can’t find RNs, they are looking to
find other healthcare providers to fill these positions.”
• The St. Catharines Standard (High hopes for Niagara’s newest nurses |
StCatharinesStandard.ca, May 15, 2022) reports that Niagara College and Brock
University both expanded nursing program enrolment last fall to support demand in
Ontario for nurses and there are high hopes that it will help ease the nursing
shortage. The field is struggling to retain nurses — the Ontario Nurses’ Association
estimates the province is short about 20,000 registered nurses. Self-care is a part of
nursing programs, but it is a concept Brock is focusing on now more than ever,
because nurses, if they’re not able to care for themselves, they’re not able to care
for others.
• Bradford Today ('You make nursing shine': Southlake nurse one of Ontario's best - Bradford News
(bradfordtoday.ca), May 15, 2022) reports that Guangxia Meng, a Southlake Regional
Health Centre nurse practitioner, has been chosen from more than 400 province-
wide nominees as a recipient for the Nursing Now Ontario Award. The awards are
presented annually by the Ontario Nurses’ Association, RNAO and WeRPN to
1celebrate the tremendous work and central role all nurses play in caring for
Ontarians.
• The Toronto Star (How Ontario’s severe shortage of registered nurses came to be | The Star,
May 18, 2022) reports that years of restraint in health-care funding have resulted in
thousands of RN positions being lost. Ontario currently has the lowest ratio of
registered nurses in the country working in direct care, 609.3 RNs per 100,000
population, according to the Canadian Institute of Health Information. ONA President
Cathryn Hoy says, “Health care is the heaviest hitting item on the provincial budget,
and we unfortunately have had successive governments that really haven’t wanted
to invest in it.” ONA says it has seen a steady erosion of what was once considered
RN work in hospitals, in units such as cardiac care, being given to RPNs. For
instance, during the pandemic in September 2020, Southlake Regional Health
Centre in Newmarket came under immense fire from the union for eliminating 97 RN
positions and hiring RPNs instead. The hospital said no RNs lost their jobs. Some
retired or the positions were eliminated because they were vacant. The hospital
blamed financial challenges — it looked for savings in other areas first — and an
inability to recruit RNs for the positions in the face of a shortage. There is no ratio in
hospitals to dictate how many RNs should be on staff in relation to the number of
RPNs, although historically, before the shortage, acute care departments staffed
higher numbers of registered nurses. It’s estimated that more than 10 per cent of RN
positions in Ontario hospitals are vacant, according to ONA, and that there is a
deficit of more than 20,000 RNs in the province. The Ontario Hospital Association
says “many years of funding restraint within the province” has led to the current
model of patient care, which includes a mix of RNs and RPNs, as well as other
health professionals. The irony is that the shortage of RNs has now forced hospitals
to rely on even more expensive agency nurses to fill the gap. In Ontario, nurses are
leaving the profession because of higher patient workloads and burnout. ONA says
more than 20 per cent of registered nurses are eligible to retire. Many experts say
repealing Bill 124, which holds salary increases of public-sector workers, including
nurses, to one per cent is key to retaining the current workforce.
• CTV News (Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner tests positive for COVID-19 (iheartradio.ca),
May 18, 2022) reports that Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner has tested positive
for COVID-19 in the midst of the 2022 provincial election campaign. Schreiner was expected
to participate at the Ontario Nurses’ Association rally on Thursday. The party says Deputy
Leader Dianne Saxe will attend.
• A report in The Voice of Pelham (Nurses rally for change | (thevoiceofpelham.ca), May 18,
2022) says that on International Nurses’ Day, some 80 local registered nurses and
their friends and family gathered to hold a rally in front of Ontario Progressive
Conservative candidate Sal Sorrento’s office in St. Catharines. In a “sea of pink T-
shirts,” demonstrators held signs with various slogans bringing attention to what they
asserted was a nursing crisis, and the impacts of Bill 124. Some 80 nurses and
nurse supporters showing up, which was meant to bring the public’s attention to the
negative impact of Bill 124 on the nursing profession and patient care in Ontario.
Ontario Nurses’ Association President Cathryn Hoy, RN, says: “Ontario nurses are
leaving the profession, primarily driven by the devastating impact of the policies of
the Ford government. Ford’s wage-suppression legislation, Bill 124, is incredibly
disrespectful and targets female dominated professions. It directly impacts nurse
2retention and recruitment and has had a profoundly negative effect on our members’
ability to provide care to patients, residents and clients during the worst global health
crisis in a century.” Loretta Tirabassi, ONA Bargaining Unit President, says that
Ontario was facing a “health-care tsunami that has been building for years. But we’re
going to care for you, because that’s our job and that’s not going to stop. But what
we’re facing is a lack of trust in this government. The moral baggage on nurses is far
too heavy.” One nurse says that, “Health-care and nurses have been pinned down
enough. “We’ve seen this crisis coming for years and no one has been doing
anything about it — the Conservative government has been selling us out to the
highest bidder and the healthcare system is crumbling.” Hoy says that it was a “sad
irony” that nurses were holding a rally to protest the disrespect of nurses by the Ford
government “on a day which people across the globe honour nurses.”
• A report in the Kingston Whig-Standard (The Kingston Whig-Standard e-edition
(pressreader.com), May 19, 2022) notes that nurses at Kingston Health Sciences Centre are
“pushing back” against the long hours and working conditions. Nursing staff have been
frustrated by long hours and rates of pay when asked to take on extra shifts in consistently
poor working conditions. According to Cathryn Hoy, president of the Ontario Nurses’
Association, “a lot of the hospitals in the province are paying double time to get people to
come in to work, because they are so short.” Hospital chief operating officer Renate Ilse
says, “We’ve heard from our nurses loud and clear that they are unhappy with the wages
and they’re very unhappy with Bill 124 and the hourly rate can’t change. We have worked
with all of our unions to come up with a memorandum of understanding where we provide
additional premium pay to people who pick up shifts beyond their regular allocation at night
or on weekends, so we are currently paying double time for nurses if they pick up (those)
additional shifts, and we’re paying an additional premium for nurses that float off their unit.”
The short staffing is resulting in a decline in care, and for Hoy, this decline in care is
impacting the well-being of nurses, and they want hospitals and the provincial government
to take steps to address staff shortages and poor working conditions. “Nurses are
tired/exhausted/burned out with daily calls for extra shifts, working (overtime) beyond (full-
time) and (part-time) hours, called daily for shortages. Staff want baselines met and the
employer to hire so there are enough staff to give safe patient care. Load-levelling the
hospital is a concern for patient care when the right number of staff are not there to provide
safe care,” Hoy says.
• Ontario Nurses’ Association nurses and health-care professionals rallied against Bill
124 on the bridge near North York General Hospital (CP24, May 19, 2022). They are
calling for a repeal of the bill they say is exacerbating the staffing crisis and
impacting the quality of care they can provide. ONA Vice-President DJ Sanderson
says he urges people to “vote for change.” Voters need to take a good look at the
platforms of all the parties and see what they offer for health care. “We want strong
services. A number of party leaders have already made a strong commitment to us
that immediately on election, they would renounce Bill 124.”
• CJBK AM London (May 19, 2022) reports that Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner
will no longer be able to join ONA members at a rally against Bill 124, due to being
infected with COVID-19. Now, the party’s deputy leader will step in at the event.
3Nursing coverage:
• A Manitoba psychiatric nurse is being sued by her former employer over allegedly
defamatory social media posts (CBC News, May 15, 2022). Prairie Mountain Health is
suing the nurse over posts on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram where she called
fellow employees “idiots” and “horrible nurses” and accused the health authority of
killing patients. They are seeking an injunction to prohibit the nurse from publishing
defamatory statements and make her remove existing posts. Ten employees are
also plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The nurse’s Manitoba registration to practice was
suspended on Jan. 12 and she voluntarily surrendered her registration effective Jan.
17.
• Full 24-hour service has been restored to the Walkerton hospital’s ER (The Walkerton
Herald Times, May 16, 2022). South Bruce Grey Health Centre’s reopening plan
included the use of agency nurses, casual nurses, student externs and registered
midwives. The Chesley hospital’s ER will return to full 24-hour service on June 16,
assuming the restoration to full service in Walkerton goes well.
• Hundreds of American nurses rallied outside the courthouse for the sentencing of a
former Tennessee nurse whose medication error killed a patient (The Associated
Press, May 13, 2022). The protesters warn that criminalizing such mistakes will lead to
more deaths in hospitals. RaDonda Vaught was sentenced to three years of
probation. She apologized to the patient’s family and said she will be “forever
haunted” by her role in the death.
• The Hamilton Spectator (Brantford elementary school drops Ryerson name in favour of
trailblazing Indigenous nurse Edith Monture (msn.com), May 16, 2022) reports that Ryerson
Heights Elementary school in West Brant is being renamed for a trailblazing
Indigenous nurse. Edith Monture is a war veteran in addition to being a nurse who
was born in Ohsweken on Six Nations of the Grand River territory in 1890 and died
just short of her 106th birthday in 1996. She was the first Indigenous RN in Canada
and volunteered with the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War I. Due to her
wartime service, she also became the first Indigenous woman and first registered
band member to gain the right to vote. She worked as a nurse and midwife on Six
Nations until 1955 and advocated for better Indigenous health care throughout her
life. The announcement of the new name for the school comes a few weeks after
Ryerson University changed its name to Toronto Metropolitan University to distance
the institution from its former namesake.
• A column in the Ottawa Citizen (Pellerin: Health care is about more than adding beds, Ontario
| Ottawa Citizen, May 16, 2022) notes that chatting with people in Ottawa and Sudbury
makes it clear that “shoring up the health-care system should be priority number-
one” in Ontario. The recent provincial budget promises more than $40 billion for
hospital and health-care infrastructure, but a hospital bed without the staff required
to operate it is no more useful than your queen-size at home. Nobody goes to the
hospital because they need a place to lie down. You go there because you need
specialized care. That’s why you need health-care staff who are not completely
burned out by two years and counting of pandemic,” says the column. “The people…
all say they want the health-care system to be top priority. They know health-care
workers are exhausted. It appears only politicians are left in the dark about that.”
4• Emergency responders and health-care workers are held in the highest esteem
compared to most other professions, reports CityNews
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2022/05/18/paramedics-canada-respected-occupation-poll/,
May 18, 2022). The recent Maru Public Opinion poll finds that — out of 29 measured
occupations — Canadians rank paramedics as the most respected job with
firefighters coming in at number two. Nurses, doctors, and pharmacists all rank in
the top six with farmers coming in at number four.
• CBC News reports (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/northern-ontario-
hospitals-staff-covid-1.6456580, May 18, 2022) that Sudbury's Health Sciences
North hospital faces "a tsunami" as the region's population continues to age and
1,400 employees will be eligible to retire in the next five years. Health Sciences
North president and CEO Dominic Giroux says the hospital recruited 800 employees
in the last year but is short-staffed despite those efforts. Of the 1,400 employees
who will be eligible to retire in the near future, 400 are nurses. As of Monday, May
17, Health Sciences North had 29 patients admitted with COVID-19, including two in
the intensive care unit. The hospital had an additional 55 "past positive" patients,
who were admitted due to COVID-19, but no longer test positive for the virus. At the
Sault Area Hospital, in Sault Ste. Marie, staffing was a challenge at certain times
due to the pandemic. Nurses with one year of experience are working in the
hospital's emergency department and intensive care unit.
• The Chatham Daily News (Chatham students show appreciation for nurses | Chatham Daily
News, May 17, 2022) reports that Grade 7 and 8 students at Gregory Drive public
school wanted to show their appreciation for the nurses at Chatham-Kent’s hospital
group for their efforts during COVID-19. The class at the Chatham school recently
made a presentation with a Bristol board quilt, which featured artwork and words of
encouragement. Teacher Markus Schoger says that, “From the beginning, the
nurses have been such an amazing force to keep us safe, and we also understand
how much stress and difficulty it must have been to carry on with their job.” Schoger
asked his students to come up with a few ideas, and they decided on a quilt, as well
as a radio spot.
• The Sault Star (Sault Area Hospital COVID-related worker absences ebb | Sault Star, May 17,
2022) reports that staffing is “stabilizing” after COVID-related absences saddled the
facility for some time. Only 27 staff were out with COVID-related illness last week, a
“significant improvement” from about a month ago when more than 80 workers were
off, says Sue Roger, vice-president clinical operations and chief nursing executive.
In April, directors heard COVID-related staff absences were hitting Sault Ste. Marie’s
principal health-care facility hard, but not so severe that SAH had to resort to
measures other Ontario health institutions have applied, such as ushering in
a critical staffing model, in which asymptomatic positive staff must report for work. In
early April, staff absences numbered in the mid-eighties, which Roger said at the
time yielded “across-the-organization shortages.”
• The North Bay Nugget (Retention bonuses for nurses delayed | North Bay Nugget, May 18,
2022) reports that nurses employed at the North Bay Regional Health Centre are
going to have to wait a little longer before they see a bonus in their bank accounts.
The province announced earlier this year a $5,000 retention bonus for registered
nurses, registered practical nurses and nurse practitioners to encourage them to
5stay on the job through the COVID-19 pandemic. Government promised the first
$2,500 in April or May and the second instalment of $2,500 in September. “We are
targeting June 2 as our anticipated pay date for the nursing incentive,” says hospital
spokeswoman Kim McElroy. Anna Miller, senior communications advisor with the
Ministry of Health, told The Nugget in an email exchange “the ministry is currently in
the process of contacting eligible employers and distributing funding, which they’ll
then disperse to approximately 150,000 eligible nurses across Ontario.”
• CP24 (https://www.cp24.com/news/nurse-pushed-to-ground-as-doug-ford-arrived-at-toronto-debate-union-says-
1.5908975, May 18, 2022) reports that two nurses protesting wage restraint by the Ford
government were injured outside the provincial leaders’ debate in Toronto on
Monday evening, their union says, as Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford’s
bus arrived at the site and he prepared to disembark. Up to 200 RPNs, members of
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare, gathered outside the
TVO building in North York on Monday to protest a Ford government law that caps
their annual salary increases below the rate of inflation. “The peaceful demonstration
of nurses was met with force as police cleared a path for Doug Ford before he exited
his campaign bus,” SEIU Healthcare spokesperson Angelica Cruz says. “It is
unacceptable that injuries were sustained after one nurse hit the pavement, while
another nurse was injured after being dragged across the asphalt.” Video and
images posted to social media from the scene show a man wearing a purple SEIU
healthcare t-shirt appear to be pushed by a man wearing a blue suit and an
earpiece. The man is then seen face down on the roadway, writhing in pain. Another
woman in a purple shirt was seen on the ground and appeared to be pulled and
prodded several times before she could get up. The man on the ground was later
loaded into an ambulance and taken to hospital for treatment of injuries that
reportedly included a concussion. The nursing sector in general is upset over the
Ford government’s Bill 124, limiting wage increases in most sectors to one per cent
per year when inflation is now approaching seven per cent.
• QP Briefing’s report on the two RPNs hurt before Monday’s leaders’ debate says
that a witness of the incident says no one behaved inappropriately
(https://www.cp24.com/news/nurse-pushed-to-ground-as-doug-ford-arrived-at-toronto-debate-union-says-1.5908975,
May 18, 2022). Supporters of each of the party leaders positioned themselves at the
entrance to TVO broadcast studio. About 200 nurses were there too, organized by
the SEIU Healthcare union. Frank Gunn, a photographer for the Canadian Press,
says he heard one of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers ask a protester if
he was okay. Seconds later, “three or four” other nurses attempted to sit on the
sidewalk right where the exit to Ford’s bus would be when it arrived, Gunn says. The
OPP officers assigned to the three major parties’ campaigns were there working
together. One video posted on Twitter shows confusion and commotion between the
protesters and police security. In it, one demonstrator is seen to have been taken off
his feet and lies on the ground. This was the same man whose wellbeing Gunn says
an officer asked about right before the impromptu sit-in started. In the video of the
commotion, an officer next to the man is heard yelling, "What is going on?" while
another protesting nurse attempts to get closer to her co-demonstrator, while police
are seen attempting to control her. Seconds later, Ford exited his bus. He was
"hustled in" to the building in comparison to the other leaders. "I saw nothing from
6any of the parties involved that was even slightly out of the ordinary for this sort of
campaign demonstration," Gunn said. "The protesters were definitely peaceful. In
fact, they were shoulder-to-shoulder with Ford supporters, and the Del Duca
supporters, and they would have fun chants at each other."
• Toronto Life magazine (https://torontolife.com/city/i-worked-as-an-er-nurse-for-40-years-
covid-changed-me-in-profound-ways/?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-
torontolife&utm_content=later-26942756&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio, May 18,
2022) has published a piece by registered nurse Mira Gandhi about what it has been
like to put off retirement to work through COVID. Gandhi talks about how much the
profession has changed in the 40 years she has been a nurse. She writes that there
was no time to grieve for patients who died of COVID because there were so many
other patients to tend to. The hospital brought in grief counsellors but trying to
explain this to anyone who didn’t experience it firsthand was futile. The exhaustion
was almost worse than the grief, patients eventually became more aggressive, and
nurses have been denied wage increases by the government.
COVID-19 coverage:
• Ontario reported two new COVID-19 deaths and 1,122 hospitalizations, on Monday
(CP24, May 16, 2022) Hospitalizations are up nearly 100 from Sunday’s five-month
low.
• According to a new study, about 11 per cent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are
readmitted or die within a month of discharge (The Canadian Press, May 16, 2022).
Researchers say socio-economic factors and sex seem to play a bigger role in
predicting which patients will suffer a downturn after discharge.
• CBC News (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/deaths-er-visits-due-to-opioid-
use-jumped-during-pandemic-mlhu-report-says-1.6456992, May 18, 2022) reports that
the number of deaths and emergency department visits due to opioid overdoses in
London jumped during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report to be
presented to Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) Board of Health. An update on
the opioid crisis will be presented at Thursday's meeting. It includes statistics that
suggest illegal drug use may have surged during the pandemic: in 2020, there was
an average of eight opioid-toxicity deaths per month in the MLHU's region. By June
2021, that number had edged up to 12 a month; ER visit numbers tripled, from 37 in
January 2020 to 113 in June 2021.
• Experts who study airborne particles still recommend wearing masks in crowded
indoor settings though they are optional in most public spaces (CBC News,
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/mask-optional-canada-advice-1.6455209, May 17,
2022). The report provides a Q and A about masking and notes that a KN95 or
higher mask provides good protection. Parisa Ariya, the director of the Atmospheric
and Interfacial Chemistry Laboratories at Montreal's McGill University, says that
mandates being lifted doesn't mean the virus has disappeared. "We should not close
our eyes and believe that everything is gone," says Ariya, who researches the ways
in which airborne viruses spread and is a leading expert in the study of bioaerosol
transmission. The Public Health Agency of Canada's current guidance is that
everyone keep masking.
7• Ontario Dr. Celeste Jean Thirlwell is alleged to have written hundreds of improper
COVID-19 vaccine exemptions for several hundred dollars each, and has told
patients that opposing vaccine mandates is “like being in the resistance against the
Nazis (Toronto Star, MD probed over vaccine exemptions allegedly said fighting mandates like
resisting Nazis | The Star, May 18, 2022). Court filings in the case have been brought to
the Divisional Court against the physician’s own regulator, the College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Ontario. Thirlwell, a psychiatrist who also practises sleep medicine,
was investigated by the college last year over reports that she was issuing and
helping individuals obtain COVID vaccine exemptions. In November, the college
ordered Thirlwell not to issue any exemptions for COVID vaccines, face masks or
testing for the disease and, among other things, to consent to allow the college to
view her OHIP billings. Thirlwell objected to making her OHIP billings available and
asked the Divisional Court to quash the order. Last week, the court dismissed her
application and slapped her with more than $8,000 in costs. The college has not
held a formal hearing into her conduct or the allegations.
• The Canadian Press (May 18, 2022) reports that the number of Canadian adults
infected with COVID-19 was triple during the fifth wave than the total number
infected in all four of the previous waves. A new study led by Toronto researchers
found nearly 30 per cent of Canadian adults were infected during the first Omicron
wave of infections, compared with roughly 10 per cent who had been infected in the
previous four waves. Of those fifth wave infections, one million were among the
country's 2.3 million unvaccinated adult population, representing 40 per cent of all
unvaccinated adults.
• An Ottawa law professor has filed a private criminal prosecution against PC Leader
Doug Ford for breaking federal quarantine law during a press conference at The
Ottawa Hospital in March (The Ottawa Citizen, https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-
news/law-professor-files-private-criminal-prosecution-against-ford-for-removing-mask-
while-in-quarantine, May 18, 2022). The private prosecution went before a justice of
the peace in Ottawa Tuesday morning. She approved the charge after asking a
series of questions and set a court date for September, said uOttawa professor Amir
Attaran, who filed it. Ford, in his capacity as Ontario premier, was at the Civic
campus of The Ottawa Hospital on March 25 to make a hospital funding
announcement. He took off his mask to speak at a microphone and defend his
government’s decision to end most mask mandates, among other things. By doing
so, Ford broke the law, according to Attaran and Jacob Shelley, who are health law
professors at uOttawa and Western University, respectively. Since the premier had
met with officials in Washington D.C. on March 21, he was required to wear a mask
whenever in a public place for 14 days after returning to Canada, according to an
emergency order under the federal Quarantine Act. Attaran noted that 5,000 Ontario
residents were charged for violating quarantine laws during six months of 2021
alone. The law, he said, applies to everyone.
• The World Health Organization says that the number of COVID-19 deaths globally
dropped by about 21 per cent in the past week, while cases rose in most parts of the
world (The Associated Press, WHO: COVID deaths dropped by 21% last week but cases rising |
The Star, May 19, 2022). In its weekly report on the pandemic, the U.N. health agency
said the number of new COVID-19 cases appears to have stabilized after weeks of
8decline since late March, with about 3.5 million new cases last week, or a 1% rise.
WHO said cases increased in the Americas, Middle East, Africa and the Western
Pacific, while falling in Europe and Southeast Asia. Some 9,000 deaths were
recorded. Infections rose by more than 60% in the Middle East and 26% in the
Americas, while deaths fell everywhere except Africa, where they jumped by nearly
50%.
• CP24 (https://www.cp24.com/news/1-000-cases-of-new-omicron-subvariant-ba-2-20-found-in-ontario-pho-
1.5910992, May 19, 2022) reports that Public Health Ontario says that close to 1,000
cases of a new Omicron sub-variant – BA.2.20 – have been found in Ontario since
mid-February. Initial reports say the subvariant could be 24 times more infectious.
Epidemiologists say the first Ontario case of this new subvariant was detected in
London on Feb. 14, 2022. It’s been found most often in Toronto, the wider GTHA
and London, primarily among young adults aged 20 to 39.
• The Hamilton Spectator (COVID deniers, conspiracists clog courts with ‘legal gibberish’ | The
Star, May 20, 2022) has published an in-depth report on a Belleville police officer for
tying up the courts with a debunked, court-clogging and self-destructive legal
strategy during a growing wave of COVID misinformation and anti-government rage.
Gabriel Proulx now faces charges of discreditable conduct. Proulx uses “Organized
Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments” along with certain groups — Detaxers,
Freemen on the Land, Sovereign Citizens, for example — to deny state and court
authority.
• Niagara paramedics are calling for help to address offload delays (St. Catharines
Standard, Niagara paramedics spent more than 1,000 hours last week waiting to deliver patients
to emergency departments | The Star, May 19, 2022). They are increasingly waiting hours
while delivering patients to local ERs. Deputy Chief Karen Lutz says paramedics
accumulatively spent more than 1,000 hours on offload delay last week. “That is
insane,” she says. “When we’re all tied up at the hospital, of course, that’s going to
impact folks who are waiting for ambulances or trying to get responses out to the
community. It affects our paramedics waiting at the hospital, it affects the nursing
staff at the hospital trying to address the surges.”
• The Peterborough Examiner (https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/local-
peterborough/news/2022/05/16/peterborough-public-health-denied-special-funding-
for-covid-recovery-projects.html, May 16, 2022) reports that Peterborough Public
Health has been denied special project provincial funding for COVID response and
vaccination, it was announced at this month’s PPH board of health meeting. As part
of the ‘annual service plan’, the province provides an opportunity to submit up to
eight one-time projects including COVID-19 response and COVID-19 vaccination.
Similar to prior years, the province did not approve all one-time requests as
submitted, the meeting heard.
Industry coverage:
• Ninety-nine family-doctor positions are unfilled, after Canada’s yearly hiring of
medical graduates (Toronto Star, May 16, 2022). The numbers show fewer
graduates are choosing to go into family medicine, despite high demand across the
country. The College of Family Physicians of Canada says the problem of vacant
9family-doctor positions won’t be fixed until provinces make the profession more
attractive through competitive pay models.
• Montreal health officials are looking into up to 13 potential cases of monkeypox as
countries around the world report cases (Toronto Star, Montreal investigating up to 13
possible cases of monkeypox: report | The Star, May 18, 2022). The news comes as
Massachusetts confirmed Wednesday the United States’ first case of the year, in a
man who had recently travelled to Canada. The man is hospitalized but in good
condition. Monkeypox is relatively rare. A small number of confirmed or suspected
cases have been reported this month in the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain. “Is
this the new COVID? No,” said infectious diseases physician Dr. Isaac Bogoch, who
says there will “certainly” be a rise in monkeypox cases. “We know that it can be
transmitted from person to person, but it doesn’t appear to be as easily transmitted
from person to person like a very transmissible respiratory virus.” Monkeypox
typically starts with flu-like symptoms and swelling of lymph nodes, which then leads
to a rash on the face and body. The infection can last two to four weeks. Most
people recover, but the disease is fatal for up to 1 in 10 people, according to the
World Health Organization.
• The Toronto Star has published a guest column by three former Ontario health
ministers on why government must plan immediately for children’s health ( ‘Children in
this province are suffering’: Three former Ontario health ministers on why the next government
needs an immediate plan for children’s health | The Star, May 19, 2022). Frances Lankin,
Elizabeth Witmer, Deb Matthews write that waits for access to health care for some
children has been “long for some time.” Evidence shows that Ontario’s children have
borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, and children in this province are
suffering. The most recent data shows a child is 50 per cent more likely than an
adult to wait beyond the clinically acceptable wait time for surgery. Children can wait
twice as long as adults for an MRI, delaying critical diagnostic work and further
delaying the actual care they need. “Simply put,” they write, “our children’s needs
are not being met.” Long wait times, staffing shortages and limited resources are not
new barriers to timely care; they’ve just been made exponentially worse by the
pandemic. That’s why the next party that forms government must commit to an
immediate and comprehensive plan to address the pandemic’s effect on children’s
health. We know the time is now to develop a plan that brings people together
regardless of political stripe — a plan that is fully funded to address children’s
physical and mental health. The plan needs the political will and capital to be
successful. Within the first 100 days of the mandate, the next government should
convene cross-sectoral participants at a Children’s Health Summit, commit to
developing a children’s health strategy — the first of its kind in Ontario — and, most
importantly, invest $1 billion over the next four years. There is too much at risk if we
don’t act now.
• The Ontario Health Coalition is pushing the provincial PCs to show that their
promises to improve long-term care are being fulfilled (Blackburn News,
BlackburnNews.com - Ontario Health Coalition pushing for proof that long-term care promises are
being met, May 19, 2022). Executive Director Natalie Mehra says last fall, the Ford
government promised a minimum care standard, increased fines, and inspections
within LTC homes. “The first incremental improvement in care was supposed to
10happen by March 31, 2022,” she says. “At that point, the target was to have care
levels increase by 15 minutes from 2.75 hours of care per resident per day to 3
hours of care per resident per day. It sounds like a small improvement but boy,
anything would be better than what we have been going through.” The OHC looked
at whether the province had actually met its initial target of adding an additional 15-
minutes of care per resident per day. “We tried to get data from more than 70 long-
term care homes,” says Mehra. “More than half of them refused to provide the date,
which is outrageous.” The organization was successful in getting staffing data from
23 homes in Ontario. “The data we were able to get is disturbing,” says Mehra. “The
evidence holds that a safe level of care for average acuity would be at minimum four
hours per resident per day. None of the homes are anywhere near that level.” The
OHC’s report shows that in those 23 homes, care levels range from 2.25 hours of
care per resident per day to a max of 3.34 hours.
• The Globe and Mail reports that at a recent forum with the Canadian Medical
Association, it was noted that the pandemic “magnified fractures in Canada’s health-
care structure that should motivate providers and politicians to search for a stronger
model that’s not only more cost effective, but also more equitable”
(https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-dearth-of-data-long-wait-times-
contribute-to-broken-system/, May 19, 2022). The pandemic highlighted the failings of
what is one of the developed world’s most expensive health-care systems, said
Nadeem Esmail, senior fellow of the Fraser Institute. “We began the pandemic with
fewer hospital beds than the vast majority of our peer nations. Despite spending
more, we had fewer physicians per thousand population and fewer medical
technologies and our hospital system was overwhelmed much faster, forcing us to
lock down more aggressively and that had a significant impact on the economy.” He
says much of that could be eliminated by emulating the strategies of countries like
Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. All of them feature competitive
private alternatives to public health care, which help reduce waiting times for elective
procedures. There are also opportunities to reduce wait queues by moving more day
surgeries that don’t need all the resources of a hospital into private clinics, say
panelists. Home care should also play a bigger role in a revised health care system,
said Ottawa-based caregiver and advocate Craig Conoley. “I think we are the hidden
backbone of health care and partnerships between health care teams and
caregivers were severed due to COVID visitation restrictions.”
• Monkeypox cases in Britain has prompted government to offer smallpox vaccine to
some health-care workers and others who have possibly been exposed (Thomson
Reuters, https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/britain-monkeypox-smallpox-vaccine-
1.6459654, May 19, 2022). In the United Kingdom, nine cases of the West African
strain have been reported so far. here isn't a specific vaccine for monkeypox, but a
smallpox vaccine does offer some protection, a U.K. Health Security Agency
(UKHSA) spokesperson said.
• A new survey shows that large majorities of Ontarians are unhappy with the
province’s hospitals, long-term care homes and politicians’ ideas for making life
more affordable (The Globe and Mail, May 19, 2022). Nearly eight in 10 Ontarians
say they are either dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied with “the quality of long-
term care available to seniors.” And almost three in four Ontarians say they are
11dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied with the capacity of the province’s hospitals “to
deliver quality health care in a timely fashion.” Ontario’s hospitals, with fewer beds
per capita than in many other jurisdictions in the country and the world, were pushed
to the brink by COVID-19, with surgeries cancelled and already long waiting lists
made longer. More than 4,500 of Ontario’s roughly 13,000 COVID-19 deaths have
been in long-term care. The military, called into help, found widespread neglect and
dehydration in the hardest-hit nursing homes.
Labour coverage:
• The Toronto Star (Canada’s inflation rate expected to rise when April’s numbers are
announced Wednesday | The Star, May 18, 2022) reports that inflation in March was 6.7
per cent year over year, the fastest annual increase in more than three decades.
Gas prices rose almost 40 per cent, while grocery store prices rose 8.7 per cent.
New inflation rates for April will be out at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, and the index is
expected to continue on its upward trajectory.
• Female workers employed with a federally regulated organization should see a
pay bump in the next few years, reports The Globe and Mail
(HTTPS://WWW.THEGLOBEANDMAIL.COM/BUSINESS/ARTICLE-CANADA-PAY-GAP-
FEDERAL-EQUITY-ACT/ MAY 17, 2022). It may be partly up to unions and workers
themselves to make sure employers keep up with deadlines and stay on top of
their obligations, labour consultants and lawyers say. The federal pay equity
legislation, which came into force at the end of August 2021 and follows in the
footsteps of similar laws in Ontario and Quebec, requires that public and private
federally regulated employers with 10 employees or more develop plans to
address gender-based pay inequities by September 2024. Nearly a year in,
experts say, workers should be seeing signs that their employers are devising
these plans. The legislation is meant to improve pay for “pink-collar jobs” – that is,
occupations traditionally done by women that are paid less than equally valuable
roles performed primarily by men. These could be in industries like the financial
sector, where several job classes are traditionally performed by women, or male-
dominated sectors such as trucking and railways, where women nonetheless
dominate certain categories, like administrative and human resources roles. Janet
Borowy, co-chair of the Equal Pay Coalition and a labour lawyer at Toronto-based
Cavalluzzo LLP, said she is “very optimistic” that the initial phase of
implementation of the federal pay equity law will result in significant benefits for
women in underpaid, female-dominated occupations. But maintaining pay equity is
another matter, because “employers let things slide.” Advocates say employees
and unions have roles to play in ensuring employers both comply with the initial
review required by Ottawa’s Pay Equity Act and keep monitoring compensation on
a continuing basis.
• The Globe and Mail reports that public companies that operate for-profit long-term
care homes report that executive bonuses were up during 2021
(https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-canadian-long-term-care-executive-
bonus/, May 17, 2022). Extendicare Inc., Sienna Senior Living Inc. and Chartwell
Retirement Residences all say their CEOs made more in 2021 than in 2020, the
year their business changed markedly with the onset of the pandemic. All the
12companies, which also operate retirement residences, have had deaths among
their long-term care residents and have seen widespread illness among their
staffs during the health crisis. Last year was better financially for Extendicare and
Sienna, which both reported 30-per-cent gains in net operating income from their
long-term care operations. Their profit margins also expanded. Chartwell,
however, saw its LTC profits drop 12 per cent and its margins, already smaller
than those of the other two, contract. It cited higher staffing costs and insurance
expenses as two of the reasons. Its revenue and margins were hurt because it did
not receive reimbursement from the government for certain expenses until 2022, it
said.
• The Canadian Press reports that the PC party has picked up another construction
workers’ union endorsement (Doug Ford nets another union endorsement, positions Ontario
PCs as labour friendly | The Star, May 17, 2022). The International Union of Painters
and Allied Trades said the Tories are supporting the skilled trades, joining the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the International Brotherhood
of Boilermakers in backing the party. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath noted Ford has
been at loggerheads with unions representing public employees over legislation
passed in 2019 that caps pay raises in the public sector at one per cent or less.
He declined Tuesday to commit to repealing the bill -- something several unions
have been requesting since the legislation passed -- saying instead that he’d “treat
them fairly” when the three-year raise freeze is over. The NDP and Liberals have
both committed to repealing Bill 124 and introducing 10 paid personal emergency
leave days. The Ontario Federation of Labour, which acts as an umbrella group
for unions in Ontario, released an ad last week throwing its support behind the
New Democrats.
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU Healthcare) says it is exploring all
legal options after two nurses were injured while protesting outside Monday
evening’s provincial leaders’ debate (CP24, Union exploring legal options after nurses
injured outside Ontario debate venue | CTV News, May 19, 2022). The union said in a news
release Thursday that it retained Ruby Shiller Enenajor DiGiuseppe (RSED) LLP to
look into what possible legal avenues it can pursue for the incident. “When women
and men on the frontline of care are injured at a peaceful protest, we really need to
ask ourselves what is happening to our province. SEIU Healthcare will always
defend the rights of our members,” union president Sharleen Stewart said in a
statement.
• Press Progress (https://pressprogress.ca/anti-union-lobby-group-has-received-millions-of-
dollars-from-doug-fords-government-since-2021/, May 19, 2022) reports that Doug Ford’s
government has given millions of dollars to an “open shop” anti-union lobby group
which has lobbied Ford’s own office as recently as three months ago in a bid to
undermine unions representing skilled trades workers. At various times, Ontario’s
labour minister, Monte McNaughton, has claimed Ford’s government is “working for
workers” with a “worker-first plan.” McNaughton has also said he stands with “those
who shower at the end of the day, not the start.” A past advocate of right-to-work
legislation, McNaughton has claimed to have a close relationship with workers,
inspired by his own working class heroes – Ronald Reagan, his grandfather and pro-
Trump Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance. Both McNaughton and Ford have had a
13long and friendly relationship with Merit Ontario – Ontario’s largest lobby group for
anti-union construction employers. Numerous lobbyists hired by Merit have been
hard at work lobbying Doug Ford’s government for changes to Ontario’s labour laws
since 2018.
Human Rights & Equity coverage:
• A column in the Ottawa Citizen (Pellerin: Health care is about more than adding beds, Ontario
| Ottawa Citizen, May 17, 2022) notes that just 12 of 25 Toronto city councillors have
taken mandatory training in confronting anti-Black racism. Council unanimously
approved an Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism in 2017. The training began
in 2018 with a focus on city staff, but it’s available to council members on request.
Since 2018, a total of 25,783 employees have undergone it.
• London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) staff will not only ask patients about gender
identity and sex when it’s relevant and needs to be documented for their care they’re
seeking (CBC News, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/lhsc-will-only-ask-queer-
patients-about-gender-and-sex-when-relevant-following-complaints-1.6458549, May 19,
2022). Robyn Hodgson, RN, was a consultant for the hospital network's initiative
and says the change comes after a number of complaints from the 2SLGBTQ+
community. "There was a large portion of the community that was finding when they
were accessing services, that they were not being identified in a means that was
appropriate to their presentation or to what they know to be of themselves," says
Hodgson, who is also the lead for the London InterCommunity Health Centre's
Trans Health Program. "There was also a lack of acknowledgement of what their
presenting concern was and more everything was being focused on what their
gender identity was when they came through the door, whether it was from a
clinician or from a support staff."
• CBC News (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ddsb-investigating-incident-
1.6459499, May 20, 2022) reports that the Durham District School Board says it is
investigating after students disrupted a Pride flag raising event on Tuesday. The
DDSB says it's deeply disappointed about the incident, which occurred at Dr.
Roberta Bondar Public School in Ajax on the International Day Against Homophobia,
Transphobia and Biphobia. "We want to be clear that this behaviour is
unacceptable," the DDSB said in a statement to CBC News. The board added the
school is committed to fostering a learning environment that celebrates, supports,
respects, values and embraces all forms of diversity. The released no details and
would not elaborate on what happened when asked, though some accounts suggest
a student taking part in the flag raising was a target of the disruption. The board
does say it will be addressing the inappropriate conduct with students.
Political coverage:
• Four Ontario party leaders will face off at a televised election debate tonight (The
Canadian Press, May 16, 2022). Debate organizers say the event is open to parties
running candidates in “all or almost all” of Ontario’s ridings. The rules mean Liberal
leader Steven Del Duca can participate, despite the party dropping some nominees
last week.
14• A report from CBC News (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/algoma-
manitoulin-provincial-election-debate-1.6454685, May 16, 2022) says that in an
election debate, Progressive Conservative candidate Cheryl Fort brought up health
care quickly in her opening statement. "Doug Ford and the PC party are investing
historical amounts into the provincial health-care system," the Hornepayne mayor
told the three dozen voters gathered for a debate at the Espanola Legion Monday
night. She and the Ford government were the target of several questions from the
audience, including a mother wondering why she has to go to Toronto to get
specialized care for her daughter and a man wondering why the province has frozen
the pay of some health-care workers. Liberal candidate Tim Vine said, "It's really
difficult to call someone a hero for two years and then restrict their ability to earn a
fair wage." The hospital administrator says COVID-19 has really highlighted the
cracks in the health system, including a shortage of doctors and other health care
professionals in the north.
• The Globe and Mail (HTTPS://WWW.THEGLOBEANDMAIL.COM/POLITICS/ARTICLE-
IN-FINAL-ONTARIO-ELECTION-DEBATE-LEADERS-CLASH-OVER-HEALTH-
HIGHWAYS/, May 16, 2022) reports that Opposition leaders took aim at Doug Ford’s
pandemic response at the televised provincial debate Monday. Ford and the three
opposition leaders, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca
and Green Leader Mike Schreiner, debated for the second and final time of
the campaign. Del Duca asked why Ford had failed in February 2022 to take the
advice of the Science Advisory Table, and said, “Everybody watching at home
knows that in February 2021, when the science table told the Ford Conservatives
don’t reopen so rapidly and they ignored it, that made subsequent waves of COVID
dramatically worse for Ontario families.” Horwath noted the thousands of long-term
care deaths despite Ford’s promised “iron ring” of protection. She also pointed to
legislation passed that was meant to shield long-term care homes from legal liability,
accusing the PC Leader of helping his “buddies” in private-sector long-term care.
• The Mid-North Monitor (Fedeli dominates debate | Mid-North Monitor (midnorthmonitor.com),
May 17, 2022) reports that at a debate in the north, PC candidate Vic Fedeli was the
dominant voice. Topics debated included the call to repeal Bill 124 – legislation
limiting wage increases for nurses and other health care professionals, cuts to the
Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation) and Northern passenger train service.
• A column in the Ottawa Citizen (Ivison: Let loose the dogs of political war in northern Ontario
| Ottawa Citizen, May 16, 2022) says that while the PC, Liberal and NDP candidate
don’t agree on much, they all concede that too many people in the north are falling
through the cracks. The NDP has never won in Nipissing but it has been identified
by the central campaign as a riding that could flip. Yet the Liberal campaign seems
to be resonating with more Ontarians across the province, in part because of what
some call election “gimmicks” like buck-a-ride transit.
• CBC News (What the Ontario leaders' debate means for the rest of the election campaign | CBC
News, May 17, 2022) has published an analysis on what the leaders’ debate means
for the remainder of this election campaign. The report says that the “sharpest blows
15in the Ontario leaders' debate came from the candidate with the least chance of
winning the provincial election” – Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, who unsettled
Doug Ford “with an approach that was both disarming and pointed.” Even if
Schreiner's performance doesn't translate into any extra seats for his party on June
2, it could still have an influence on the overall election result if it gives Green
candidates enough of a bump in the polls to make a difference in tight races. That
would not likely be a good thing for either the Liberals or NDP. One of Schreiner’s
digs at Ford was: "He will roll out the red carpets for the Amazons of the world and
the big box stores of the world, but when it comes to supporting local farmers, he'll
pave over their farmland." In response to Ford saying his government was "taking
care of" nurses, Schreiner confronted Ford with a series of powerful questions. "Mr.
Ford, have you talked to a nurse lately? Have you talked to a nurse about how
disrespected they feel, how overworked and underpaid and underappreciated they
are? How insulted they feel being called heroes and then essentially having their
wages cut by having them frozen?" While Schreiner went on, the debate's split-
screen format also showed Ford, and his discomfort was palpable. The analysis
notes that Ford mainly accomplished what he needed to do in the debate, which was
not to lose his cool. Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca needed to bring more passion
to the debate stage than he had shown previously. “For a guy whose emotional
tenor has generally fallen in the range between flat and calm, Del Duca did show
some relative fire in the belly Monday night. But was it enough to galvanize soft NDP
voters to stampede toward the Liberals?” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath seemed to
be struggling to create those punchy lines that will get picked up on the TV news
highlight packages and amplified on social media, a key measure of debate
success. She did break through by charging at Ford on education. "Your cuts and
your chaos destabilized our education system," she declared. "Ask any parent and
they'll tell you the same thing. You can't cut to a better education system." With just
about two weeks to go until election day, Ford has a lead that the CBC News
Ontario Poll Tracker puts at eight percentage points, his two main rivals are pretty
much splitting the anti-Ford vote and neither of them shone as brightly as the Green
Party leader in the debate.
• Health care is on the mind of voters in Ottawa West-Nepean, reports CBC News
(Health care and front-line workers could be key to hotly contested Ottawa West-Nepean | CBC
News, May 18, 2022) as the election approaches. With an aging population and a
large portion of the riding employed in the health-care sector, voters could cast their
ballots with health — and especially elder care — at the top of their minds. Suzanne
Barnett, a retired nurse who was visiting Britannia Beach with her former colleagues,
says four of five there that day had recently lost their family doctors and had
struggled to get a new one. "That is the most important thing for me right now, health
care, not highways," says Barnett, who used to work at the Royal Ottawa Mental
Health Centre. The nurses also spoke of, among other things, Bill 124, the
Progressive Conservative bill that capped public-sector wages — which includes
nurses. "There's not enough nurses. They're leaving. They've burnt out since
COVID. They're not making enough money," Barnett says. She says she also wants
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