By creating a system of accounting that deliberately obfuscates and hides the true cost of its “Fair Hydro Plan,” the Wynne government has shown that it won’t hesitate to make the province’s citizens pay the price for the Liberals’ reckless decision to privatize Hydro One.

“The Auditor General’s report clearly shows how Ontario consumers will pay $4 billion more for their electricity because of the improper accounting behind the Liberals’ Fair Hydro Plan,” said Hahn. “And the government has devised this scheme even as it continues to shortchange our public services.

“When you think of what $4 billion could buy in terms of public services, then there can’t be a more damning consequence of the Wynne government’s irresponsible decision to sell Hydro One to private, profit-driven investors.”

CUPE Ontario has previously characterized the government’s Fair Hydro Plan as “a payday loan at an exorbitant interest rate.”

According to a statement released by her office, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk finds that “the accounting proposed by the government is wrong and if used would make the Province's budgets and future consolidated financial statements unreliable" but concludes, “there's still time to fix it, and we're encouraging the government to do so."

Hahn echoed the sentiment, but said that restoring Hydro One to full public control is the only long-term fix for the mess the Liberals have created in the province’s electricity system.

“The people of Ontario deserve an electricity system that serves their interests, rather than one dedicated to shareholders’ greed and a government’s unprincipled ambitions,” concluded Hahn.

Recent government polling by the Gandalf Group indicates that hydro mismanagement and tax increases to pay for the Fair Hydro Plan are of greatest concern to the public.

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For more information, please contact

Mary Unan, CUPE Communications, 647-390-9839

MU/KJM : COPE491

“We’re very proud of the relationship we have developed with our patrons in the community. Toronto loves their libraries and their library workers,” said CUPE 4948 President Maureen O’Reilly.

Earlier in the day, library workers handed out buttons, postcards and other items at the Toronto Public Library’s Scarborough Civic Centre Library to commemorate Public Library Week, which began October 15 and runs until October 21.

Since 1985, Public Library Week has highlighted the vital contributions that public libraries make towards enhancing the quality of life for residents in the communities they serve. Across the province, CUPE library workers are marking the week with celebrations scheduled in 12 different communities.

Public Library Week is also an important opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of ensuring libraries and library workers have the resources and tools to serve their communities, while providing important services and good jobs, said O’Reilly, who also serves as chair of CUPE Ontario’s Library Workers’ Committee.

“Libraries are a vital thread in the fabric of our communities. They help make our neighbourhoods great places in which to live. However, the key ingredient to a great library is great people, which is why it is so important to take a moment to pay tribute to all the great library workers across Ontario,” she said.

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For information, please contact:

Kevin Wilson, CUPE Communications, 416-821-6641

“It’s hard to believe, but the Wynne government has put forward a Bill that is very similar to a much-maligned executive order from Donald Trump, which says that every time the US government creates a new regulation, any associated costs must be offset by slashing two existing regulations,” says Hahn. “It boggles the mind that Ontario’s Liberal government has seen fit to take its legislative inspiration from the train wreck that is the Trump presidency.”

Buried deep in an omnibus Bill that is 144 pages long, Schedule 4 of Ontario’s Bill 154 stipulates that every time the Ontario government creates a new regulation, or reviews an existing one, it will have to assess the cost for business to comply with that regulation, publish the cost assessment, and then provide an “offset” to eliminate the compliance cost of the new regulation, plus 25 per cent.

Similarly, Trump’s Executive Order 13771, entitled Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs, signed on January 30, 2017, requires, in part, that “any new incremental costs associated with new regulations be offset by the elimination of existing costs associated with at least two prior regulations.” Ontario’s Bill 154 requires that new regulatory costs to profit-seeking businesses be offset by an amount equal to 125 per cent of the new assessed regulatory compliance cost.

Bill 154 is not clear on exactly how the offset will be achieved, but it is written such that a government could provide the required offsets, either through eliminating an already existing regulation or by a cash equivalent plus 25 per cent, possibly by means of a tax credit.

“Ontarians are either going to pay through the loss of an existing regulation made to protect them and their families, or they will pay out cash that should be going to support public services like childcare or hospitals,” Hahn says,

“In either case, it’s just wrong.”

“The view that government regulations are about safeguarding us should have been cemented in Ontario after the Walkerton water crisis, not to mention the financial crisis of 2008, where Canadian financial regulations were widely credited with mitigating the damage to our economy.  Anyone who cares about public safety, public accountability and business not operating in the totally unregulated wild west, should be upset,” Hahn says. “This is Ontario and Trump-style policy just isn’t going to fly here.”

On October 19, Bill 154 will be the subject of public hearings called by the Ontario Standing Committee on Justice Policy. The CUPE Ontario president is scheduled to make a presentation.

CUPE is Ontario’s community union, with more than 260,000 members providing quality public services we all rely on, in every part of the province, every day. CUPE Ontario members are proud to work in social services, health care, municipalities, school boards, universities and airlines.

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For more information, contact: Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638

www.cupe.on.ca

“We’re here this evening because we have a serious crisis in long-term care in Ontario and our seniors are suffering,” said Candace Rennick, Secretary Treasurer of CUPE Ontario and a former long-term care worker in Peterborough. “It’s simply not acceptable that our loved ones, the people who spent their lives building and caring for our community, are now being neglected because of insufficient staffing levels. Bill 33 would guarantee minimum care standards and we need to make sure it becomes law.”

Town hall panelists Hugh Armstrong, a Professor Emeritus from Carleton University who is part of a research team specialized in the study of long-term care; Tom Carrothers, chair of the Advocacy Committee of Family Councils; and Donna Paris, a personal support worker at Fairhaven, spoke about the growing crisis through their direct experiences.

Also present were managers and members of the Board of Directors for both Fairhaven Home for the Aged and St. Joseph’s at Fleming, along with many families of current and past residents.

“We just don’t have enough staff to meet the growing and complex care needs of our aging residents. Daily care is rushed and lacks the compassion our seniors need,” said Donna Paris. “One very sad aspect of current care levels is that we don’t have not enough staff to answer call-bells when residents need help to the toilet and this increases incontinence levels. I love my job and break my back to do all I can, but our staff go home demoralized because we can’t provide the care our residents deserve.”

Currently the only legal guarantees Ontario’s long-term care residents have is that there will be a nurse on call in the home 24 hours a day and that they will get two baths a week.

Bill 33 (Time to Care Act) is a private members bill that was introduced by NDP Health Critic France Gélinas. If passed, it would mandate a four-hour minimum standard of daily care for aging seniors living in long-term care.

“Canada has the lowest care levels among countries with equivalent economies, and Ontario is the lowest in Canada,” said Hugh Armstrong. “If we are going to meet the needs of our seniors they must receive 4.1 hours of direct care each day.”

“This crisis is about more than the sensational headlines we see in the news,” said Tom Carrothers. “The daily reality for our family members is about neglect because there is just not enough staff to provide the quality of care our family members need.”

Family members in the room spoke passionately about their own experiences struggling to try and make sure their parents had the care they needed. They expressed great appreciation and sympathy for the long-term care workers they saw regularly, but didn’t hold back on their feelings of desperation and frustration at seeing their parent’s needs often going unmet.

“If we don’t demand that our government pass Bill 33, our seniors will continue to suffer,” said Rennick. “We all need to call our MPP to make sure he votes to support the Bill at second reading.”

CUPE is Ontario’s community union, with more than 260,000 members providing quality public services we all rely on, in every part of the province, every day. CUPE Ontario members are proud to work in social services, health care, municipalities, school boards, universities and airlines.

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For more information, contact: Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638

www.cupe.on.ca

“We’re very proud of the relationship we have developed with our patrons in the community,” said CUPE President Monique Branchaud.

Earlier in the day, library workers handed out buttons, postcards and other items at the

Cornwall Public Library to commemorate Public Library Week, which began October 15 and runs until October 21.

Since 1985, Public Library Week has highlighted the vital contributions that public libraries make towards enhancing the quality of life for residents in the communities they serve. Across the province, CUPE library workers are marking the week with celebrations scheduled in 12 different communities.

Public Library Week is also an important opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of ensuring libraries and library workers have the resources and tools to serve their communities, while providing important services and good jobs, said CUPE Ontario Library Committee Chair Maureen O’Reilly.

“Libraries are a vital thread in the fabric of our communities. They help make our neighbourhoods great places in which to live. However, the key ingredient to a great library is great people, which is why it is so important to take a moment to pay tribute to all the great library workers across Ontario,” she said.

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For information, please contact:

Monique Branchaud, CUPE 3251-01 President, 613-360-0494

Kevin Wilson, CUPE Communications, 416-821-6641

COPE491/EW

SARNIA, ON – At schools throughout the Lambton-Kent District School Board (LKDSB), members of Local 1238 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 1238), and their supporters, are celebrating Ontario Public Library Week with a message that great libraries depend on great workers.

“Our Librarians and Library Clerks are committed to providing quality materials and services for research and assignments, as well as activities and programs for collaborative work, and the simple pleasure of enjoying a great story,” said CUPE 1238 President Deb Smeltzer. In addition to school library staff, CUPE 1238 also represents LKDSB educational assistants, speech pathologists, instructional staff and custodians.

Earlier in the day, library workers began handing out buttons, postcards and other items in school libraries across LKDSB to commemorate School Library Day, which is being marked today in school libraries across Canada.

Since 1985, Public Library Week has highlighted the vital contributions that public libraries make towards enhancing the quality of life for residents in the communities they serve. Across the province, CUPE library workers are marking the week with celebrations scheduled in 12 different communities.

“Our library workers provide an essential service to the students and staff in our secondary schools. They are very much respected and appreciated,” said Smeltzer.

Events like School Library Day and Public Library Week also provide an important opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of ensuring libraries and library workers have the resources and tools to serve their communities, while providing important services and good jobs, said CUPE Ontario Library Committee Chair Maureen O’Reilly.

“Libraries are a vital thread in the fabric of our communities. They help make our neighbourhoods great places in which to live. However, the key ingredient to a great library is great people, which is why it is so important to take a moment to pay tribute to all the great library workers across Ontario,” she said.

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For information, please contact:

Kevin Wilson, CUPE Communications, 416-821-6641

COPE491/EW

October 23, 2017

The Hon. Kathleen Wynne Premier of Ontario
Legislative Building Queen's Park Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Via email : premier@ontario.ca

Dear Premier Wynne:

Re: Bill 154, An Act to cut unnecessary red tape by enacting one new Act
and making various amendments and repeals

We are writing to you to express our profound concerns regarding Bill 154, specifically the contents of Schedule 4.

Section 2 of Schedule 4 imposes a “one-for-one” rule for the enactment of regulatory measures. Under this provision any “administrative burden” to businesses as result of any new regulatory measures must be offset by a comparable reduction in the “administrative burden” associated with existing regulatory measures.

Section 2 of Schedule 4 effectively requires that an existing regulatory requirement be repealed or weakened before new requirements can be established. The implication is that new problems cannot be addressed through the regulatory process unless an existing regulation is removed. Stronger measures to address air pollution, cannot be adopted, for example, unless the laws around some other threat to human health or the environment, such as rules related to the provision of safe drinking water, are somehow weakened. Section 2 raises a very real concern that government officials will avoid these trade-offs and forgo enacting regulations to protect health and safety, even in the face of clear and pressing needs.

The adoption of similar provisions in other jurisdictions has resulted in serious impacts on human health and safety. In the United Kingdom, for example, a similar rule is considered to have contributed to the U.K government’s failure to adopt fire safety laws that could have prevented the death of 80 people in a deadly fire in Britain earlier this year.

In the Ontario context, similar requirements were put in place by the former Progressive Conservative government. An independent public inquiry determined that these requirements contributed to the Walkerton tragedy, which resulted in seven deaths and caused 2,300 people to become ill as a result of drinking water contaminated with e-coli.

In the United States, an even more aggressive “two-for-one” rule was adopted by the Trump Administration earlier this year through an Executive Order. The measure has been widely criticized by public interest organizations, academics and the media as constituting a dangerous threat to human health, safety and the environment. The Executive Order is currently the subject of legal and constitutional challenges before a U.S District Court.

Given the serious implications of this provision for the health and safety of Ontarians, we strongly recommend that your government delete Schedule 4 from Bill 154.

Yours sincerely,

Theresa McClenaghan, Executive Director, Canadian Environmental Law Association

Fred Hahn, President, Canadian Union of Public Employees

Dr. Doris Grinspun, Chief Executive Officer, Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario

Chris Buckley, President, Ontario Federation of Labour

Franz Hartmann, Executive Director, Toronto Environmental Alliance

Amber Ellis, Executive Director, Earthroots

Eli Angen, Regional Director, Ontario, The Pembina Institute

Kim Perrotta, Executive Director, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

Jack Gibbons, Chair, Ontario Clean Air Alliance

Joanna Kerr, Executive Director, Greenpeace Canada

Janet Sumner, Executive Director, CPAWS Widlands League

Tim Gray, Executive Director, Environmental Defence

Brennain Lloyd, Project Coordinator, Northwatch

Janet McKay, Executive Director, Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests

Kaitlyn Mitchell, Staff Lawyer, Ecojustice

Caroline Schultz, Executive Director, Ontario Nature

c. The Hon. Chris Ballard, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
The Hon. Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
The Hon. Kevin Flynn, Minister of Labour

There have been many demands for the province to deal with patient overcrowding and to restore lost bed capacity in our hospital system with permanent funding for beds. Over two decades Ontario has cut about 18,000 beds. Consequently, Ontario has the lowest hospital beds (per population) among developed economic countries.

Ontario’s health minister has announced a funding increase that covers about 1,200 hospital beds for a four-month period. The announcement equals about .5 per cent in hospital annual funding.

“These beds come with an expiry date of March, weeks before a provincial budget and a few months before an election. This is only a solution to get us through the flu season. Patients and their families need much more than that,” says Hurley.

Hospital staff from across the province agree with him. Hundreds of them are readying to board buses early Friday (October 27, 2017) morning for a major rally at Ottawa’s Montfort Hospital, slated for 12:00 noon, that same day. Their goal is improved funding for hospital care, which lags, all but one Canadian province.

“It is a good thing that the government acknowledges that we have a serious problem with hospital bed capacity in Ontario. But what they’ve provided is temporary and does not address the real funding crisis in Ontario. Hospitals need a 5 per cent funding increase just to deal with inflation. They are only receiving 3 per cent on average, which means ongoing cuts to other beds and services. Our response is a major rally in Ottawa-Carleton, an Ontario Liberal strong-hold,” says Hurley.

Twenty-five busloads of hospital staff from Sudbury, North Bay, Toronto, Kingston, Hamilton, Peterborough and Durham Region, as well as Ottawa and other eastern Ontario communities, are participating in a short march before the rally at the Montfort Hospital on Montreal Road.

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For more information please contact:

Michael Hurley, President Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE), 416.884.0770

Stella Yeadon, CUPE Communications, 416.559.9300

COPE491/NA

“We represent 13,000 Educational Assistants who work hard, with other Board employees and parents, to develop and deliver individualized educational programs to assist students with multiple challenges, including those with autism,” said Terri Preston, Chair of the CUPE Ontario School Board Coordinating Committee. “They are deeply concerned by any initiative that opens the door to the privatization of those critical services in our schools.”

The government’s announcement details a pilot project that will experiment with allowing private operators, providing Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) “therapy”, into eleven of Ontario’s school boards to work directly with students with autism during the school day.

“Parents of children with special needs, including children with autism, have every right to expect they can walk into their local school and receive the services their children need, fully funded and publicly provided,” said Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario. “They shouldn’t have to worry about securing outside funding, finding a private provider or paying out of their own pockets, to ensure their children succeed at school. That is the responsibility of the government and instead of just abdicating their role to private operators, they should be properly funding and providing all the necessary services students with special needs require.”

Funding for educational services for students with special needs in Ontario has long been criticized for not directly addressing the complex, individual needs of students. School boards across Ontario regularly report spending more on services for students with special needs than they are funded for by the provincial government.

“As education workers, we know students with special needs need more front-line staff support,” said Preston. “It’s why, in contract extension talks with the government, we negotiated $52 million over two years to increase front-line staff working with students with special needs. Even with those hard-won investments, more support is needed for students with a variety of complex needs and that’s why the government needs to finally conduct a long-overdue funding formula review.”

Since the cuts to Ontario’s education funding by the Conservative government of Mike Harris more than 20 years ago, experts have been calling for a comprehensive education funding formula review. Prior to being first elected in 2003, the Ontario Liberals committed to a review but no comprehensive examination of the funding formula, including the funding needed to support students with special needs, has taken place.

The Ministry of Education’s announced pilot does also include increased access to ABA training for Educational Assistants working in 18 Ontario school boards.

“Many of us already have ABA training or incorporate ABA principles into our work with students,” said Laura Walton, an Educational Assistant who is also Vice-Chair of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Coordinating Committee. “Educational Assistants are constantly upgrading their skills and knowledge, often at their own expense, so any funded training opportunities are always welcome. We have been asking the government to ensure Educational Assistants, and all board employees who work to address the complex needs of our students, have access to an array of professional development opportunities, including ABA training.”

CUPE Ontario represents 260,000 workers across the province, including more than 60,000 education workers working in all four board systems.

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For more information, contact:

Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638, www.cupe.on.ca

TORONTO – The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC) and its partners are calling on the provincial government for enhanced, predictable public funding to achieve affordable, high quality services for families and decent work with professional pay for educators.

“We all welcome the expansion of 100,000 new child care spaces as Ontario begins to move toward a universally accessible system of child care. There are big challenges, however, in attracting and retaining the estimated 20,000 early childhood educators that will be required to build this system while also reducing parent fees which are the highest in the country,” said Laurel Rothman of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

Provincial work is underway to develop strategies to address the workforce challenges and to develop a plan for making child care affordable. There is optimism that when the province’s report on affordability is tabled by February 2018, recommendations will set out how the burden on parents will be eased and how the current patchwork of market-based child care can be transformed to a planned system of publicly-funded services.

“We are encouraged that progress toward a workforce strategy for Ontario's child care and early years sector is also underway. Research shows that that it’s the educators that build and sustain quality in child care. A robust workforce strategy will address many issues including pay equity and fair compensation, appropriate working conditions and professional development – all key elements of decent work,” commented Lyndsay Macdonald of the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario.

“Ontario families have waited far too long for a coherent system of high quality early childhood education and care services, and we are not there yet. We must get it right. Getting it right also means serving indigenous families and communities well. From my decades of work with indigenous families, I know that they also want high quality, affordable child care,” adds Lori Huston, RECE and single mother of two children in licensed child care from Thunder Bay.

Rothman adds, “If ECE salaries are to be appropriate and fees become affordable for all, public funding must increase and public policy must become more robust, if they do not, we will never achieve the goal of a universally accessible system of high quality child care that Ontario parents want and need.”

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CONTACT:

Laurel Rothman, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care

Ph: 416-538-0628 ext. 4; Cell: 416-575-9230; laurel@childcareontario.org

Lyndsay Macdonald, Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario

Ph: 416-487-3157 ext. 24; Cell: 647-920-5230; lmacdonald@aeceo.ca

Lori Huston; Cell: 807-630-5925; lhuston@outlook.com

We acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, and most recently, the territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.

“We told our local MPP and the Kingston community we are committed to securing better provincial funding for our hospital, which was initially given below, even the 2 per cent minimum investment that the Ontario Liberals said they were making in 2017. Now we have an announcement for some new temporary beds. But they are not permanent, fully funded beds. And that’s not good enough. That’s one of the reasons CUPE 1974 members – KHSC staff - are going to Ottawa.  Our goal is much improved funding for our hospital and for hospital care general. Ontario lags all but one Canadian province in funding and patient care. That’s nothing for our MPP to trumpet,” says CUPE 1974 president Mike Rodrigues.

CUPE crunched the numbers and found that KHSC only received a 1.85 per cent funding increase for 2017. While the announcement of temporary beds increases that funding level slightly, the bed funding is only until March 2018. In the spring 2017 budget, the Ontario Liberals promised an average of 3.1 per cent for hospitals.

“They certainly haven’t delivered anywhere near that 3 per cent for our newly merged hospital. That has to change and they need to allocate more funding and fund our hospital properly,” says Rodrigues.

Three buses with CUPE 1974 members will leave Kingston at 8 a.m. from behind the Cataraqui Arena, 1030 Sunnyside Road.

“Kingston media are invited to join us on the buses for the trek to Ottawa. Hospital nurses, cleaners and clerical staff are eager to tell first-hand the impacts of provincial underfunding, patient overcrowding and cutbacks,” says Rodrigues.

The CUPE 1974 group will be among the twenty-five busloads of hospital staff from Sudbury, North Bay, Toronto, Kingston, Hamilton, Peterborough and Durham Region, as well as Ottawa and other eastern Ontario communities, participating in a short march through Ottawa, before the 12:00 noon rally at the Montfort Hospital on Montreal Road.

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For more information please contact:

Mike Rodrigues, President CUPE 1974, 613.876.4309

Stella Yeadon, CUPE Communications, 416.559.9300

cope491/NA

Frontline workers at Maison d’amitié – which employs an entirely female workforce to counsel and assist other French-speaking women who are fleeing violent and abusive situations – expressed shock and dismay at their employer’s demand for a “no-board report” from the Ministry of Labour. This report starts the clock ticking towards a strike or lockout that could begin as early as November 20.

“This is a hugely irresponsible move on the part of Maison d’amitié,” charged Jacynthe Barbeau, a national representative with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents workers at the agency.

“Negotiators for Maison d’amitié seem to have decided that disrupting vital shelter services for a highly vulnerable group is somehow preferable to bargaining a fair, first contract with their dedicated workers.”

Forty women from a wide variety of backgrounds and ethnicities work at Maison d’amitié. Every day, they respond to the emotional and physical needs of francophone women and families who have lived through violent and abusive situations. The workers run programmes for women and children that include individual and group counselling, interim support programs, and supports and services for victims of sexual violence.

Noting the current explosion of awareness of the damage done to women because of abuses of power, Barbeau commented on the irony of Maison d’amitié’s reckless decision to threaten not only its workers with labour disruption, but the desperate families who rely on the services these workers provide.

“Can those who are in charge of Maison d’amitié not realize the potential damage they are causing?” Barbeau asked. “It is absolutely appalling that this employer would jeopardize vulnerable women and children in this way.”

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For more information, contact

Jacynthe Barbeau, CUPE National Representative, 819-351-2704

Mary Unan, CUPE Communications, 647-390-9839

MU:gb

cope491

TORONTO, ON – Families, personal support workers and long-term care advocates join NDP Health Critic France Gélinas to call on all parties to support Bill 33 (Time to Care Act) that would legislate minimum care standards in long-term care.

“Seniors are suffering. They need us to act now,” says Gélinas. “We hope the Premier and all MPPs will stand up for vulnerable seniors and support Bill 33.”

“Currently the only legal guarantees long-term care residents have in Ontario, is that there will be a nurse on call in the home 24 hours-a-day, and that they will get two baths a week,” says Candace Rennick, Secretary Treasurer of CUPE Ontario and former long-term care worker. “This needs to change.”

            When:                         Wednesday, November 1, 2017

            Time:                          10:00 a.m.

            Location:                    Queen’s Park Media Studio

           Guests:                       Tom Carrothers, Chair, Advocacy Committee of Family Councils

                                                Candace Rennick, Secretary-Treasurer, CUPE Ontario

                                                Andrea Legault, Personal Support Worker, Fairhaven Homes for the Aged, Peterborough

Second Reading of Time to Care – Bill 33

           When:                          Thursday, November 2, 2017

           Time:                           3:00 p.m.

           Location:                    Queen’s Park, Legislative Chamber

           Note:                            Personal Support Workers and families will be in the gallery

CUPE is Ontario’s community union, with more than 260,000 members providing quality public services we all rely on, in every part of the province, every day. CUPE Ontario members are proud to work in social services, health care, municipalities, school boards, universities and airlines.

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For more information, contact:

Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638

www.cupe.on.ca

SJ/KJM: COPE491

“This bill was written with one thing in mind, protecting the health and dignity of our seniors living in Ontario’s long-term care homes,” NDP Health Critic France Gélinas said, at a Queen’s Park press conference on the eve of second reading. “Families in this province are concerned about the treatment their loved ones are receiving in long-term care. If we want to protect our most vulnerable citizens, a minimum standard of daily care is a must.”

“Right now, the only guarantees long-term care residents have in Ontario, are that there will be one nurse on site in the home 24 hours-a-day, and that they will get two baths a week. This is not acceptable,” says Candace Rennick, Secretary Treasurer of CUPE Ontario and a former long-term care worker who has been working with the Gélinas to bring Bill 33 forward. “Ontario seniors deserve better protection.”

There are more than 78,000 people living in Ontario long-term care homes. The majority of residents are over 85, almost three quarters have some form of Alzheimer’s or dementia, and the vast majority have mobility issues.

Canada has the lowest care levels among countries with equivalent economies, and Ontario has the lowest in Canada. Bill 33 would legislate a minimum care standard of four hours a day.

“We have five to ten minutes to help a resident with their morning routine. That includes waking, washing, dressing and use of the commode. Imagine if you only had ten minutes for all those activities in the morning. Then imagine you are 87 years old with mobility issues – it’s just not right,” said Andrea Legault, a personal support worker for 19 years. “The hardest thing for me is the residents that we literally force into incontinence because we don’t have enough staff to get to them when they call for help to the bathroom.”

MPPs across the province have received more than 5000 letters of support from family members, for the Time to Care Act. In a recent obituary one family even asked mourners to send letters of support for the bill in lieu of flowers or charitable donations.

“I’ve seen first-hand the results of cuts in our long-term care homes. Incidents of resident on resident violence are increasing as residents with dementia and other cognitive illness are more and more isolated,” said Tom Carrothers, chair of the Advocacy Committee of Family Councils. “The pattern of chronic understaffing in our long-term care homes only exacerbates these problems.”

“It’s not acceptable that our loved ones, the people who spent their lives building our province and caring for our communities, are now being neglected in their final years. We are very grateful to France for bringing this bill forward, but this shouldn’t be a partisan issue,” said Rennick. “We are calling on all parties to step up tomorrow, and vote yes for the Time to Care Act. Seniors across Ontario are counting on them.”

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For more information, contact: Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638 www.cupe.on.ca

“The seniors we care for are counting on all parties to support this critical bill,” says Andrea Legault, a personal support worker at Fairhaven for the last 19 years. “We have five to ten minutes to help a resident with their morning routine. That includes waking, washing, dressing and use of the commode. Imagine if you only had eight minutes for all those activities in the morning. Then imagine you are 87 years old with mobility issues – it’s just not right.”

“The hardest thing for me is the residents that we literally force into incontinence because we don’t have enough staff to get to them when they call for help to the bathroom,” she says.

Right now, the only guarantees long-term care residents have in Ontario, are that there will be one nurse on-site in the home 24 hours-a-day, and that they will get two baths a week. Canada has the lowest care levels among countries with equivalent economies, and Ontario has the lowest in Canada.

There are more than 78,000 people living in Ontario long-term care homes. The majority are over 85, almost three quarters have some form of Alzheimer’s or dementia, and the vast majority have mobility issues.

“It’s not acceptable that our loved ones, the people who spent their lives building our province and caring for our communities, are now being neglected in their final years. We are very grateful to the NDP Health Critic for bringing this bill forward, but this shouldn’t be a partisan issue,” says Candace Rennick, Secretary Treasurer of CUPE Ontario and a former long-term care worker who has been working with Gélinas to bring the Time to Care Act forward. “We are counting on all parties to step up tomorrow, and vote yes for the Time to Care Act. Seniors across Ontario are counting on them.”

The second reading vote on Bill 33 is expected to take place around 3 pm on Thursday, November 2, 2017.

The bus for Queen’s Park will be leaving at 10:30am from the Sobeys’ parking lot on Lansdowne St. with stops for pick ups along highway 115.

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For more information, contact: Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638 www.cupe.on.ca

“The care and wellbeing of our seniors should never be a partisan issue and we are so pleased that members of all three parties came together to pass this critical legislation at second reading,” said Candace Rennick, Secretary Treasurer of CUPE Ontario and a former long-term care worker who has been working with Gélinas to bring the Time to Care Act forward.

Currently, the only legal guarantees for seniors living in long-term care are an on-call nurse 24 hours-a-day, and two baths a week. Canada has the lowest care levels among countries with equivalent economies, and Ontario has the lowest in Canada.

“The Time to Care Act was written with one thing in mind, protecting the health and dignity of our seniors living in Ontario’s long-term care homes. I hope the other parties will continue to support my bill through committee and at final reading,” said NDP Health Critic France Gélinas, after the vote. “If we are going to protect our most vulnerable citizens, a minimum standard of daily care is a must.”

“Right now, we have five to ten minutes to help a resident with their morning routine. That includes waking, washing, dressing and use of the commode. Imagine if you only had ten minutes for all those activities in the morning. Then imagine you are 82 years old with mobility issues,” said Andrea Legault, a personal support worker at Queen’s Park for the vote. “We need mandatory care levels. We just run from person to person. We don’t have enough time for the level of care our residents need. It’s heart breaking.”

There are more than 78,000 people living in Ontario long-term care homes. The majority of residents in Ontario long-term care homes are over 85, almost three quarters have some form of Alzheimer’s or dementia, and the vast majority have mobility issues.

Canada has the lowest care levels among countries with equivalent economies, and Ontario has the lowest in Canada. Bill 33 would legislate a minimum care standard of four hours a day.

“It’s not acceptable that our loved ones, the people who spent their lives building our province and caring for our communities, are now being neglected in their final years. We have been working hard to get the government to take action on this,” said Rennick. “Today’s vote was a great start. We hope they will act swiftly to bring it to final reading and pass it into law.”

CUPE is Ontario’s community union, with more than 260,000 members providing quality public services we all rely on, in every part of the province, every day. CUPE Ontario members are proud to work in social services, health care, municipalities, school boards, universities and airlines.

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For more information, contact: Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638

www.cupe.on.ca

“We’re happy the Premier and Minister of Health have finally recognized the need to increase hours of hands on care for seniors in long-term care homes, but sadly today’s announcement is not what it seems,” says Rennick. “Right now, the government counts workers who are off sick or on vacation as if they are by the bedside. This doesn’t help seniors when they’re calling for help to the bathroom.”

“While we’re pleased that the government has finally acknowledged it may not be legitimate to include hours spent on vacation, stat holidays and sick time as ‘direct care hours’, it’s staggering that they refuse to rule it out,” say Rennick. “CUPE will continue to insist that a 4 hours average is not legitimate if it includes hours not spent in the workplace giving care to residents.”

“We are also concerned that the government has offered no time line for it’s roll-out and does not legislate a minimum standard of care,” says Rennick. “Without legislated care standards there is no guarantee that seniors will get the on going care they need and deserve.”

Currently, the only legal guarantees for seniors living in long-term care are one on-site nurse 24 hours-a-day, and two baths a week. Canada has the lowest care levels among countries with equivalent economies, and Ontario has the lowest in Canada.

There are more than 78,000 people living in Ontario long-term care homes. The majority of residents in Ontario long-term care homes are over 85, almost three quarters have some form of Alzheimer’s or dementia, and the vast majority have mobility issues.

“Our members have been working hard for years to get the government to take action,” says Heather Duff, chair of CUPE Ontario’s Health Care Workers Sector. “We hope that the government will move swiftly to increase bedside care for all the seniors who are suffering today.”

“Today’s announcement is a direct result of all the work CUPE Ontario members did to raise awareness of how badly increases in direct hands on care are needed,” says Duff. “We should be very proud of the work we’ve done here. And make no mistake our long-term care workers are not going to stop pushing until they know that their residents are getting the level of care they need.”

CUPE is Ontario’s community union, with more than 260,000 members providing quality public services we all rely on, in every part of the province, every day. CUPE Ontario members are proud to work in social services, health care, municipalities, school boards, universities and airlines.

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For more information, contact: Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638

www.cupe.on.ca

Ontario-wide, 68 per cent of registered practical nurses (RPN) and personal support workers (PSWs), said they had experienced at least one incident of physical violence in the hospital such as punching, hitting, or having things thrown at them, in the last year. Nearly 20 per cent said they’ve been physically assaulted nine times or more in the last year.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) through its hospital division, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE), polled 1,976 members working in hospitals in seven Ontario communities earlier this fall. The poll findings were released in Windsor by OCHU president Michael Hurley and Scott Sharp, a personal support worker, who was thrown through a wall by a very disturbed patient at a Guelph hospital and is, over two years later, struggling to recover and return to work.

“The level of physical violence that I experienced and that so many other hospital staff experience every day, scars the body and it scars the soul. Not enough is being done by the hospitals to create a culture where violent behaviour is simply not tolerated. Instead the victims of violence are to a large extent, simply swept under the carpet,” says Sharp.

Among the many disturbing findings is that Ontario-wide 42 per cent of nurses and personal support workers report having experienced at least one incident in the past year of sexual harassment or assault.

“Hospital management is scandalously complacent about an environment where their largely female staff are frequently hit and sexually harassed and sexually assaulted. Managers see this as just part of our jobs. One staff member who was sexually assaulted was told by her supervisor that the patient must have been sexually frustrated. People working in healthcare should have the same rights not to be physically or sexually assaulted or harassed as any other person.” says Hurley.

The Ontario results show that 44 per cent of RPNs and PSWs do not agree that their employer protects them and their co-workers effectively from violence. “Ontario hospitals should be leaders in workplace violence prevention. The reality, regrettably is the opposite,” says Hurley.

Even hospital staff in other support occupations experience violence. In the province-wide polling 24 per cent said that they’ve been pushed, hit or had things thrown at them at least once in the past year.

OCHU/CUPE is calling on the federal and provincial governments for legislative and legal changes to protect health care staff.

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For more information please contact:

Michael Hurley            President, OCHU/CUPE    416-884-0770

Stella Yeadon             CUPE Communications     416-559-9300

www.epidemicofviolence.ca

“One of the greatest problems facing our health care system is the lack of support for seniors in long-term care,” says Hahn. “Many of our aging seniors are being forced to stay in hospitals longer than necessary taking up desperately needed beds, because there aren’t enough spaces in long-term care. Even more troubling is that once they finally get a spot in a long-term care home they are not being provided the level of care they need.”

CUPE Ontario has been actively campaigning for Bill 33, the Time to Care Act that if passed would legislate a minimum care standard of four hours of hands on care a day in Ontario’s long-term care homes. Currently, the only legal guarantees for seniors living in long-term care are one on-site nurse 24 hours-a-day, and two baths a week. Canada has the lowest care levels among countries with equivalent economies, and Ontario has the lowest in Canada.

“It’s not acceptable that our loved ones, the people who spent their lives building our province and caring for our communities, are being neglected in their final years. CUPE Ontario will continue to fight until they get the care and respect they deserve,” says Hahn.

There are more than 78,000 people living in Ontario long-term care homes. The majority of residents in Ontario long-term care homes are over 85, almost three quarters have some form of Alzheimer’s or dementia, and the vast majority have mobility issues.

What:              Town hall on the state of health care in Ontario

When:             Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Time:              6:30 – 8:30 pm

Location:        Fogolar Furlan Club, 1800 North Service Rd.

Who:               Lisa Gretzky, MPP Windsor West

                        Fred Hahn, CUPE Ontario President

                        Karen Bertrand, Ontario Nurses Association

                        People of Windsor

CUPE is Ontario’s community union, with more than 260,000 members providing quality public services we all rely on, in every part of the province, every day. CUPE Ontario members are proud to work in social services, health care, municipalities, school boards, universities and airlines.

-30-

For more information, contact: Sarah Jordison, CUPE Communications, 416-578-5638

www.cupe.on.ca

Ontario-wide, 68 per cent of registered practical nurses (RPN) and personal support workers (PSWs), said they had experienced at least one incident of physical violence in the hospital such as punching, hitting, or having things thrown at them, in the last year. Nearly 20 per cent said they’ve been physically assaulted nine times or more in the last year.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), through its hospital division, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE), polled 1,976 members working in hospitals in seven Ontario communities earlier this fall. The poll findings were released in Cornwall by OCHU president Michael Hurley and Scott Sharp, a personal support worker, who was thrown through a wall by a very disturbed patient at a Guelph hospital and is, over two years later, struggling to recover and return to work.

“The level of physical violence that I experienced and that so many other hospital staff experience every day, scars the body and it scars the soul. Not enough is being done by the hospitals to create a culture where violent behaviour is simply not tolerated. Instead the victims of violence are to a large extent, simply swept under the carpet,” says Sharp.

Among the many disturbing findings is that Ontario-wide 42 per cent of nurses and personal support workers report having experienced at least one incident in the past year of sexual harassment or assault.

“Hospital management is scandalously complacent about an environment where their largely female staff are frequently hit and sexually harassed and sexually assaulted. Managers see this as just part of our jobs. One staff member who was sexually assaulted was told by her supervisor that the patient must have been sexually frustrated. People working in healthcare should have the same rights not to be physically or sexually assaulted or harassed as any other person.” says Hurley.

The Ontario results show that 44 per cent of RPNs and PSWs do not agree that their employer protects them and their co-workers effectively from violence. “Ontario hospitals should be leaders in workplace violence prevention. The reality, regrettably is the opposite,” says Hurley.

Even hospital staff in other support occupations experience violence. In the province-wide polling 24 per cent said that they’ve been pushed, hit or had things thrown at them at least once in the past year.

OCHU/CUPE is calling on the federal and provincial governments for legislative and legal changes to protect health care staff.

-30-

For more information please contact:

Michael Hurley            President, OCHU/CUPE    416-884-0770

Stella Yeadon             CUPE Communications     416-559-9300

www.epidemicofviolence.ca