ALF V1

Government rules allowed private, for-profit facility to evict senior in stable condition

An Alberta family is demanding answers from the Conservative government after their mother, a long-term-care patient in stable condition, was dumped at a hospital emergency room by a private care-home operator.

"We are appalled that our 80-year-old mother was treated liked a commodity instead of being treated with the respect and dignity that all Albertans deserve," says Beth Podgurny, of St. Albert.

"Within days of our mother moving in, the private, for-profit home in which she was living began asking us for more money, but when we told them they should stick to the terms of the contract that we had only recently signed, they responded with an eviction notice," says Podgurny.

"The fact that there appears to be nothing under provincial rules to prevent this is mind-boggling. It just goes to show that the privatization solution that Premier Alison Redford is pushing to address long-term-care issues isn't the answer for vulnerable Albertans."

Podgurny and other members of her family will hold a media conference Wednesday to call on the government for answers about the long-term-care crisis, and to ask why they have had no answer from Health and Wellness Minister Fred Horne and Seniors Minister George VanderBurg nearly two months after writing to them seeking a public inquiry into long-term care.

Other speakers at the media conference:

• Bill Moore-Kilgannon, executive director, Public Interest Alberta
• Noel Somerville, chair of the PIA Seniors Task Force

TIME: 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, March 14, 2012.

LOCATION: River Valley Room, Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe, 10111 Bellamy Hill, Edmonton.

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MEDIA CONTACT:

• Bill Moore-Kilgannon, 780-993-3736

In a preview of upcoming provincial election debates, Health Minister Fred Horne took on four party leaders Monday night in a town hall discussion on the future of health care in Alberta.

Amid continuing care, the use of health technology and worker morale, some of the most emotional exchanges of the night erupted when a member of the audience asked if any of the parties had "the political will" to fix problems that have been around for decades, such as long waiting lists and inadequate staffing. It was four against one, as the opposition leaders blasted Horne for his government's failings to make sufficient progress on the problems.

Horne said the Redford government was on the right track, adding that people need to stop looking for a "magic fix" to complicated issues.

The best health systems in the world "look for incremental improvement based on consultations with front-line staff," Horne told a crowd of about 300 people packed into a lecture hall at University Hospital.

But Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith said Horne was being disingenuous, since the Alberta health system hasn't shown incremental improvement on reducing waiting times or ensuring the system has enough doctors, nurses and technicians. She said the government's decision to stick with a system man-aged by the Alberta Health Services superboard would prevent further progress, since it will "trap" workers in an organization that doesn't work.

NDP Leader Brian Mason said the system has still not recovered from the damage done by former health minister Ron Liepert, who championed the switch from local health authorities to AHS.

"With all due respect, minister, your government has been working on this for 40 years," Mason said to scattered applause. "The NDP invented health care and we will always be its most reliable defender."

Liberal Leader Dr. Raj Sherman said his will to fix the problems was evident through his courage in at-tacking the government when he was still a member of the PC caucus. He said his party can solve issues quickly, in part through more investment in long-term care and home care.

"We don't need incremental change. People are suffering right now," he said, while Horne shook his head.

Alberta Party Leader Glenn Taylor said his group went through building a party from scratch precisely because they felt the current government was not up to the task of delivering essential services.

The forum, hosted by the Edmonton Journal and the Alberta Medical Association, featured questions from both members of the public and health-care organizations.

Another topic that produced fire-works came when a retired obstetrician asked the panellists how they would curb queue-jumping, admit-ting that he "unashamedly" engaged in the practice once to get his wife a CT scan after hours.

Again, opposition leaders used the opportunity to go after Horne on his government's recent decision to hold a public inquiry into allegations that politically connected people have been queue-jumping to get better or faster care.

While the health minister said Premier Alison Redford had honoured her promise by proceeding with the inquiry, Sherman went on the attack. "Fred, I've got to call you on this. The premier is misleading the public," he said, arguing the inquiry should also look into the alleged intimidation of doctors. He said the best way to pre-vent queue-jumping was not to have a waiting line in the first place.

Mason and Smith also said they were not convinced the inquiry, as structured, would do any good.

Other questions focused on improving rural health care and ensuring private health-care providers are paying workers a fair wage.

All the opposition leaders said they would divert money from bureaucracy to front-line services and introduce more local control into decisions about health-care delivery. Smith said her party hopes to move away from the AHS model and instead look at some sort of "hybrid" system of public and private care that is used in countries such as Switzerland and Germany.

"The solution doesn't end with a superboard or regional health authorities. It ends with the defeat of this government," Taylor said.

Horne said the province is moving to give local health advisory councils more say.

"But we don't believe they need to be elected or that we need to go back to a system of governance from the 1970s."

A similar town hall was held last week in Calgary.

Edmonton Journal, Tues Mar 13 2012
Byline: Keith Gerein

Proposed reforms to make Canada's immigration system faster and more responsive are "bang on", says one national construction association.

In a recent speech to the National Metropolis Conference, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney highlighted recent changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program and spoke of more flexibility within the current points system.

Though the minister did not go into policy details, Canadian Construction Association (CCA) president Michael Atkinson said these proposed reforms sound good on the surface.

"Both those statements he made sound encouraging because both those elements, the timeliness and the points system, were often identified by our members as deterrents or disincentives for using the Federal Skilled Worker program to try and get permanent workers in."

Current applicants to the Federal Skilled Worker Program must have experience in one of 29 occupations in demand, or have a job offer in Canada. Atkinson said part of the current problem is the huge backlog for the program.

"It can take years in order to get someone in under the permanent entry skilled worker program. Obviously that's not quick enough in a construction setting," he said, adding that's why so many construction firms use the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and provincial nominee programs.

Kenney recognized that the current points system used to assess federal skilled worker applicants needs to be more flexible and intelligent. It should place greater emphasis on the importance of language, he said, while recognizing that the language ability needed to successfully integrate in Canada is different for a doctor as opposed to a welder. It should also place greater emphasis on younger workers with high quality credentials that can be recognized quickly.

Kenney spoke of the growing success of the Canadian Experience Class, which allows certain foreign students and temporary foreign workers to translate their Canadian work and education experience into permanent residence.

"Immigration is playing an increasingly important role in our economy and we need a system that does a better job of attracting the people who have the skills that are in demand and getting them here quickly," he said.

The provincial and territorial nominee programs have played a role in spreading the benefits of immigration across the country and addressing long-term regional labour needs, said Kenney.

Ontario also recently announced that it is developing its first immigration strategy. A new expert roundtable, led by Julia Deans, past CEO of Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance, will help develop the strategy and examine ways that immigration can best support Ontario's economic development.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall was recently in Dublin on a labour recruitment mission to help fill the ranks of the province's skilled workforce.

Atkinson expects the CCA to be extensively consulted as the proposed changes and developments move forward as the construction industry employs more than 1.2 million Canadians.

"Given our needs in the future and given the fact that Canada's conomic growth is so dependent upon the kinds of infrastructure that we can provide to the resource based industries in Canada," he said, pointing to commodities like oil and gas, mining, metals and potash.

Projections currently indicate that the Canadian construction industry will experience a shortfall of 325,000 workers by 2019.

At the same time, demand for construction services in Canada is expected to continue increasing throughout the decade, elevating Canada's construction market to fifth-largest in the world.

While domestic efforts to increase skilled worker training in Canada is equally important, Canada's domestic population growth will not be able to singularly address industry needs, says the CCA.

Daily Commercial News and Construction Record, Wed Mar 14 2012

For years, every health-care expert in Alberta has said that one of the main solutions for better emergency room access is more long-term care beds. The government has said it, Alberta Health Services has said it, doctors and advocacy groups have pushed for it, but the situation never improves. In fact, it has gotten worse.

The province currently has 14,574 nursing home beds — at least 50 fewer than in early 2008 and an inconsequential increase from the 14,500 that existed in 1992. The paralysis on this critical issue is one of the great failings of the ruling Tories. Former premier Ed Stelmach vowed to build 1,000 long-term beds per year. But facility operators say new spaces frequently replace aging capacity that's being closed down. Of the 511 beds announced by the Redford government in December, only 30 are 24-hour nursing home spaces, with the remainder being supported living beds for residents without complex medical needs.

The government's failure to deliver more long-term care beds is a key reason behind the excessive waits in the province's emergency rooms, according to Dr. Paul Parks, past president of the Alberta Medical Association's emergency medical section. The recent Alberta Health Quality Council report on the province's health-care system said that six to eight per cent of hospital beds are occupied by patients waiting for access to supportive living and long-term care facilities, calling it "an inefficient use of a critically limited resource that further contributes to high in-patient occupancy bed rates."

Chloe Atkins, an associate professor at the University of Calgary who specializes in medical ethics, recently wrote on these pages that she is one of the "bed blockers." With a chronic illness that occasionally keeps her hospitalized for long periods, she blocks the move of patients from the emergency ward, causing a backup in the system. Atkins says she does not require a long-term care bed, simply better federal tax breaks that would allow her to make her house more accessible. It is another simple solution that governments at two levels fail to grasp, let alone resolve.

In its 2012 budget, the provincial government announced $25 million for three home-care initiatives for seniors. Among them is a new program, Destination Home, designed to help seniors return home as quickly as possible after a hospital stay and avoid unnecessary hospital visits. Specifics were thin, with the government saying it was developing the program for gradual implementation over the next three years. Also announced were new adult day program spaces for 440 home care and better access to 24-hour on-call registered nurses for home care.

Considering the inability of the province to resolve this issue over the years, we won't be holding our breath.

Calgary Herald, Mon Mar 12 2012
Editorial

CALGARY — Blasted for days over the legislature committee that paid real money for fictional work, Premier Alison Redford must be kicking herself.

The premier could have been the hero on this one. Instead, she allowed a taxpayer lobby group to bump her off the podium.

Redford was far out in front of the pay issue last Aug. 23, when she promised during the PC leadership campaign to "eliminate special payments for simply serving on a government committee."

Redford's view of MLA pay was in tune with the public mood. She knew it smelled and said so.

"MLAs are currently paid from so many different pots that it is difficult, and on occasion impossible, for Albertans to determine how much each MLA makes," said her campaign statement on pay reform.

Clear views like that won her the support of many Tory leadership voters; and, by no coincidence, virtually none from Tory MLAs.

Until just before the end of the campaign, only lonely Calgary-Hays member Art Johnston backed her.

Redford wanted to turn the pay system upside-down. Particularly, she was opposed to lush severance deals "that come with their own set of rules."

That was strong stuff. It set her apart, showed she wanted to change the system.

When Redford became premier she could have followed through immediately.

But she didn't. Instead, she turned her promise into a process — another panel to study an issue. And she vowed to follow its findings, no matter what they are.

Maybe that's the lawyer in her. Redford does believe in due process, in the advice of experts, in studying things first and doing them right.

But sometimes in politics firm leadership is all that counts.

The premier could have shoved that committee into the ditch in her first week on the job. The voters would have loved her for it, even if her caucus didn't.

But she formed her panel. Soon the pay issue must have seemed minor as health care and other problems heated up.

Symbolic irritants like political pay never really lose their power, though. They just lie dormant until somebody steps on them.

Last week, along came the Canadian Taxpayers Federation with its Teddy Awards for dumb waste.

And the winner among all provincial governments was Alberta's Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing.

Many Albertans were shocked to learn that MLAs are paid just for belonging to committees, and positively outraged that one all-party committee pays but never meets.

Redford essentially agreed with the federation when she said, "It's not right." Indeed, she'd been the first to say it, five months earlier.

But the premier had lost the initiative. She'd even forgotten — or never been aware — that she was briefly an unpaid member of that committee.

On Monday, Redford finally showed that it's not so tough to act after all, by decreeing that Tory MLAs will take no more pay from that committee.

In my view, she was a lot quicker off the mark with the budding uproar over fundraising efforts by Alberta's trade envoy to Asia, Gary Mar.

This time Redford didn't wait for somebody else to break the news. She did it first, abruptly announcing that Mar was suspended from his Hong Kong job pending an ethics inquiry.

There's no way the government escapes this one without further damage, but at least the new premier was acting the way she talked, way back last summer.

Calgary Herald, Mon Mar 12 2012
Byline: Don Braid

'These are the issues that we need to talk about in an election,' premier tells reporters

Premier Alison Redford remains committed to calling an election immediately after the provincial budget is passed, in spite of multiple controversies that have hounded the governing Tories in recent weeks.

Speaking to reporters at a fundraising dinner in Airdrie on Saturday, Redford admitted she is concerned by a series of recent events that have cast the government in a negative light.

"There's a lot of those things going on right now, and there's no doubt they're troubling to me," Redford said. "There's no doubt that right before an election there's an awful lot of politics, but I'm not diminishing this as politics. These are the issues that we need to talk about in an election."

The most recent blow to the PCs came Friday, when Redford suspended former leadership candidate Gary Mar from his post as Alberta's envoy to Asia over a recent fundraiser held to clear up his debts from the campaign. The $400-per-ticket event held at the Edmonton Petroleum Club offered Mar in his capacity apparently as envoy speaking about doing business in Asia. Redford has asked the province's ethics commissioner to look into the situation.

On Saturday, Redford said it would be inappropriate for her to do anything further at this point, because Mar — like all government of Alberta employees — deserves to be treated with due process. But she said she was quite concerned to see that the original invitation to the Mar fundraiser referred to his position as a public servant. Redford's communications chief Jay O'Neill said in an interview Friday that there would be conflict-of-interest provisions in Mar's contract as envoy. There are also guidelines for senior civil servants.

"It's not appropriate, in my mind, for this type of action to take place," Redford said. "But it's not for me to decide that — it's for the ethics commissioner."

Leadership campaign financial documents released by the PC party on Friday showed Mar's campaign spent almost $2.7 million on the leadership race, racking up a $262,000 deficit. Mar could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Also on Friday, news broke that Redford herself was a member for several months on a controversial legislature committee that never actually met. The day before, Redford told the Herald that she was unaware that 21 government and opposition MLAs have been paid $1,000 a month — a total of $261,000 annually — to sit on a committee that hasn't met since 2008.

Redford said she herself never received any payment for her time on the committee, but acknowledged that Albertans are unhappy about the entire issue.

"I found out yesterday that I had been assigned to this committee," Redford said. "I didn't receive any pay for sitting on this committee, but the randomness of it is something that is very troubling to me and it should be troubling to Albertans."

Redford said she hopes the independent panel headed by former judge Jack Major that she appointed to look into the issue of MLA compensation will go a long way toward addressing the problem.

Redford added the very fact that she is taking steps to investigate both the Mar question and the issue of politicians' pay is proof of her commitment to accountability in government.

"I think it's important for us to think about this in terms of Albertans' trust in the institutions of government," Redford said. "That's always been my concern."

In an interview with the Herald on Friday, Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said the PCs' recent problems — everything from accusations of bullying school board officials and doctors to allegations the party took illegal donations from municipalities and other public bodies — are starting to resonate with the public.

The provincial budget is expected to be passed in the legislature before the end of the month. By law, a provincial election must be held before the end of May.

Calgary Herald, Sun Mar 11 2012
Byline: Amanda Stephenson

One year longer, one year stronger

One year ago, after a month of extensive protest, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker illegally rammed through a union-busting bill through the state legislature in the middle of the night. He wanted to silence the voices of working people. Instead, his attacks kicked off a grassroots movement that continues to this day.

Since then, Wisconsinites have replaced two of the republican senators who voted for the bill and gathered over a million signatures as part of a campaign to recall Governor Walker.

One year later, they will gather together to reclaim Wisconsin for working families: in candlelight vigils across the state Friday, March 9, and in a mass march in Madison on Saturday, March 10.

CUPE stands in solidarity with the people of Wisconsin as they fight to protect quality public services, and make sure that the people who provide those services are treated with respect.

How you can show your support:

Follow Twitter hash tag #ReclaimWI for tweets and to send your pictures and videos. You can also send them to [email protected].

Post one of these images as your Facebook and Twitter profile photos. Download images from the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO website.

Favourite or comment on photos on the Wisconsin AFL-CIO Flickr page.

Like and share videos on the AFL-CIO YouTube channel.

Get updates on the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO blog

Follow the events online:

Facebook: Wisconsin State AFL-CIO

Twitter: @wisaflcio

Twitter hashtags: #ReclaimWI #wiunion #wearewi #solidaritywi #recallwalker #wipolitics

cupe.ca, Fri Mar 9 2012

Some funds are voluntarily being returned

Alberta's opposition parties say they aren't under investigation in a controversy over illegal donations that has put the governing Progressive Conservatives under the scrutiny of the province's chief electoral officer.

Elections Alberta said in a news release this week it has 53 open investigations related to allegations of donations to political parties and constituency associations from "prohibited corporations" - municipalities, school boards and other public bodies.

The statement said all political entities and prohibited corporations under investigation have been contacted by Elections Alberta.

While the cases that have been the subject of public complaint all involve the Tories, Elections Alberta spokesman Drew Westwater told the Herald the PCs are not the only party with files under review.

However, the Wildrose Party, Liberals, NDP and Alberta Party all say they aren't under investigation.

Wildrose Party executive director Shayne Saskiw said the party has not been notified by Elections Alberta that itself or any of its constituency associations are under investigation in relation to the issue of illegal donations.

"There's nothing on contributions that Elections Alberta has informed us about," he said.

Likewise, NDP provincial secretary Brian Stokes said his party has had no contact with Elections Alberta on the issue. He noted the NDP does not take contributions at all through its constituency associations.

The Liberals also aren't under investigation, said party Leader Raj Sherman.

"I have no knowledge of it. If I have knowledge of any donations, they should be returned . . . I am not aware of any such case," he said.

Elections Alberta has so far not directed any party or constituency association to return funds, imposed administrative penalties on any prohibited corporations or referred any cases for prosecution.

However, the agency said some donations are already being voluntarily returned.

The PC party said this week it will return money donated by Calgary Laboratory Services, a subsidiary of Alberta Health Services.

AHS said it has completed a review and the donations made by CLS were the only political contributions by the superboard or one of its subsidiaries since the superboard's founding in 2008.

Since the issue surfaced last fall, prompting a rash of investigations to be launched, Elections Alberta has closed eight files where no illegal contributions were made.

Calgary Herald, Wed Mar 8 2012
Byline: James Wood with files from Darcy Henton

Inequality among Alberta's non-unionized women at "shocking" levels – McGowan

Edmonton – Unions are the best cure for the unfair pay gap that exists between men and women working in Alberta, according to new figures released today by the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) (click here for Backgrounder).

"Alberta has the highest levels of wage inequality in Canada, but unions provide the most equal workplaces for women in our province," says McGowan, president of the AFL, which represents 145,000 workers.

"Today, on International Women's Day, it is disappointing to see the unfair treatment endured by Alberta women workers. However, it is clear that unions in Alberta are successfully leading the fight for equality."

The union advantage is particularly stark for young women, aged 15-24. Young women in Alberta, without union coverage, have seen their wages stalled at $12/hour since 2009. But unionized young women earn a median $17.84/hour.

Unionized women's wages are higher than non-union women in all age groups, says McGowan. The presence of a union means a smaller pay gap between women and men in all age categories.

The AFL also revealed Alberta's stunning pay gap. Alberta women working full-year, full-time earn only 68 per cent of the amount men earn. Canada-wide, women earn 79 per cent of what men earn. The recession did not change the pay gap for Alberta women, which remains at the level most other provinces were at in the 1970s.

"Alberta women face higher levels of income inequality because our province lags behind the rest of Canada – and most of the industrialized world – in policies that allow women to balance family obligations with the workplace, such as investments in child care," says McGowan. "Alberta has among the worst family leave policies in Canada and low employment standards compared to other jurisdictions."

Alberta is also the only province in Canada without some kind of voice in the Legislature for women. All other Canadian provinces and territories, as well as the federal government, have either a ministry responsible for the status of women, an advisory council on the status of women, or some combination of these institutions.

McGowan repeated the Alberta Federation of Labour's call for Premier Redford to establish a Minister for the Status of Women.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Gil McGowan, AFL president, 780-218-9888

But 21 MLAs still paid $1,000 a month

Alberta opposition members are calling on the Redford government to kill an all-party committee that never meets to spare the province the embarrassment of being singled out nationally for wasting taxpayer dollars.

But some of the 21 MLAS who have been paid $1,000 a month to be part of the committee that hasn't met since 2008 say they work hard for the money on other committees and it is up to voters to decide if they deserve their paycheques.

"All I know is I seem to be working from morning to night every day and I go home and continue working," said Conservative MLA Genia Leskiw, who represent BonnyvilleCold Lake.

Leskiw noted she works on other committees for which she receives no reimbursement, but couldn't say what the standing committee on privileges and elections, standing orders and printing actually does. Leskiw declined to comment on whether she would keep the $12,000 in annual salary for being named to a committee that hasn't met in more than three years.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation issued the committee a Teddy Award Wednesday for wasting taxpayer's money. It noted for the year ending March 31, the committee cost taxpayers $261,000 while accomplishing little or nothing.

Scott Hennig, Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said it has been several years since an Alberta government won the award, but it usually goes to recipients that make you "shake your head and cry a little."

"It's the ones that are the most ridiculous that tend to win," he said.

The MLA committee received attention not only for the fact that it was is a horrific waste of money, costing taxpayers nearly $1 million since it last met, but because it involved about one quarter of all the province's MLAs and is one of the longest-standing committees, Hennig said.

But Little Bow Conservative MLA Barry McFarland said he doesn't believe his committee pay is an issue with voters in his riding.

"At the end of the day, there's public disclosure and they see I made $123,000 . . . and they think I have earned it," he said.

Leskiw conceded voters have a right to question the value of the committee and noted a retired judge appointed to review MLA compensation is expected to make recommendations to the government later this year.

"Having the review of it, I think, is a good idea," she said. "We'll see what happens."

But Liberal MLA Kent Hehr called on deputy premier Doug Horner to fold the committee now and spare MLAs further embarrassment.

"This issue makes us all look bad, Mr. Deputy Premier," Hehr noted in the legislature. "Can we have some sort of situation in place to end this practice that would stop making us look this bad."

Horner said the committees falls under the authority of the all-party member services committee, headed by Speaker Ken Kowalski, and invited Hehr to put forward a motion in that committee or the Legislative Assembly.

Opposition MLAs say they have complained in the past that they are locked into receiving the stipend, but some, like Liberal David Swann, said they donated it to charity or their party.

Swann said he believes MLAs should be paid for work they do - not work they don't do.

NDP MLA Rachel Notley, who also sits on the committee, said she has tried several times to refer matters to the committee, but has not been successful because the Conservative government majority voted the motions down. She said the key job of the committee is to hold government and opposition MLAs accountable to a certain standard of behaviour.

"I have probably done quite a bit of work to try to make the committee do some work and ultimately the fact it hasn't is the function of the government not wanting to be held accountable - because that's the role of the committee," she said.

Calgary Herald, Thurs Mar 8 2012
Byline: Darcy Henton