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Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

Ontario 1st Quarter finances are out:

Headline number is that this year's deficit is on pace to be 38.5B

That's up from a projected 20B in March.

A few notes from me, ahead of the link.

1) This number, for now, is definitely inflated. There are several billion dollars set aside in unspent funds, on top of assorted contingencies and reserves.

I expect some of this may actually get spent; decisions pending. They have enormous wiggle room.

But as it stands I read the deficit somewhere closer to 28B and maybe even a tad lower, as they appear to have booked some deferred revenues as expenses.

2) Very interesting to see that notwithstanding the higher borrowing, debt-servicing costs (interest) is set to drop by 710M this year. That indicates large-scale refinancing of pre-existing debt at lower rates, quite possibly (not yet confirmed) through the BoC.

Here's your link: https://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/finances/2020/ofin20_1.html
 
Money inbound for the TTC as the province hands out 400M in phase 1 of municipal/transit support.

Immediate thoughts: That's swell; where's the rest? Why are we doing this in phases? This is opaque public policy.

news.ontario.ca

Ontario Newsroom | Salle de presse de l'Ontario

news.ontario.ca news.ontario.ca

Also incoming money for municipalities.

Not clear on Toronto's share of that portion.

Total disbursement is 1.6B out of 4B.

The TTC portion is just shy of 2/3 of the provincial total; apparently this amount is linked to ridership volume (as per John Michael McGrath of TVO)
 
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Northern Light said:
I'm not sure why we would reinvent the wheel.

We have some excellent non-profit providers in Ontario.

Unity Health's Providence, Baycrest, most of the City of Toronto owned facilities also performed well (though one, really, did not).

Ivan Franko also performed quite well:


I would argue there are perhaps 8 overall changes needed at the systemic level.

1) Bring all LTCs up to at least the 1998 design standards (semi-private rooms, pod-clusters, more m2 per resident etc.)

2) All new LTCs should be built with private rooms only

3) Every facility should have a pandemic plan and should be required to practice it (should include isolating staff not only to each facility, but to specific floors/units/clusters

4) Amount of money spent on food/nutrition per resident, per day, should be increased, so should the nursing budget

5) All patient beds should have enhanced diagnostics, and any for patients w/mobility difficulties should include assisted-rolling to mitigate the risk of bed sores

6) Modern standards for dementia care should be adopted which feature greater kindness, emotional support, and mental stimulation

7) Every facility should maintain isolation rooms, a minimum of 5 and at least 5 per 100 beds in the facility to help manage outbreaks.

8) Finally, there should be a staffing model predominantly built on FT staff, and like rooms, there should be a small amount of redundant capacity to deal w/illness management.

****

The remainder of the change (other than more beds) is simply turning over operations of facilities to proven providers with a very good to excellent track record.

Those with bad records should be ousted from the sector and their senior managers prohibited from working in the field for any other provider.
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Certainly, moving forward, the occupancy design of new-build facilities should be re-visited in light of lessons learned, but many are quick to condemn the design of existing LTC facilities as the root of the their mortality rate.

My father-in-law is in the Sunnybrook Veteran's Centre. His is a 3-person room. There might be some 2-person rooms, either by design or current occupancy but as far as I know there are no private rooms (I haven't toured the entire building). During the pandemic, they have had a grand total of two cases out of an occupancy of approximately 450; one recovered and one who died of other causes (the average age is in the low 90s). In my view, this speaks more to the incredible staffing level that the Centre enjoys, as well as its leadership, than it does the physical layout. The number of doctors, nurses, PSW and social workers far exceeds those found in most 'regular' LTC facilities. There is actually an argument, which is difficult to counter, that with more than one patient in a room, staff are in and out of the room more frequently and thus able to observe and interact with all the occupants more frequently.

Factors such as room design, sizing, isolation capacity, etc. will no doubt help, but they alone, without better staffing and policy, might well end us up back in the same; albeit rommier, place.
 
lenaitch said:
They should agree to open them. Allowing time for cleaning, plexi, etc. barriers, water testing, say . . . November?
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Caribbean Bay in South Korea, is the world's largest water park with both indoor and outdoor attractions. And in winter...

From link. Official website in Korean at this link.

Winter water slides, warm river pools, and outdoor spas are all waiting for guests that looking to enjoy a more leisurely afternoon at the water park. Although the mercury outside may be dropping, the pools at Caribbean Bay maintain temperatures above 30°C so that guests never have to worry about feeling too chilly.

For those looking to dodge the cold altogether, the Aquatic Center has a variety of thrilling facilities to enjoy. At the indoor wave pool, you can relax in the waves or try your hand at surfing on artificial waves. For the more adventurous types, the indoor center also features four different water slide courses to enjoy bare-bellied or while riding an inner-tube.
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Along the lazy river guests will find five different spa pools that offer a hot spring experience. Temperatures range from 36°C to 40°C and each spa pool offers its own unique experience. The Bathe pool, for example, massages you with powerful currents as you relax in the outdoors and release your fatigue and stress.
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The Ford government's mandated anti-carbon tax stickers on gas pumps have been ruled unconstitutional by the Ontario Superior Court.

www.nationalmagazine.ca

An instance of compelled political speech

The Ontario Superior Court has ruled that the Ontario government's mandatory anti-carbon tax stickers are unconstitutional
www.nationalmagazine.ca www.nationalmagazine.ca

From the article:

In a bluntly-written decision, Justice Edward Morgan found that the stickers, which gas station owners have been required to affix to their pumps and warned "the federal carbon tax will cost you," constituted partisan political messaging. The rights of gas retailers, the court concluded, were infringed by being involuntary messengers for that partisan campaign. Removing the stickers could net retailers a $150 fine.
 
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