Wibbly-Wobbly Ramblings

Study claims Toronto's TTC streetcars are the slowest in the world

A new study claims that Toronto's streetcars are the slowest in the world, and, yeah, that definitely tracks. The study from urban accessibi

blogTO

The study from urban accessibility expert Dr. Jan Scheurer set out to determine whether Melbourne, Australia's trams are the most slugging worldwide, and instead pinned that unfortunate distinction on Toronto's TTC streetcar network. Using the Spatial Network Analysis for Multimodal Urban Transport Systems (SNAMUTS) methodology system, the study looked at data from transit systems across the world that operate trams, streetcars and similar urban light rail networks. As for the poorest performance, the study states, "that dubious honour continues to go to Toronto," noting that "Toronto stands out as a laggard" in the study.

Ontario expert reviews of Toronto supervised consumption site did not recommend closure | CBC News

The Ontario government's decision to shutter multiple supervised drug consumption sites in Toronto runs counter to the expert opinions it so

CBC

The Ontario government's decision to shutter multiple supervised drug consumption sites in Toronto runs counter to the expert opinions it sought about one of those sites. After Karolina Huebner-Makurat was fatally hit by a stray bullet while walking in Leslieville in July 2023, the Ministry of Health commissioned two reviews into supervised consumption and treatment services operated out of the South Riverdale Community Health Centre (SRCHC). The two reviews were quietly posted online earlier this week. Both recommended changes to the operations of the centre, and both recommended the province expand harm reduction resources — consumption and treatment services included. 

Toronto Public Health recommends meningococcal vaccine amid rise in cases - Toronto | Globalnews.ca

Public health officials in Toronto are recommending that people get vaccinated for meningococcal disease in light of an increase in cases.

Global News

Public health officials in Toronto are recommending that people get vaccinated for meningococcal disease in light of an increase in cases. Toronto Public Health says there have been 13 cases of invasive meningococcal disease reported so far this year – more than the total cases seen in any year since 2002.

The agency says two of the 13 cases have been fatal. It says several countries, including the United States, are reporting a rise in cases of the potentially life-threatening bacterial infection this year. [...]

Grassy Narrows First Nation sues Ontario, Ottawa over mercury contamination 'nightmare' | CBC News

A First Nation that has faced decades of mercury poisoning is suing the provincial and federal governments, arguing they've failed to protec

CBC

A First Nation in northwestern Ontario that has faced decades of mercury poisoning is suing the provincial and federal governments, arguing they've failed to protect its treaty rights. Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek First Nation — known as Grassy Narrows — filed the lawsuit in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice on Tuesday morning. It argues the governments have violated their duties under Treaty 3 by failing to protect against or remedy the effects of mercury contamination in the English-Wabigoon River system. The allegations in this lawsuit haven't been tested in court. Contamination of the river system dates back to the 1960s and '70s when Dryden's paper mill in northwestern Ontario dumped an estimated nine tonnes of mercury into the water.

Thousands of U of T alumni have signed a letter in support of students, as encampment enters 3rd day | CBC News

Pro-Palestinian protesters are entering the third day of their encampment demonstration Saturday at the University of Toronto, and are getti

CBC

Pro-Palestinian student protesters entered the third day of their encampment demonstration at the University of Toronto Saturday and saw some faculty joining them in support. 

Robyn Maynard, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, was at the encampment Saturday supporting students. 

She said there's a large number of university faculty there in solidarity.

"We feel it's really important that we can be here as witnesses, given the kinds of dangers some of the students have been exposed to," she said. 

"It's also important to be here, because their demands are important ... [by] asking the university to divest from Israel," she said. [...]

Ontario man gets life in prison for 1983 killings of 2 Toronto women | CBC News

An Ontario man convicted in the killings of two women in Toronto that took place nearly four decades ago was sentenced on Friday to life in

CBC

An Ontario man, convicted in the killings of two women in Toronto that took place nearly four decades ago, was sentenced on Friday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 21 years.

Joseph George Sutherland, 62, of Moosonee, Ont., was sentenced in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto. He pleaded guilty in October 2023 to two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Susan Tice and Erin Gilmour in 1983.

Tice, 45, and Gilmour, 22, were both sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in their beds in August and December 1983. They lived just kilometres apart in the city core — Tice in the Bickford Park neighbourhood and Gilmour in a Yorkville apartment. The two women didn't know each other. 

Gilmour was an aspiring fashion designer and the daughter of mining tycoon David Gilmour. Tice was a family therapist and mother of four teenagers. [...]

Murky rules for nurse practitioners give rise to private clinics in Ontario | CBC News

A growing number of Ontario patients are accessing private primary care from nurse practitioners — at clinics that are popping up throughout

CBC

When Kyle Truong needed medical attention for a respiratory infection last year, he said there weren't many convenient options for accessing timely care. Truong, who lives in Toronto, hasn't had a family doctor for about four years.

But then he discovered a private clinic where he could quickly get an appointment with a nurse practitioner, though it would not be covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).

"First I was a little disappointed," Truong, 29, said. "Because if I'm paying tax dollars and we're supposed to have great health-care coverage, it kind of sucks that I have to pay for accessibility in this case."

Impassable winter roads create ‘dire’ situation for Ontario First Nations: NAN | Globalnews.ca

Impassable winter roads are delaying vital shipments and threatening the safety of First Nations across northern Ontario, leaders warn.

Global News

Impassable winter roads are delaying vital shipments and threatening the safety of First Nations across northern Ontario, leaders warned as they pressed the provincial and federal government for support. An unseasonably warm winter, intensified by human-caused climate change, has left many remote First Nations cut off from an essential road network built over frozen land, lakes and rivers. The situation has prompted recent state of emergency declarations by First Nations in Manitoba and Ontario, as well as repeated requests for support. “It’s becoming more and more dire, and more challenging,” said Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, an organization of First Nations across northern Ontario.

Data on 267,000 Sarnia patients going back 3 decades among cyberattack thefts at 5 Ontario hospitals | CBC News

Patients' information, including the reasons for their visits, going back three decades from Bluewater Health in Sarnia, Ont., and its prede

CBC

Patients' information — including the reasons for their visits — going back three decades from Bluewater Health in Sarnia, Ont., and its predecessor hospitals is among the data confirmed stolen in the cyberattack on five southwestern Ontario hospitals. Transform, the hospital's IT provider, now confirms a database report containing information on 267,000 patients was taken. The report includes details about "every patient" seen at Bluewater Health and its predecessors since Feb. 24, 1992. Those predecessor institutions are: Lambton Hospitals Group. Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital of Bluewater Health. Sarnia General Hospital. St. Joseph's Hospital. 

Toronto-area grocery store distribution centre workers walk out on strike - Toronto | Globalnews.ca

The union representing workers at a Sobeys warehouse in York Region began strike action after rejecting what it called a "lowball offer " th

Global News

Grocery workers at a Greater Toronto Area warehouse walked off the job Saturday as negotiations between union officials and a major supermarket chain broke down.

The union representing workers at a Sobeys distribution centre in York Region began strike action after rejecting what the Teamsters 419 union called a “lowball offer ” that removed job security.

Premier Doug Ford calls for Ontario NDP MPP's resignation over Israel-Gaza statement

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on an NDP MPP to step down following her comments on the Israel-Gaza war that Jewish groups called abho

CP24

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on an NDP MPP to step down following her comments on the Israel-Gaza war that Jewish groups called abhorrent Tuesday.

In a statement from the Premier’s Office, Ford said Hamilton Centre MPP Sarah Jama should resign “immediately.”

“Her views do not represent Ontario. They have no place in the legislature, and they have no place in this province,” Ford wrote on Wednesday.

Jama’s post to X, formerly Twitter, has remained up since it first drew controversy nearly 24 hours earlier. In it, Jama called for a ceasefire in the area of the conflict and demanded an end to what she described as the apartheid of the Palestinian people.

Jama did not address the recent surprise Hamas attack on Israel, which left moe than 1,000 people dead, according to the Israeli military. [...]

Ontario to investigate health clinic charging fees because of nurse practitioners

As if a monthly subscription to Spotify or Netflix to watch the new season of Love is Blind wasn't enough, clinics in Ontario are now chargi

blogTO

As if a monthly subscription to Spotify or Netflix to watch the new season of Love is Blind wasn't enough, clinics in Ontario are now charging fees to see a nurse practitioner for health services. The Ontario Ministry of Health said it would review a clinic in Ottawa that plans to charge $400 to see a nurse practitioner. The clinic plans to operate out of the South Keys Health Centre in Ottawa. "It's outrageous," Dr. Doris Grinspun, chief executive officer for the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), told blogTO. "They are using nurse practitioners. That is their excuse, that they can't cover the cost of nurse practitioners."

Picket line grows at Hastings Prince Edward Public Health as CUPE members join strike - Kingston | Globalnews.ca

CUPE-represented health unit employees joined them ONA health unit nurses on the picket lines after rejecting the health unit's latest contr

Global News

The sounds of honking, chanting and cheering can be heard along North Park Street in Belleville, Ont., which is par for the course these past few weeks as public health nurses have been picketing outside the Hastings Prince Edward Public Health office for over a month.

But today, they received some backup. CUPE-represented health unit employees joined them on the picket lines after rejecting the health unit’s latest contract offer.

“We really thought that going into this negotiation that we would be in a position, that the employer would show us some respect, show our value for everything that we did during the pandemic for the community. and no, we’re not at that point,” Dhannon Del Grosso, vice-president of  CUPE Local 3314, said.

Wages and benefits are the sticking point for both the Ontario Nurses Association and CUPE-represented employees. The CUPE members include dieticians and health inspectors. [...]

Ford’s record transfer of wealth to the wealthy

Doug Ford's friends continue to profit at the cost of Ontario's public spaces and services.

rabble.ca

During the time the Mike Harris Conservatives were in power from 1995 to 2003, a record amount of public wealth was transferred to the wealthy. Just what is public wealth? Public wealth is our education system, our healthcare system, our water system and was once our hydro-electric system. It is our provincial parks, forests, lakes, rivers and the green belt.it is also the collective total of all our tax dollars in the provincial treasury. There is much more to public wealth when you add in things like long term care, community centers, hockey and curling arenas. The sum total of our public wealth is quite massive and the wealthy want it.  

Harris privatized Hwy 407 for a paltry sum. In a far worse deal Harris privatized the Bruce nuclear plant, where again the profits were privatized but the debt and risks remained public.  

Harris cut taxes massively for the wealthy and their corporations. In order to pay for those tax cuts, Harris slashed healthcare spending to the point where Ontario lost more than 10,000 nurses. Education was slashed by the education funding formula which to this day is still shortchanging the education system causing a crisis there. [...]