It’s been almost a year since Guelph City Council approved the Public Space Use Bylaw. You may not see as many tents as you once did, especially in the open in places like St. George’s Square, but don’t think that they’re gone. There are still many people in Guelph who are unhoused, unwell, and are still searching for help that’s hard to come by, and this week will talk to one of the helpers. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #480 – The Encampments You’re Not Seeing (feat. Danny Liu)”
Now less than a week before the end of the Ontario Legislature’s 20-week “summer” break, Guelph MPP and Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner held a town hall with a small group of constituents to hear about their priorities. It turns out though that everything is on the front burner. From housing to affordability, from healthcare to community living, and from hospitals to national urban parks, see what Mike had to say about these issues below… Continue reading “RECAP: Constituents Push Schreiner to Fix… Ontario at Town Hall”
HIV/AIDS Resources and Community Health, or ARCH, suddenly announced its closure last week. Losing ARCH impacts a wide variety of people in Guelph and area, whether that’s HIV prevention and care, needle exchanges and harm reduction, or gender affirming and trans healthcare. For these people, ARCH has been the first and only place they could turn for help, so who’s going to fill the void? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #413 – ARCH is Gone But Their Services Remain”
It’s time for our annual fireside chat with a prominent member of the Guelph community, and since we’re run the gamut of local political leaders over the last few years, we turn to the new head of the hospital. It’s a massive challenge, but in keeping with the spirit of the season, and the need to help people who can’t help themselves, we’re going spend Christmas week with the president and CEO of Guelph General Hospital, Mark Walton. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #402 – Christmas With Mark”
By the numbers $43,335 per year for two years is probably the smallest ask of this budget cycle, but the work that money will fund is actually pretty important: Attracting new doctors to Guelph and Wellington. For many of us that live here, Guelph is a destination that sells itself, but the competition for a small number of new doctors is fierce and Guelph-Wellington is one of the last municipalities to have a formal plan to get them. Is it too late for us to get in the game? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #398 – Doctors Wanted”
It happened again on the August long weekend. Offload delays at the Guelph General Hospital created some long line-ups for ambulances, and a couple of days before that there was another Code Red. The story has been repeating itself for over a year now, too many ambulances lined up at the hospital and not enough available in the community, but how do the paramedics themselves feel about the pressure they’re under? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #Repeat – The Ongoing Paramedic Stress”
The story is familiar at this point: A Code Red is called, and there are no ambulances available to respond to an emergency. It’s a piece of the healthcare puzzle that doesn’t get a lot of attention; we sit up when we hear the words “Code Red”, or when we see those line-ups of ambulances on social media, but the problems are ongoing, and in many ways they’re the same problems affecting other aspects of our healthcare system. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #360 – When Ambulances Are the Emergency”
Ontario’s legislators are back at Queen’s Park for the first time since the June election, and there’s a lot of work to do. That was the impression left by Guelph MPP and Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner at his inaugural press conference for this term. Going into the new session, Schreiner wants to focus on affordability, climate action, and, obviously, the healthcare staffing crisis. Continue reading “Schreiner Wants Action on Healthcare and Climate at Legislature Returns”
Another weekend in Ontario means another weekend of hospital closures as healthcare workers struggle again to cover widening gaps in the system, and they’re crying out for help. This was the message from representatives of healthcare worker unions and advocacy groups at a media availability on Friday as they laid out a five-point plan the Provincial government could take to turn the issue around right now. Continue reading “Healthcare Workers are “Crying Out for a Life Raft””
After white-knuckling through a long weekend where at least 14 Ontario hospitals experienced closures or capacity issues, all eyes have turned to the Provincial government as demands get louder for immediate action. Even after a series of media interviews by the new health minister, plus a rare mid-summer appearance of the premier at an event this morning, there’s still no sign that the government is getting in a crisis mode. Continue reading “Pressure Increases on Provincial Government to Act on Healthcare Issues”
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