1 week Ago
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is getting up to $50 million from the Ontario government , April 8 Today the Ford government found $50 million to repair the McMichael gallery but last year refused to find $40 million to fix the roof of the Ontario Science Centre. Anyone see a problem here? I guess none of Doug Ford’s developers are looking at building housing on McMichael’s land. Michael Gilmor, Ajax Province needs to explain its priorities I question the priorities of the provincial government giving $50 million of taxpayers’ money to the McMichael gallery which is only 70 years old.
By comparison the Ontario Science Centre needed roof repairs and was offered a donation by Geoffrey Hinton of one million dollars, and it was shuttered. Our public schools, colleges and universities are crying for resources, repairs and funding and have been ignored. Who makes these decisions? The public has a right to transparency on these matters.
Diane Sullivan, Mississauga, ON Conservative plans to tackle opioid abuse has merit Unpacking Pierre Poilievre’s plan to tackle opioid abuse and government-funded ‘drug dens ,’April 9 Raisa Patel analyzes the Conservative party of Canada’s (CPC) plan to “tackle opioid abuse” and also spends most of the article quoting “some drug policy experts” who disagree with this plan. As one who treats individuals with substance use disorder, (not only policy) I can attest to the merits for this plan. What is being proposed is already in use in Ontario, in the recent changes introduced by Minister of Health Sylvia Jones to establish HART hubs.
Ontario has had robust availability of opioid agonist therapy since 1997 and continues to be in the forefront of offering office-based opioid agonist therapy, with methadone, buprenorphine, and sustained release oral morphine to recovering patients. Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) Clinics are widely available across the province that offer low barrier entry into opioid agonist treatment programs and are staffed with physicians with expertise in addiction medicine, nurse practitioners, social workers and counsellors. Offering opioid agonist treatment in conjunction with wrap around social and mental health supports are essential to saving lives.
The “drug policy experts” referred to propose nothing to interrupt the cycle of drug use and despair experienced by those with substance use disorder. Simple detox from opioids without concomitant treatment leads to fatal overdoses due to reduced tolerance. Continuing to enable ongoing drug use does nothing to address the true root causes of drug abuse and dependence.
And ignoring that these individuals have a medical condition, substance use disorder and referring to them as “people who use drugs” seems to normalize what is a potentially fatal condition . Finally, providing alternate opioids other than the ones mentioned above (safer supply) only allow more short acting opioids onto the street and do nothing to help those in need. I endorse the CPC approach as a positive step in rectifying the previous government’s misguided efforts.
Dr. Mark A. Greenberg, Department of Psychiatry, Addiction Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto Crowd size doesn’t tell us much Does crowd size matter in an election campaign? Mark Carney had better hope not , April 9 I’d like to offer an opinion on why Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is attracting larger crowds than Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Very simply, panicked Conservatives are rallying to Poilievre’s falling poll numbers while Liberal voters are confident in their choice of Carney. So, no need to attend one of his rallies. Carney has offered voters a plan and confidence in it, while Poilievre reverts to the same old slagging of his opponent.
Gord Deane, Mississauga Carney’s response to the auto sector will actually help Mark Carney pitches $2B fund to help auto sector navigate Trump’s tariffs , March 27 The Canadian auto industry directly employs around 125,000 people. When you include indirect jobs, it is about 500,000 jobs across Canada. That is 625,000 jobs in total — the population of Winnipeg or Quebec City — which are at serious risk of being permanently lost as a direct result of U.
S President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on all auto and auto part imports by the U.S.A.
At a time when hundreds of thousands of Canadians are about to lose everything, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s response is to provide ineffective tax cuts to the auto sector . Canadian Liberal leader Mark Carney’s response is to do what will actually help: provide direct aid for the auto sector, primarily by way of creating a $2 billion fund, which would protect the jobs of workers affected by the tariffs and fortify the entire Canadian auto supply chain, from raw materials to finished vehicles. Poilievre’s continued predilection for American Republican-style, trickle down, Reaganomics, even during a time of national crisis, will be no more effective in helping laid off workers than the past tax breaks which the Hudson Bay Company has received.
That company received those breaks only to close most of its 96 stores by the end of June, all while paying up to $3 million total in retention bonuses to 121 managers and executives, but not paying severance to its more than 9,300 workers, most of whom will soon lose their jobs. It is unfortunate that under Poilievre, the federal Conservative party has pivoted so far to the political right in shameless imitation of Trump. Linda Petroskey, Windsor, ON Canada leads picking up the brain gain from fired U.
S. science researchers Toronto’s University Health Network plans to attract top medical researchers to Canada after Trump slashed funding in the U.S.
, April 7 Just heard the CBC’s Matt Galloway interview Kevin Smith and Brad Wouters at University Health Network (UHN) on the huge potential to attract perhaps 1,000 Americans let go from the National Institutes of Health by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Canada Leads 100 Challenge initiative at UHN to recruit 100 world-leading early-career scientists could have an astounding effect on Canadians’ health, prosperity, and more. Please put more Star resources on this huge developing project. This will be a generational opportunity.
John Meyers, Goderich, ON.
