Breaking: Government-Funded Clinic For Lawyers And Recreational Hockey Players

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We're unique in the province,” says Mr. Long. “People think of methadone clinics and they think of people lining up and smoking and causing a nuisance in the neighbourhood. We're different. We are not bringing drug users in. Our clients are people who've been in the program for an average of 5 to 7 years, they are in the process of getting their lives together, they are lawyers, they are recreational hockey players.”

Coming to a neighbourhood near you.

Along the way, nobody informed local residents. But under current laws, they didn't need to. Substance dependence is considered a disability under the Human Rights Code. Virtually every Ontario municipality that has tried to weed out methadone clinics has been overruled for discrimination reasons by the Ontario Municipal Board.

In Ontario all methadone clinics should be established by law in neighbourhoods where anti-discrimination Ontario Municipal Board members live. How could they object?

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Sunday Prayer: Lord, we pray for those afflicted by addictions of any kind. May they find release from addiction's power through the mighty power of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Related articles

• Letters: Not all clinics bad; neither are patients (knoxnews.com)
• Methadone clinic restrictions questioned (cbc.ca)
• Methadone clinic fears 'unfounded' (windsorstar.com)
• Windsor Police say stats don't back up crime claims near meth clinics (windsorstar.com)
• Methadone clinic fight not over (windsorstar.com)
• Clinic locations for city to solve, LHIN CEO says (windsorstar.com)
• Buffers created for methadone clinics (windsorstar.com)
• How an Afghan Methadone Clinic is Fighting to Counter HIV (theworld.org)
• Will methadone 5 mg give a high (wiki.answers.com)
• Mississauga opens of Celebration Square to ‘develop a citywide spirit' (theglobeandmail.com)

Are Government Unionized Workers Entitled To Secret Deals?

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Are Government Unionized Workers Entitled To Secret Deals?

Apparently so, if you live in Ontario.

The Ontario government struck a “secret deal” with the province’s largest public-sector union, awarding its members an additional wage increase of 1 per cent for 2012, according to documents revealed Wednesday at a labour board hearing....

Government lawyers argued that there would be “significant detrimental impact” on labour relations if confidential agreements or undertakings were disclosed....

“Confidential agreements are of paramount significance in labour relations and have proven to be a highly productive means by which to resolve difficult issues,” the government’s written submission says.

Indeed. So much messier when tax-payers have a right to know how much they are paying their public servants.

In a second, unsigned letter with a hand-written date of Dec. 23, 2008, the ministry official says the 1-per-cent adjustment will not be part of the collective agreement, but that OPSEU can file a grievance if the top-up payment is not implemented.

Sounds like an off-book under-the-table deal to me.

Road Rage -- Ontario-Style

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Ontarians driving Ontario roads are getting short-tempered and trigger-finger-happy. They're also working on their batting average.

Enter the police:

"We don't want to get into a situation where people start carrying guns and baseball bats to settle issues," Sgt. Dave Woodford said Wednesday. "Just call police and let us take care of it."

You mean like, "just call police and let us Caledonia it"?

Article here.

If You're Not Important to the Ontario Economy, Go To the Back of the Bus

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“I don’t think it’s a loophole; it’s important for the Ontario economy.” -- Bruce Bronfman of Ontario MRI Centres.

Two-tiered healthcare in Ontario: those who are "important to the economy" can get an MRI fast; those who aren't can take a number and wait.


Who else goes to the front of the line? Workers’ compensation clients, the RCMP, military, and... prison inmates.


Don't get me wrong; I'm glad that Ontario residents are getting a choice, but let's not pretend that socialized medicine is working well.

h/t Mark Steyn


Read more: 

Related articles

• For-profit medical scans blur line around private care (nationalpost.com)