All posts by Jordan Steinhauer

Long waits for long term care in Newfoundland and Labrador

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The topic: Newfoundland and Labrador’s long term care system.

Senior citizens in Newfoundland and Labrador face large wait lists in order to receive long term care. Photo: Creative Commons.

What’s new: The wait list for individuals who are in need of long term care in Newfoundland and Labrador has reached nearly 300 people, as the senior citizen community is expected to expand by over 75 percent in the next 12 years.

Why it’s important: The waiting list for long term care (LTC) facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador are at the highest they have been in nearly two years according to a provincial government briefing note.

The number of people waiting in August of 2016 reached 295, all looking  for a place in a care facility.

These individuals either suffer from debilitating disabilities, or are senior citizens who are no longer able to survive without aid.

The provincial government said in the briefing note that this has becoming a growing concern due to the aging baby boomer population.

This documentation was obtained through a previously released access to information request file through the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial government.

Files from a 2014 briefing note regarding Newfoundland and Labrador’s long term care bed planning project. Retrieved through an access to information request. 

The briefing notes from 2014, which focus on the province’s bed planning project, stated that the 75 plus community is projected to increase by 77 percent over the next 12 years.

The government has put in place “initiatives to decrease demand for LTC beds by enhancing community support” said the document.

According to the department of health and community service’s website community support refers to home care and special assistance. These programs allow individuals to receive government funding for treatment and care without having to leave their home.

Despite the bed planning initiative the document shows that a high volume of people sill remain on waiting lists.

The nearly three-year-old documents said that there were under 3000 beds in 41 facilities across all of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The number of long term homes has since decreased to 37, which are both provincially and privately owned.

What the government says: Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minister of Health, Dr. John Haggie said that long term care is a major concern for the provincial government.

“We have the fastest aging demographic in Canada and we also currently have the largest proportion of seniors,” said Haggie.

He  said that the province’s plan to reduce the demand for long term care has been effective in eliminating nearly half of people from the waiting lists.

Haggie added that 2017 has been a fiscally challenging year for the province. But he does not anticipate any cuts to long term care funding.

What others say: Grant Maddigan, a recent university graduate, said that his grandmother has been waiting to be accepted into a long term care facility since the beginning of August.

Maddigan admitted his frustration about the situation over email. And said that eight months is too long to wait for care.

He added that his grandmother, who wished to remain unnamed, visits a care facility in St. John’s daily, where her husband has been receiving care since July. He said she hopes that she can be admitted to the same facility soon.

What’s next:  Premier Dwight Ball announced during a press conference that a new long term care building will begin construction in Corner Brook in the fall of 2017.

He said the new facility will have enough beds to accommodate 120 individuals who are seeking care.

According to last year’s budget speech, the majority of the province’s funds go directly to health care.

The 2017 provincial budget is due to be released in the coming weeks.

Correspondance with the Federal Government in response to my Access to Information Request.
Correspondance regarding previously requested access to information request.
Correspondance with the Provincial Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in regards to my access to information request.
Information regarding my previously requested access to information request.
Municipal access to information request from the city of St. John’s, NL.

Federal Access to Information 

Provincial access to information request from Newfoundland and Labrador.

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Ottawa’s “cleanest ward” had highest number of stoop and scoop complaints in 2016

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Source: Flickr. Creative Commons – Bruce Mines.

When enjoying a walk in one of Ottawa’s public parks, the last thing a person wants is to be greeted with the squish of freshly laid dog poop beneath their feet.

The city of Ottawa received over 650 service requests regarding people neglecting to stoop and scoop after their pets, according to data from Ottawa’s 2016 monthly service requests.

Kanata South had the most complaints with 66—making up nearly 10 per cent of the requests received for the entire city. The city received over 13 requests for every 10,000 residents in Kanata South.

Rideau-Vanier, the ward with the most requests regarding animals overall, had 10 less than Kanata South with only 56.

Allan Hubley, the councillor for the Kanata South Ward said that he was shocked with the statistics.

He said that Kanata South is the cleanest ward in the city. “We won the award five times since I’ve been elected in 2010.”

He claimed that the key to their cleanliness is that the ward expects its residents to clean up after themselves, and their pets.

Hubley said that he believes that the ward’s large number of parks could be the source of the high number of requests.

He said that stoop and scoop is a major concern for the area, not only for sanitary reasons, but for the ward’s frequent park-goers.

“Young people tend to hang out in the parks in the evening and meet their friends and play sports in the park. And when there’s poop all over the soccer field, that’s not too nice for the kids that are playing there,” said Hubley.

The ward received the majority of its stoop and scoop service requests in June, which Hubley says is not entirely surprising.

He said that with Ottawa’s cold winter weather, many pet owners do no pick up after their pets due to the low temperatures, snow, and ice. Then the excrement will freeze and get covered with snow. Making it invisible until the temperature changes and winter turns into spring.

Hubley added that he expects the same for this year, as this winter season has been particularly harsh.

Stoop and scoop is a regulation that appears on the city of Ottawa’s Animal Care and Control By-law. According to the by-law, pet owners must immediately pick up any feces that have been left on public property including parks, and roadways.

The by-law also covers any privately owned area that does not belong to the pet owner.

Media relations for the city of Ottawa said via email that people who neglect to stoop and scoop on any city property could be subject to a fine.

When asked about the scoop and stoop service requests for Kanata South specifically or any other questions surrounding the issue, they refused to comment.

Councillor Hubley said that first time transgressors could face fines of up to $75, which increases with the amount of stop and scoop violations that a person has.

He added that during the summer months that students work as by-law officers to help combat this issue.

“They walk around the pathways in the park all spring, summer and fall, until it’s time to go back to school and they issue tickets for anyone who’s not picking up the poop.”

Hubley said that he does not expect Kanata South to lose the title of Ottawa’s cleanest Ward anytime soon. But he urged residents to help with the stoop and scoop issue by calling 3-1-1 or snapping a picture and sending it to him or the city in order to keep the ward as clean as possible.

 

 

 

 

25 years later, Newfoundland still suffering from northern cod moratorium

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Legend says when Italian explorer John Cabot discovered Newfoundland he plunged a bucket into the icy cold Atlantic. When he pulled it back into his boat it was filled to the brim with cod fighting to return to the fish infested water.

While Newfoundland experienced centuries of plentiful cod fishing, it came to an abrupt end 25 years ago with the northern cod moratorium.

After decades of overfishing the industry collapsed forcing the cod fishery on the northeast coast of the island to close on July 2, 1992 – leaving tens of thousands of fishermen and processing plant employees out of work.

A quarter of a century later the commercial moratorium is still in affect today.

Salt cod flakes, a favourite food of many Newfoundlanders. Creative Commons.

Dr. Barbara Neis, a university research professor with Memorial University of Newfoundland’s sociology department, said that it was the biggest layoff in Canada’s history with nearly 40,000 people left without work.

“We were all shocked,” said Neis, who has spent her career researching the Newfoundland and Labrador fisheries. “It was like a death in the family.”

A death, according to Neis, that is still felt in the province today.

“This is a multi-generational crisis,” Neis said.

She said that young people from small towns who expected to work in the fisheries had to look elsewhere for employment.

She stated that one of the biggest issues for fishing communities across the province is that there are only a small number of young residents.

“The economic opportunities from the fishery became much more limited in those areas.”

Neis said that a young generation of workers said good-bye to their small coastal communities and headed to western Canada where there were more opportunities.

According to statistics from the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the province’s population declined by 5 per cent five years following the moratorium – a number that has since dropped to 8 per cent today.

Annual Estimates of Population for Canada, Provinces and Territories, from July 1, 1971 to July 1, 2016.  Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency, Aug. 28, 2016.

“You won’t have that kind of community based fishery that we’ve had in the past,” Neis said, worried about the loss of an important aspect of the island’s culture.

Small towns nestled between the rocks and the sea are no longer buzzing with the sounds of fishermen unloading the day’s catch, or women chatting as they gut codfish.
Tom Dooley, the director of Sustainable Fisheries and Ocean Policy, said that the faces of the fishing industry look a lot different then they did 25 years ago.

Boats docked in Petty Harbour, a small coastal fishing community in eastern Newfoundland. Photo by Jordan Steinhauer.

“The age structure in the industry is quite old,” Dooley said. “It’s actually quite startling.”

Dooley said that the ageing fisherman population is a concern.

“We will probably see people exit the industry,” he added as many fishermen are nearing retirement with few trained workers available to replace them.

He added that northern cod stocks are on the rise, but the province is ten years away from lifting the commercial fishing ban.

While many people in the cod fishery stopped fishing for good, Ron Alcock said that wasn’t an option for him.

Alcock said that he left school when he was in grade seven to become a fisherman like his father. The St. John’s native added that without any formal education it would have been difficult to work anywhere but on the ocean.

He said that following the moratorium he began fishing the low-valued monkfish to make ends meet.

The 58 year-old admits that at times things were tough for him and his family.

He says that after a long career as a fisherman he plans on retiring within the next few years.

“Fishing is not an easy job,” Alcock said. “But I got a lot to be proud of.”

With a small laugh he added “the fishery has been really, really good to me.”

Northern Cod a Failure of Canadian Fisheries Management. Committee Report, Parliament of Canada. 

WestJet net earnings drop amidst expansion plans

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One of Canada’s top airlines, WestJet’s, net earnings have fallen by 20 per cent over the last three quarters, compared to the same period last year. According to an analysis of its third quarter report released in September.

The company based out of Calgary services flights from over 100 locations within Canada, the United States, and overseas. Meaning that it is in direct competition with a number of domestic, as well as international airlines.

WestJet’s slide in earnings follows what the report called its most “profitable third quarter in the airlines history.” The airline reported an increase of nearly 14 per-cent in net earnings in its last quarter compared to last year, in its most recent quarterly report. Yet, it recorded a decrease of close to 64 million dollars during the first three quarters of the 2016 fiscal year.

Net Earnings (p. 5)
Net earnings have dropped 21% over the last three quarters compared to the same period last year.
View entire document on DocumentCloud

WestJet said in its most recent quarterly report that the decrease in earnings is largely due to the “devaluation of the Canadian dollar,” as the airline frequently often operates in American dollars due to the company’s international services.

WestJet also recently announced the expansion of their airplane fleet, which the company also attributes for the drop in earnings.

Its September report outlines an extensive plan to acquire an additional 166 planes in the next 10 years. Five of which the report said would be added in the final quarter of this year.

Lauren Stewart, WestJet’s Media Relations Advisor, said the company has reintroduced a year long Halifax to Gander, NL, flight beginning this summer and an international service between Calgary and Nashville. She added that depending on the success of these additional flights, the airline has a number of other services in the works.

Stewart declined to comment when asked about how the recent expansions have impacted the company’s decline in earnings over the past three quarters.

Cyril Mullaley, owner of the accounting firm Cyril P. Mullaley, C.A., C.P.A. from Newfoundland, says that the airline’s drop in earnings is largely due to the additional expenses created by WestJet’s most recent expansions.

Although the airline’s operation expenses increased by a marginal 7 per cent in the last quarter, and 5 per cent in the last three, its investing activities grew substantially.


WestJet Airline’s stock prices by jordansteinhauer on TradingView.com

The September report recorded a nearly 40 per cent increase in investment activities in the last three quarters of this year, compared to the same period in 2015. This includes the recent acquisition of new aircrafts, as well as other assets like property and equipment.

Mullaley added that not only does expanding flights into new markets, and increasing the company’s fleet mean higher expenses and more investments, but also more competition.

By expanding their market into new areas like Nashville, WestJet is in direct competition with a number of airlines that have been operating out of the city for years. Though the company is increasing its visibility and the surface area it covers on a map that does not mean its profits will immediately increase along with it.

Mullaley said that even with the significant drop in earnings “it is not a reason to stop the expansion,” or to go into “protectionist mode” as the company continues to be what he deems as profitable.

He added that he believes that WestJet is in definite need of an expansion if the airline intends to keep up with the ever-increasing competition that it faces in the Canadian and Global markets.

Mullaley said he could not comment on whether or not he would invest in the airline with the earnings as they currently stand, but he acknowledges that WestJet is positioning itself for growth in the upcoming years.