TORONTO – I never go to casinos [to gamble]. Doug Ford (in the pic, from his Twitter profile / @fordnation) must, at least on occasion. He wins constantly and someone else provides the risk capital: the Opposition Parties at Queen’s Park. The man (hope I am not offending any gender idealogues) walks around with horseshoes to spare.
TORONTO – He refused to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and to undergo antigen testing for the virus and has been fired from his job in some hospitals in the GTA. Then he was also denied unemployment benefits, because he was “fired for misconduct”. It was useless for him to challenge this decision, because the Federal Court ruled against him, stating that the reason for his dismissal met the definition of “misconduct” of the EI (Employment Insurance) law.
TORONTO – Avoiding open heart surgery, which involves risks and complications for the patient and raising costs for the healthcare system, is now possible thanks to minimally-invasive cardiac surgery: with the advances in technology and medical techniques, surgeons can now practice small incisions to reach the heart between the ribs, all without cutting the sternum, thus avoiding major blood loss, reducing the risk of infection and post-operative pain and allowing for a faster recovery of patients who spend less time in hospital and can return to their normal activities more quickly.
TORONTO – Canada’s 13 premiers say they “expect” to get the federal government to raise its health care funding ratio to 35%: the joint statement came on Monday, a week before the meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau scheduled for February 7th. The premiers were clear: they want the result of that meeting to be an increase in Canada Health Transfer of about $28 billion from the current $45.2 billion. →
This month, in his January column, Senator Loffreda (photo) writes about the government’s proposed bill to help news publishers and journalists receive fair compensation for their work that is being shared on the platforms of tech giants like Facebook and Google. Bill C-18 is currently before the Senate. →