The majority of Ontario’s nursing homes have failed to meet basic standards set out by the province to preserve the rights of elderly residents, an investigation by The Canadian Press reveals, wrote the Toronto Star July 3.
"We’re talking about the majority of people not getting the minimum standard of care," said Pat Armstrong, a sociology professor in York’s Faculty of Arts and a national chair in health services and nursing research. Many workers are embarrassed about the level of care they’re able to provide because they know it’s substandard, Armstrong added. "They’re saying…don’t put your mother here because the…care is so bad."
Glendon prof calls new language program a mistake
The Federation of Francophone & Acadian Communities has just accepted the creation of a new federal program to support linguistic rights, which replaces the Court Challenges Program (CCP) abolished by the Conservative government in September, 2006, wrote Josée Bergeron, political science professor at York’s Glendon campus, in an opinion piece in Montreal’s French-language daily Le Devoir June 28. This new program will cover only language cases and only after a mandatory stage of mediation. Moreover, only certain cases will be funded. The federation sees this new program as a gain.
In reading the press release, I was deeply shocked and disappointed by this decision, since the message boils down to this: we have protected our interests, too bad for the others! This is a political mistake, wrote Bergeron.
The CCP allowed different groups, other than linguistic ones, included in articles 15, 27 and 28 of the Charter – dealing respectively with equality, multiculturalism and gender equality – to initiate procedures and obtain equal rights. This is not the case with the new program. Many believe that gays and visible minorities will be left for later.
It is necessary to consider the scope of the political message related to this decision. It is understood that the primacy of the linguistic affiliation is vital but what about equality on other bases? Are we are French or Acadian, where do you draw the line? How do we raise issues related to the integration of multicultural francophones in the light of such a decision?
One wonders if this is wishful thinking, empty rhetoric or a real desire to reflect the diversity of Francophone and Acadian communities and Canadian society as a whole. In this regard, the decision of the federation to support the new program is a political mistake.
Carleton’s new chief was principal at Glendon
It was a busy day for former Glendon principal Roseann Runte, who began her first day on the job as Carleton University’s president & vice-chancellor yesterday, wrote the Ottawa Citizen July 3. Runte, 60, was officially appointed in early January after a 10-month search.
Runte has an established background in academia, having led several universities in Canada and the United States. The first woman to take the helm at Carleton, the dual US.-Canadian citizen has a PhD in French literature and a long record of community service.
Osgoode alumnus was a fair adjudicator
There was only one person in charge in Judge Donald Wallace‘s courtroom and anyone who even remotely considered challenging his authority would be in for a lesson they would not soon forget, wrote the Welland Tribune July 3. Wallace (LLB ’57), and graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, died Saturday at Hospice Niagara in St. Catharines. He was 77.
Wallace attended Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1957. He joined the law firm Raymond, Spencer, Law & McInnis in Welland. He later practised with the law firm of Griffiths, Sharpe, Clement & Wallace in Niagara Falls.