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April 01, 2023, 09:08:24 AM

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[jjreason]

Our country is changing right before our eyes. The Canada we're leaving for our kids & grandkids is NOT going to be the one we were given care & control of.

[napseeker]

That's right, it's not. Our kids are going to pay through the nose for everything related to medical services by the time they are adults, because of the Conservative government. And the signs were already there that they wanted to privatize everything the moment they got into power:

From Feb 2022:

https://rabble.ca/health/ford-ramping-up-privatization-of-ontario-health-care-system/

Robinson says, “Ontario’s economic foundation is strong and yet, we continue to spend far less on public services than other provinces do.”

As a province, on a per capita basis, Ontario has the lowest health care funding. Ontario also has the lowest hospital funding, fewest hospital beds and fewest nurses.

...

Robinson maintains this lack of spending has nothing to do with the economy which is strong. Instead, he says, “We are simply not making the fiscal effort to fund public services.”

COVID had a relatively minuscule effect on the Ontario budget, largely due to a federal government injection of $145 billion into pandemic-related supports in Ontario.

According to the Minister of Finance, the provincial debt to GDP ratio is at pre-COVID levels. Currently, revenues are $19.5 billion higher than the government estimated a year ago.

This means money could be pouring into public services. However, according to the Financial Accountability Office (FAO), program spending is not on track to keep up with inflation or population growth or the reality of an aging population that requires more health care. The provincial government’s own budgets and updates confirm these facts.

...

Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of Ontario Health Coalition (OHC), says Ford began privatizing health care as soon as he took office. The Conservatives passed a major health care restructuring law in 2019 that gave the government wide reaching new powers to privatize a long list of services.

When the pandemic hit and the federal government provided abundant infusions of funds, this threw Ford’s plans off course. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, the Conservatives simply delayed privatization implementation.

During the summer of 2020, the Conservatives passed a health privatization bill for home care rescinding most of the existing home care legislation. Instead, it set up the structure for privatization and removed all legislative hurdles to privatizing the last public parts of home care.

The Ford government also moved forward with new privatization in long-term care. In an unprecedented move, the Conservatives issued 30-year licenses and expansions for 18,000 long-term care beds to the same for-profit corporations responsible for the deaths of 4,000 long-term care residents. The same for-profit operators that had to have the army sent in to help with neglected and dying residents.

Michael Hurley, President of Ontario Council of Hospital Unions and Regional Vice-President (ON) for Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), recently shared the average death rates in private, for-profit facilities was 5.7 per cent. In not for-profits, the rate was 2.8 per cent. Municipal facilities had the lowest death rates at 1.4 per cent.

That is not surprising given the drive to lower costs and reap more profits in private, for-profit long-term care facilities.

Hurley points out, “There is an incestuous relationship between the Progressive Conservative party and the for-profit operators in long-term care. The Bill Davis’, and the Mike Harris’ and the Ernie Eves’, all go on to head up, hold senior positions, derive millions in personal wealth from their relationship.”

Private hospitals also have some of the highest death rates when compared with public facilities. Profits of 10 to 15 per cent combined with taxable status and punctuated with paying larger salaries to managers and corporations cannot happen without negatively impacting patient care and outcomes.

Hurley says, “The impact on the public system will be profound and disastrous. In the public system we are already struggling to keep all manner of health care professionals.”

Hurley was referring to privatization potentially causing a shift of staff from the already stretched public system over to clinics and private hospitals. These facilities will take the easiest surgeries and cases leaving the public system burdened with more difficult cases.

Our kids, and even us as we become elderly seniors, are not going to get good care under the private system, where profits are the main drive for the owners, NOT our well-being.  Unless you are making 6-figure salaries and have plenty of money put aside, and most of us are not in this category, our future now is dim.  Ford has already lied about not touching the Greenbelt and protecting the various wildlife living there, he's utterly lied about healthcare. It's likely why he wouldn't release the mandate letters to the public because they would've shown that this was his plan all along.

And of course, not one business day later after already announcing his first push into letting private medical clinics perform surgeries "to clear the backlog" that he helped to create, Ford spoke out at 10am this morning:

"Ford says more private hip and knee replacements will be the second phase of the plan.

Ford and Jones pressed again on upselling, the Health Minister says patients have recourse to file a complaint if necessary but she does not detail any plan to prevent it.

Premier Ford and the Health Minister are not ruling out more surgeries being performed at private clinics down the road.

You're going to pay more, my fellow Ontarians. When you vote a government like this into power, be prepared to pay more for yourself and for your kids to pay more. And do the doctors and surgeons of our province agree with Ford that privatization will solve this fake crisis? No!

MichaelHurleyCUPE   @HurleyOCHUCUPE

College of physicians & surgeons, which has oversight of private clinics: “We shared that this wasn’t the solution to the health-care crisis & would further tax health human resources shortages & further increase wait times for more urgent hospital-based care.” Advice ignored.

[napseeker]

Better than nothing, I suppose:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/mps-summon-big-grocery-store-ceos-to-testify-in-ottawa-over-food-inflation-1.6273115

MPs summon big grocery store CEOs to testify in Ottawa over food inflation

Members of Parliament have summoned the heads of Canada's largest grocery store chains to answer for rising grocery prices.

On Monday, a House of Commons committee studying food price inflation called on the CEOs and presidents of Loblaw Companies, Metro and Empire Company Limited -- which operates chains including Sobeys, Safeway and FreshCo -- to attend an upcoming meeting.

The hearing has not yet been scheduled.

[jjreason]

The rich will never accept less. People staying home during the pandemic were spending less - hence the "need" to raise prices. The bottom line must continue to grow, even when times are tough for the 99 percent.

[napseeker]

More price hikes coming, according to Galen Weston

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/loblaw-posts-529m-q4-profit-revenue-up-nearly-10-1.6285718

Loblaw facing 'over 1,000 supplier requests' for fresh price hikes: Galen G. Weston

BRAMPTON, Ont. -

Canada's biggest grocer is facing fresh price hikes from suppliers, signalling food inflation will continue its relentless ascent in the coming months.

"We still have over 1,000 supplier requests on our desks for significant cost increases," Galen G. Weston, chairman and president of Loblaw Companies Ltd., said during a call with analysts on Thursday.

"We continue to believe that these inflationary pressures are temporary and that they will ease with time, but predicting how long that will take is proving extremely challenging," he said. "We will continue to push back on unjustified cost increases from suppliers."

 His comments came as the parent company of grocery chains like Loblaws and No Frills and drugstores like Shoppers Drug Mart said its fourth-quarter profit amounted to $529 million or $1.62 per diluted share.

That's down from $744 million or $2.20 per diluted share a year earlier.

The result is "evidence that retail prices are not growing faster than costs and the company is not taking advantage of inflation to drive profit," Loblaw chief financial officer Richard Dufresne said during the call.

 The supermarket giant has come under intense scrutiny amid rising food prices, with critics suggesting the company is profiteering off inflation to pad profits.

Yet the grocer's gross margins also dipped slightly in the quarter ended Dec. 31, with an adjusted gross profit of 30.6 per cent down from 30.9 per cent in the same quarter a year earlier.

The company said a decrease in its food retail margin -- largely related to its No Name price freeze and increased promotional activity --was partially offset by growth in higher margin drug retail sales.

But while Loblaw's profit edged down its revenue rose nearly 10 per cent compared with a year ago.

Revenue totalled $14.0 billion, up from $12.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The increase in revenue came as food retail same-store sales gained 8.4 per cent, with discount grocery stores continuing to outperform conventional chains, while drug retail same-store sales rose 8.7 per cent on strong demand for cough and cold products and beauty and cosmetics.

Also, a substack blog post refuting supermarket claims that price increases are due to supplier costs:

https://jacobin.com/2023/02/loblaws-food-prices-profits-inflation

Loblaws Is Crushing Canadians With High Food Prices — While Raking in Enormous Profits

[jjreason]

Another mainstream article today - Loblaws is on track to make a billion dollars per year.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/loblaw-revenue-q4-2022-1.6757480

[Canadian Jedi]

There is business opportunity because of the profits he is raking in.  Regional/Local Farmer Markets should become the norm of how we get our food.  Cut out the grocery store all together. 

[napseeker]

In fact, the greedflation of the major supermarket chains is causing other solutions to become much more popular. This was a story that aired the other day on CTV:

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-company-selling-odd-or-ugly-produce-for-huge-discount-launching-in-toronto-1.6282930

Get "ugly" produce for about half the price that you'd pay at a supermarket chain, and delivered to you. A good alternative to those living in Ontario right now, and they are planning on expanding to other provinces.

[jjreason]

Moving this to Wampa Cave lest anyone actually check it for store updates on actual SW stuff. 

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