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Former Mayor Larry Di Ianni and Mr. Ecklund's daughter Erika
ARCHIVED POSTS:
- The Affordable Connaught: Lessons Learned (September 21, 2009)
- Do Canadians Want A Federal Election? (September 17, 2009)
- Amalgamation Revisited (September 14, 2009)
- Whither or Should that be Wither the Connaught? (September 11, 2009)
- Hamilton- a City of Philanthropists (September 8, 2009)
- Who is Canada's Political Lion(August 31, 2009)
- Bloggers Beware: you are not as invisible as you think!(August 28, 2009)
- Redeemer College University: A Deserving Member of Hamilton’s Education City (August 24, 2009)
- What's New About the NDP? (August 19, 2009)
- Is Neighbourhood Planning the Art of the Possible?(August 12, 2009)
- Integrity Commissioner’s First Investigation: Much Ado About Nothing (August 10, 2009)
- Et Tu Hamilton? Did our city just throw Balsillie’s hopes under a bus?(August 5, 2009)
- A Fine Finesse or a Fine Mess? The Opening of the Financial Floodgates (July 31, 2009)
- The Politics of Floods (July 28, 2009)
- Sundry Summer Thoughts, 2009 (July 23, 2009)
- James Street Revitilization and Rev. Ron Burridge (July 21, 2009)
- A Review of My New Year’s Predictions (July 13, 2009)
- Transformers in Winona: Revenge of the Changelings (July 10, 2009)
- The Virtues of Tax Increases (Or Not!) (July 9, 2009)
- Council’s Plan for Future Development (July 2, 2009)
- Hamilton's Self-Esteem (June 26, 2009)
- Da Rally, Da Media and Di Manno (June 22, 2009)
- Balsillie Has Done the Heavy Lifting; It is Now Time for Hamilton to Act (June 15, 2009)
- Mady Development in Winona (June 5, 2009)
- NDP Impotence is Costing Hamilton Federal Support (June 2, 2009)
- Metrolinx Appoints New Board (May 29, 2009)
- Accountability and Transparency Committee Misses the Mark (May 27, 2009)
- Mourning Randy Steele (May 25, 2009)
- Success at Hess Village? (May 22, 2009)
- Boosterism or Realism: these should not be the options for the City of Hamilton! (May 20, 2009)
- Council's Role and
the NHL (May 14, 2009)
- Sundry Spring Thoughts (May 8, 2009)
- Is the City of Burlington Hamilton's Friend or Rival? (May 5, 2009)
- The Church of the Universe
and Hamilton Politics (April 29, 2009)
- Pandemic Response: Is Hamilton Ready? (April 27, 2009)
- Ambassador Robert Fowler’s Hamilton Connection (April 23, 2009)
- Healthcare and Hamilton Politics (April 21, 2009)
- Administrative Changes Continue in Hamilton (April 17, 2009)
- Devastating Earthquake in Central Italy (April 13, 2009)
- Waste Management and
the City Budget (April 7, 2009)
- GoTransit and Metrolinx Merger: Benefits and Implications (April 1, 2009)
- Ontario’s Budget: A Risky Proposition or a Sure Thing? (March 30, 2009)
- Environment Hamilton: Methinks the group doth protest too much? (March 26, 2009)
- Term Limits: Pros and Cons (March 23, 2009)
- Tim Hudak: Leader in Waiting? (March 18, 2009)
- The Winds of Change (March 9, 2009)
- Planning Matters: An Interesting Planning Committee Discussion (March 6, 2009)
- Mourning The Steel Company of Canada (March 4, 2009)
- Marketing Our City: Tourism Hamilton’s Excellent Adventure (March 3, 2009)
- Media Crisis Hits Hamilton Hard (February 27, 2009)
- King of NIMBY Fights City Hall (February 23, 2009)
- Impoverishing the Future (February 20, 2009)
- Of Roasts and Toasts And Politics And Such (February 17, 2009)
- Pan-Am Games: Should Hamilton Participate? (February 12, 2009)
- Governing in Tough Economic Times (February 9, 2009)
- Winter Blahs and Wow Factors (February 4, 2009)
- Municipal Service Centers: Unifying the City has a cost (February 2, 2009)
- The Federal Budget Deserves Support (January 28, 2009)
- NDP Hypocrisy Hurts
50,000 York U Students (January 26, 2009)
- Appearances Can Be Deceiving: the Case for the Elfrida Node (January 22, 2009)
- "Events, Dear Boy, Events" (January 19, 2009)
- The Burdens of Office
(January 13, 2009)
- Federal NDP Caucus Lets Hamilton Down (January 12, 2009)
- The South Pole and Anti-Business: A Relationship? (January 9, 2009)
- Hamilton's Future Fund: A Success Story (January 7, 2009)
- Forecasts for the Year 2009 (January 2, 2009)
- New Year's Resolutions for Local and World Leaders (December 30, 2008)
- NDP Convention May be a Barn-burner! (December 26, 2008)
- Peak Oil and Airport Lands Development in the City of Hamilton (December 23, 2008)
- A Christmas Story (December 19, 2008)
- Hamilton Economic Summit and Hamiltonians For Progressive Development: A Tale of Two Approaches To Hamilton's Economic Future (December 17, 2008)
- Hamilton Mourns Chester Waxman (December 15, 2008)
- The Politics of Division At City Hall (December 12, 2008)
- Sundry Thoughts: On Local, Provincial and Federal Issues (December 10, 2008)
- The Recurring City Hall Debate: And It's Not Even Ground Hog Day Yet! (December 8, 2008)
- On The Precipice (December 5, 2008)
- How to Slay the Budget Dragon in the City of Hamilton (December 2, 2008)
- Ottawa's Constitutional Crisis May Be Good News For Hamilton (December 1, 2008)
- It is Time to Consider Changes to How Council Meetings are Chaired (November 27, 2008)
- It's The Economy, Stupid (November 24, 2008)
- From Business to Drive-Thrus: Everything is Connected (November 17, 2008)
- Hamilton and the N.H.L: An Impossible Dream? (November 13, 2008)
- The Role of Media in the City of Hamilton (November 10, 2008) UPDATED NOVEMBER 18 2008
- Leadership Politics at the Municipal, Provincial and Federal Levels (November 5, 2008)
- The City Hall Dilemma (November 4, 2008)
- Ward Boundaries Revisited (October 30, 2008)
- Should the Province Bail Out Hamilton? Again? (October 23, 2008)
- Post Election Analysis (October 22, 2008)
- A $48M Dollar Bonanza For Hamilton (August 29, 2008)
- Branding the City of Hamilton (August 21, 2008)
- The Area Rating Debate (part 2) (August 14, 2008)
- Harmony or Fairness: The 'Area Rating' debate (Part One) (August 8, 2008)
- The Royal Connaught: Crucial to Downtown Redevelopment (August 1, 2008)
- Hamilton Politics and the Dark Side of the Internet (July 22, 2008)
- Oily Politics in the City of Hamilton (July 7, 2008)
- The Lister Re-Born? (July 2, 2008)
- Council Moves Hamilton Towards the Future (June 25, 2008)
- Soccer Fever As a Canadian Metaphor (June 23, 2008)
- Tolling roads in Ontario (June 18, 2008)
- Who Will Lead Downtown Renewal? (June 11, 2008)
- The Scourge of Cancer Among Us (June 4, 2008)
- Hamilton's Downtown Renewal (May 30, 2008)
- A Rapid Transit System for Hamilton (May 20, 2008)
- Hamilton's Economic Summit 2 (May 13, 2008)
- Hamilton's Economic Summit (May 5, 2008)
- The Flamborough Slot Revenue Debate (April 24, 2008)
- The Caledonia Dispute Reaches Hamilton (April 21, 2008)
- The Sad Saga of Lost Opportunities: How We Lost the Maple Leaf Pork Processing Plant (April 17, 2008)
- Hovercraft Services For Hamilton? (April 9, 2008)
- VIA Rail Part 2: We've Been Fooled Again! (April 3, 2008)
- VIA Rail: Easy Come, Easy GO!!! (March 31, 2008)
- Who Should Be Hamilton's Next City Manager (March 25, 2008)
- How Elusive is Council Consensus? (March 17, 2008)
- Glen Peace: A Man of Integrity (March 5, 2008)
- Sundry Winter Reflections (February 28, 2008)
- A Day and An Eternity: On Leaving the City for a Week (February 6, 2008)
- An Integrity Commissioner and Integrity: Both Are Needed (February 6, 2008)
- The Amalgamation Demon Raises Its Uncomfortable Head (February 1, 2008)
- The Groundhog Day Debate: What to do about City Hall (January 25, 2008)
- Hamilton Mourns Conrad Furey (January 24, 2008)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls: Should the Red Hill Valley Parkway be Tolled? (January 17, 2008)
- The Lister Saga Continues (January 8, 2008)
- Out with the Old, in with the New (December 31, 2007)
- Sprawl: Myth and Reality (December 18, 2007)
- Towards Sustainable Transportation (December 13, 2007)
- Assessment Growth and Job Creation (December 7, 2007)
- On Transit, Bag Limits and the Running of City Meetings (December 1 , 2007)
- The Importance of Public Transit (November 28, 2007)
- Some Pre-Christmas Thoughts (November 26, 2007)
- Airport Employment Growth District (November 15 , 2007)
- The Red Hill Parkway (November 5 , 2007)
- The Value of Mission Statements: the Impossible Dream or Doable Objectives? (November 2 , 2007)
- The Toronto Act, More Taxes and the City of Hamilton (October 30, 2007)
- Council Looking to Increase the Size of Council (October 23, 2007)
- Ontario's Election: An analysis of the Local Reaction (October 16, 2007)
- A New Stadium for the City of Hamilton? (October 7, 2007)
- The Mid Peninsula Corridor and the City of Hamilton (September 27, 2007)
- The Carpenter's Union And the City of Hamilton (September 21, 2007)
- Provincial Election: The Local Scene (September 17, 2007)
- Provincial Election: Some Early Observations (September 12, 2007)
- Philanthropy is Changing the Face of Capitalism (September 10, 2007)
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LARRY'S CORNER- Hamilton's Former Mayor Speaks
Healthcare and Hamilton Politics
By Larry Di Ianni
(posted April 21, 2009)
I note that the Hamilton Health Coalition is sponsoring a rally to protest hospital cuts. The chosen site is the office of our Mountain MPP, Sophia Aggelonitis. When I saw this, I wondered what kinds of cuts are being contemplated to motivate a ‘protest’ rally. I was also curious about the sponsoring group and its motivations.
To be sure, healthcare is deservedly uppermost in Hamiltonians’ minds. To be equally sure, we don’t want to see the erosion of health care services to negatively affect the quality we have come to expect of our civic hospitals. The recent spate of C difficile outbreaks is particularly disturbing. But to be precise about matters, the current provincial government has done a lot to reverse the Harris cuts to healthcare and has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into our hospitals in order to upgrade services for the residents of this city. Why, then, are we taking to the streets to protest the good things the province has done?
Perhaps the answer lies in part on the nature of the rally’s sponsoring group. When I sought information on the Hamilton Health Coalition, the website pointed me in the direction of the Ontario Health Coalition and the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union which represents over 20,000 health care workers in the province. OPSEU’s full agenda, then, is to protect health care thorough the protection of its employees. And what is OPSEU so angry about this time? It is that the McGuinty government, in this era of fiscal austerity brought on by the economic downturn, has indicated that the increase for Health care in the provincial budget is going to be 2.1% more than it was last year as opposed to the 2.4% it received in the last budget. So, the protests right across the province are over a .3% decrease to the increase. Sounds confusing? Let me put it more simply: Health care will get more money, but not as much as it got last year; and not as much as Health care groups want.
Maybe this protest will be effective. We certainly wish OPSEU well. However, if they are successful, where might the money come from? Education? Transfers to cities? Transportation? Law enforcement? OPSEU may be playing a dangerous game by advocating for only one sector while the government has to balance the needs of all sectors under its jurisdiction.
As well, if memory serves me right, the McGuinty government has been more generous to this city than its predecessor government ever was. Just recently we received $16.5M for Social Services to help keep taxes down while maintaining programs for the needy. This on top of close to $50M for infrastructure, $8.8 for school renewal, $14.2M for Mohawk College renewal and programs, $30M to clean up Randle’s Reef, $7M for the Lister Block and downtown renewal, $30M for public transportation improvements, and major rebuilding programs for the General and Henderson hospitals totalling in the hundreds of millions.
OPSEU is a legitimate public pressure advocacy group. But to be fair and balanced, it really should protest with a wee hint of a smile on its face, and more than a bit of a thank you to the McGuinty government for having done a lot of good for the city of Hamilton in the past few years. What are the chances of that happening?
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