Hospital parking fees frozen for three years

North-Bay-Regional_CroppedThe provincial government of Ontario announced on Monday that it is freezing the cost of hospital parking fees for the next three years. The announcement means that hospital parking around North Bay and Ontario as a whole will remain frozen at its current price, effective immediately.

As well as freezing prices, the government said in a release that those hospitals or medical facilities with parking currently priced over $10 per day will be mandated to offer discounted passes for 5, 10 or 30-day use at a discount of 50 percent the daily rate. North Bay Regional Hospital does not fit into that bracket as its per day flat rate sits at $6 for both visitors and patients.

Those purchasing passes from more expensive hospitals will be able to transfer them to other people and use their days over a one year period, effective Oct. 1, 2016. The news has received mixed reactions, with Dr. Eric Hoskins, minister of Health and Long-Term care, pointing out that high parking fees should not be a reason why a patient does not get care:

“With today’s announcement, we are providing relief from the high cost of parking at some hospitals in Ontario. By making parking more affordable for patients and their loved ones who visit the hospital often, we are helping to reduce the burden of parking fees and putting patients first,” said Hoskins.

However, while patients and visitors may welcome the fixed prices, the Ontario Hospital Association is worried and says medical centers are already absorbing cutbacks and costs:

“As hospitals continue to absorb hundreds of millions in operating costs without an inflationary increase, it is increasingly difficult for them to invest in other important health care priorities, such as capital improvements to their buildings, new medical and diagnostic equipment, and information and communications technology,” adds the release.

Heavy Snow Expected in North Bay on Friday, Roads Dangerous

North BayEnvironment Canada has issued a special weather warning for the North Bay area for the coming days and nights, with significant snowfall expected.

The weather warning is also issued for Powassan – Mattawa, and West Nipissing – and French River areas, so those travelling around the whole region are advised to exercise caution. An extreme low pressure Alberta Clipper is moving into North Bay, heading from Lake Huron and Georgian Bay Friday then into the Ottawa Valley area or southwestern Quebec by Friday night, and it will be bringing huge snowfall with it.

Between 10 and 20 centimeters of snow are expected to fall, although it could be more if the pressure continues to drop as the clipper passes. The weather is expected to pass over North Bay through Friday and into the night and Saturday morning, while ice and hail stones are also expected.

Environment Canada added it is monitoring the situation but says it expects driving conditions to worsen starting Thursday night before deteriorating quickly through Friday. Residents of North Bay and surrounding areas are advised to check back with Environment Canada sporadically for any further updates, especially those heading out or planning on travelling on the roads and highways around the city.

Driving in winter conditions is extremely hazardous and more accidents happen at this time of year than any other. There are practices that can help motorists stay safe on the road, such as limiting speeds and staying safe distances behind lead vehicles. Winter tires are a major help in winter climates, reducing braking distances and preventing skidding.

This winter season the Ontarian government has mandated that those using winter tires on their vehicles will be guaranteed a reduction in the auto insurance policy through discounts.

North Bay snowmobile trails opening

Snowmobile in winter mountainDue to winter weather finally living up to billing, more than 100 kilometers of snowmobile trails have been opened between Mattawa and Bonfield. The trails have been opened after cold weather finally hit regions around North Bay, later than is usual.

The trails were opened on Monday and Tuesday and are expected to stay open, while experts are saying a late start to the cold season does not necessarily mean that this will be a short winter. However, snowmobile clubs in North Bay are warning that riders need to stick to trails that have been opened as other runs are currently too watery thanks to excessive rainfall for this time of year.

There have been investments to improve snowmobile trails throughout the North Bay area, but even so a slow start to winter has meant only 1,000 kilometers of trails have been opened across the province of Ontario. That amounts to trails being opened in a “limited fashion” according to several clubs in the area.

As for trails directly surrounding North Bay, they may be able to open as soon as this weekend thanks to predicted cold weather that is going to temperatures finally drop. Although, most experts agree that it will take consistent -15 to -20 C days to get all trails opened, allowing waterways to solidify more. The warmer than usual start to the cold season has left trails unopened and some believing the winter will be shorter this year, but some experts disagree.

It is true that the traditional snowmobile season should have started two weeks ago, but a late start does not necessarily mean and early finish. Weather experts say Canada may still have a traditional winter and that the snowmobile season may well run into early April.

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It is important to remember that snowmobiles are powerful vehicles and like all modes of transport, accidents can happen and damage to riders and property can occur. Snowmobile insurance is available through Knox Insurance Brokers, giving snowmobile owners peace of mind when out on the trails around North Bay and beyond.

Heavy and Rain and Snow Heading to North Bay this Weekend

Young man fastening seat belt in the carNorth Bay and the surrounding area is likely to be pummeled by severe winter weather conditions over this weekend, presenting dangerous driving scenarios and other problems in the city. Environment Canada has issued a special weather warning for North Bay – West Nipissing, Greater Sudbury and vicinity, and New Liskeard – Temagami:

“An approaching storm system is expected to bring significant rain and snowfall to our region.

Precipitation from this storm is forecast to begin late on Saturday night. It will likely begin as rain, with between 15 and 25 mm possible in some locales before it changes to snow on Sunday afternoon.

Snow is then forecast to continue through Sunday night before tapering off on Monday morning.

Some regions may receive 10 to 15 cm of snowfall during that time.

Strong and gusty winds on Sunday night may also result in areas of blowing snow.

There is still uncertainty regarding the development and track of this weather system. Small changes in the expected evolution could result in either more rain or more snow. Environment Canada meteorologists will continue to monitor this event closely.

This statement will be updated with more detail as the outcome becomes more certain. Weather watches or warnings may also be needed.”

Drivers heading out in such conditions should make sure they are prepared for any type of road scenario, including ice flood water. Standard safe driving practices will go a long way to keeping your safe on the roads this weekend and indeed this winter. Obey traffic laws and consider in harsh conditions staying further behind a leading vehicle that you normally would as braking distances can be cut.

Some winter driving practices should be observed, such as checking the weather before setting off, compiling a winter driving kit of emergency items in case you are stranded, and of course any vehicles with winter tires installed have a clear advantage in winter weather.

North Bay stores can now bid to sell beer

Beer.It may sound like the latest reality TV show, but grocery outlets in North Bay will be competing in a shop wars of sorts as they go up against other stores from across Northern Ontario and the rest of the province. The outlets will be aiming to be granted a license to sell beer before the close of this year and the bidding process comes after consumers had revealed they wanted more choice when buying beer.

Across Ontario as a whole there will be sixty licenses handed out across the province, but only six will be reserved for regions in Northern Ontario. That means North Bay store owners will be competing for six licenses against owners from Sudbury, Sault Ste, Marie, and Thunder Bay. The licenses will be handed out before the end of this year.

One of the six licenses will be especially for a small grocery store, while two will be reserved for large single grocery outlets. While the changes were announced back in April, it is only today that the bidding process has been opened, and the liberal government says the process will create jobs and boost the economy.

“Consumers told us they want more convenience and choice when it comes to buying beer. We are modernizing our province’s beer retailing system to give people better access to the products they enjoy — and doing it in a prudent and socially responsible way. These changes will also level the playing field for Ontario brewers, helping to create jobs and grow our economy,” said Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario.

While handing out 60 new licenses may not seem like a large amount, it will actually be the biggest legislative change for alcohol since 90 years ago when prohibition ended. By 2017, when other license handouts have been completed, there will be 450 outlets that are carrying beer for the first time. The stores can only sell beer with a volume percentage of 7.1% or less, while the price must be set to match LCBO and the Beer Store.

This move has not received positive reception from all points, with some saying making beer more readily available will increase the risk of alcoholism, will raise drink driving, which in turn leads to more road accidents. While only time will prove that as true or false, any increase in road accident deaths as a result of the new beer laws will have an adverse effect on auto insurance premiums.

Negativity around the project is unlikely to deter shop owners in North Bay from entering the bidding process and potentially receiving a license that will boost revenue streams.

OTLA study shows drivers pay more than they should for insurance

Car insurance policyThe Ontario Trial Lawyers Association recently published the results of a study that found drivers in Ontario pay more for their auto insurance than they should. While the study mostly affects more populated regions, Northern Ontario and North Bay drivers are also overpaying for their auto insurance coverage.

The OTLA found that between 2001 and 2013 consumers overpaid for insurance policies by $3 billion to $4 billion, with each year over that 10 year period seeing drivers pay more and more. It culminated in 2013 when vehicle owners overpaid for auto insurance to the amount of $840 million, according to the study by Fred Lazar and Eli Prisman, professors at the York University Schulich School of Business.

One potential reason for this is the fact insurance companies may be overcompensating for Ontario’s notoriety as the insurance fraud capital of Canada. This fact already results in the highest auto insurance premiums in the country and it seems drivers are being hit harder by overpaying.

“Auto insurance companies in Ontario have had a relatively free ride during the past 20 years,” Lazar wrote in the report.

The study shows that insurance providers could afford to cut their premiums by as much as 7.9 per cent and still make profit to see a return on their investment. The paper was also critical of how the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) regulates auto insurance and how the body dictates how insurance companies calculate premiums.

Lazar pointed out that the auto insurance industry in the province is profitable and that companies could half equity returns to half the current amount, to 5.7 per cent. The OTLA study looked at 18 of the major insurance providers in Ontario and found that those major industry names had 17.5 per cent equity return, higher than the guideline amount stipulated by the province. Any thoughts that this is just a cycle the industry is moving through are inaccurate as auto insurance premiums have been rising for 20 years.

A spokesman for Ontario’s Minister of Finance said the province is still committed to reducing auto insurance rates, but that “reviewing the financial statements and economic activity of private companies is not within the Auditor General’s mandate.”

Why do North Ontario drivers pay less vehicle license fees?

Your license has arrived in an envelope as official approval or authorization for your application for business operation, driving, hunting, or other activityAt the beginning of the month the Ministry of Transport in Ontario announced that the license price would increase in the province, with the fee for sticker validation rising. However, despite this drivers in North Ontario still pay significantly less (up to half in most cases) less than those in South Ontario, which is the most populated region in Canada.

That means that residents in North Bay can expect to pay less for their licensing fee compared to their Southern Ontarian counterparts, even if those from North are still miffed at the hiked rates. The question that keeps getting asked is, why do we pay less in the Northeaster Ontario region?

MTO spokesperson Ajay Woozageer gave an answer to The Star:

“There are several reasons that Northern Ontario residents pay reduced vehicle licensing fees. Operating costs for all types of vehicles are substantially higher in the north, as are transportation costs.

“A small population, thinly spread over a large area and a more extreme climate are further contributing factors to an economic disparity between the north and the rest of Ontario.”

So, the general consensus is that the North is still something of a wilderness that is vastly different from the South, think of the Town Mouse, Country Mouse fable and you may get the picture. Of course, this is mostly nonsense as North Ontario is as well connected these days as the South, it just has vastly less people. However, this is where the government deeming North Bay some kind of forgotten backwater pays off for motorists.

Woozageer explained at the start of September why license prices needed to rise across the province, even if they remain cheaper in the North.

“While cost of maintaining roads, bridges and highways has risen over time, fees have not, so in keeping with the recommendations of the Drummond Commission, since 2012, the government has been gradually increasing fees to help recover the costs required to deliver the service or product to customers.

“By making gradual changes to vehicle license fees we can keep costs down for families and industry, while maintaining the safe roads and bridges that Ontarian’s travel on,” said Woozageer. “Many fees, including those for driver and vehicle licenses, do not allow the government to fully recover the cost of delivering services or products. These increases will help the government recover more of these costs.”

Fallout from North Bay Hospital Job Cuts results in Protests

North-Bay-Regional_CroppedThe fallout from Wednesday’s announcement that 158 jobs and some 30 beds will be cut from the North Bay Regional Health Centre has been sizeable and swift. Some are taking the chance to batter the liberal government for its failings, while the Canadian Union of Public Employees is planning protests today that it describes as “massive.”

“We need to protect these jobs and we need to rally all coalitions and area residents against these cuts,” claim Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. “We are planning three days of massive action and one of the days will be in North Bay.

“We will be heard. We will have thousands of people who will be heard all the way down to Queen’s Park.

“Right now, North Bay is being battered with cuts and privatization. These cuts are the worst in all of Ontario. This city has lost 360,000 hours of patient care in the last few years.”

The protests come in the wake of the news of huge cuts from the North Bay hospital, which has been underfunded and now sits with a $14 million deficit for the year. Attempting make up that cost has meant many full-time staff have lost their jobs, while numerous beds have also been lost. While hospital president Paul Heinrich attempted to put a positive spin on the cuts, saying they would improve patient care, the general consensus is that the opposite is true.

However, while Heinrich is guilty of optimism in front of a bleaker truth for patient care, the blame is largely being placed at the door step of the liberal Ontario government.

It is not just the main Health Centre that will be impacted either as Heinrich confirmed that of the 30 beds being slashed, 16-18 will come from the hospital’s satellite location on Kirkwood Drive in Sudbury. Those beds are specialized rehabilitative mental health units.

“What we told staff today is that we will be working with partners from the Sudbury area to develop a high-support housing — there’ll be social workers and therapists, and even nurses,” he said. “We’re going to transition those 16 beds into a complex, to be developed in Sudbury… We’re establishing a better quality of life. Our vision for mental health care is to respect people, and to (nurture) choice and independence.”

North Bay Hospital Cuts 158 Jobs

Hospital through the eyes of a patientThe North Bay Regional Health Centre has taken drastic measures in a bid to avoid an estimated $14 million deficit, implementing major staffing cuts bring down costs.

The hospital informed the workforce yesterday that 158 full-time jobs will be slashed, which has left many worried about the level of care that can now be expected from the Health Centre. The hospital has taken another viewpoint though and president Paul Heinrich said the cuts will actually mean the facility will run with greater efficiency.

“It’s going to mean improved patient care in many respects. What we’re doing is similar to other organizations in the province, and they’re able to get good outcomes with less expenditure than us, and that’s the bar that we’re going to achieve as well,” he said.

However, despite that ambitious prediction from Heinrich, the North Bay Regional Health Centre has come under fire for the substantial job cuts. Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli was critical of the North Bay health system but laid the blame at the doorstep of the liberal Ontarian government.

“That’s in addition to the 197 front-line health care workers that were fired in the last couple of years,” he said in an interview on Morning North.

“Also, we’ve got 60 hospital beds that have been now closed in the city of North Bay [in the last few years], so it’s not very nice to be back [at Queen’s Park] and not get any answers.”

There has also been an accusation that the remaining staff will now be overworked while also performing with the potential threat of their own future job security in question. Michael Hurley, the President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/Canadian Union of Public Employees, says that ultimately it will be patients who will bear the brunt of staff cuts.

“No community in Ontario is suffering hospital cuts to the extent that the North Bay community is suffering them,” said Hurley. “The Liberals saddled North Bay with an enormously expensive P3 hospital after promising to scrap the deal and they are cutting the hospital’s budget by almost six per cent a year. The province must step in immediately with funding to stop the bleeding out of vital patient services.”

The hospital has been forced into the position as it received $14 million less than it needed to maintain operations at full capacity through 2015. As the department attempts to recover that deficit it has also had to close 30 beds alongside the outgoing staff members.

Government steps in to bring clarity of Ontario Ombudsman search

OmbudsmanAndré Marin, the departing Ombudsman of Ontario, can finally step down as the search for a replacement has reached a resolution after the Liberal government in the province stepped in. The government decided to take action as the selection process has been mired in bickering and partisan infighting.

Marin’s term actually ended on May 31st, but he was given an extension until September 14th as a search for his replacement was sought. As that cutoff date approached the Ontario Legislative Assembly looked to have another extension put in place but it was blocked. In response to that and the consistent inability to appoint a new Ombudsman the government stepped in.

The result was Barbara Finlay, currently the deputy ombudsman, has been brought in to an interim post while a new full time ombudsman is found.

Of course, it is ironic that this search has been dogged by petty infighting and has worsened into a mess that the government had to sort out. After-all, it is the ombudsman who is supposed to protect North Bay and all Ontarian citizens from convoluted government bureaucracy. The Ombudsman of the province is supposed to be impartial and work independently and with integrity, so does the inability to find a new chair for the post mean the Ontario Legislative Assembly is struggling to find someone who meets those criteria?

That’s unlikely, but it is certainly something some citizens will be asking as the search for a replacement for Marin continues. In his ten years as Ombudsman of Ontario, André Marin has been considered to have done a good job, pushing through reforms for provincial systems, although he has also courted controversy on occasion. He has also been outspoken against the liberal government, comparing the leading office in the province to a “banana republic”.

Marin is interested in keeping his post and has said he will put his name forward during the search, but thinks the government is committed to getting rid of him. “It does not appear they were interested in the best person for the job,” Marin told reporters.