COLUMBUS CENTRE: “VCI, stop alla società a scopo di lucro”

Letter to the Corriere Canadese by Ian Duncan MacDonald

ENGLISH VERSION: https://www.corriere.ca/columbus-centre/convert-the-entire-operation-over-a-member-owned-not-for-profit-corporation/

Ieri ho inviato una e-mail a quello che pensavo fosse ancora un direttore del Columbus Centre. Si è scoperto che si era dimesso di recente. Ho seguito una telefonata che mi ha rivelato che le cose sono peggiori al Columbus Centre di quello che pensavo potessero essere.

Sembra che l’unica operazione che fa soldi siano gli appartamenti degli anziani. Tutte le operazioni sono ora controllate direttamente dal consiglio di Amministrazione di Villa Charities ad eccezione della struttura atletica (che ha bisogno di centinaia di dollari, se non milioni, per renderla commercializzabile) e della scuola di danza che sono entrambe controllate indirettamente.

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Vaccines, the government ready to change gears

[GTranslate]TORONTO – The federal government is poised to change gears on the vaccine front. The confirmation came yesterday from Justin Trudeau during a press conference in which the prime minister did not hide a cautious optimism about the latest developments in the vaccination campaign that is about to come to life in Canada. The first factor to consider – underlined by the Liberal leader – is the approval of the third vaccine in Canada, that of AstraZeneca, which has a significant acceleration in the roadmap drawn up by the government in recent months. Yesterday – added Trudeau – the first supply of the vaccine arrived in our country with about half a million doses, which will be immediately distributed to the province and territories. “In addition to this,” he continued, “we are waiting to have a response from Health Canada on another vaccine, the one produced by Johnson and Johnson.” The latter, which in the United States has been able to give the green light by the regulator, could represent the turning point in this problematic immunization campaign against Covid-19, as a difference of all the other approved vaccines in Canada – Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca – to be effective needs a single dose and does not require recall injection. Continue reading→

Nursing homes scandal: unpunished violations

[GTranslate]TORONTO – The initial shock soon was replaced by anger. The photograph of Long Term Care Homes that emerges from a CBC News investigation is shocking. Not only are anti-contagion security protocols broken in these facilities while the Covid-19 pandemic is underway, but LTCs found red-handed are not punished for their behaviour. As they say in Italian, after the “pulling of ears”, everything ends up in “tarallucci and wine”. It’s a fact. Inspections of Ontario’s Long Term Care Homes almost never have consequences. Homes are asked to solve the problem, but even if an inspector returns and finds the same problem, there are no fines or penalties. In very rare cases, houses are forbidden to accept new residents. Continue reading→