Tag Archives: Ndp

Addicts out in cold: workers

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Centres’ shutdown over holidays called symptom of underfunding

It’s bad enough a funding shortfall is forcing provincial drug-treatment centres to close over Christmas, but staff say that’s just one grim symptom of chronic underfunding at the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba.

Addicts often wait three months for drug treatment and a year to get into the methadone program. Staffing levels are stagnant, even though client numbers have increased nearly 20 per cent over the last five years. The province kiboshed a plan to hire extra staff for treatment centres, forcing many to work solo with potentially violent clients.

Come next year, the AFM will no longer be able to afford to dispatch addiction counsellors to 65 schools across the province.

And treatment-centre cooks are using coupons to save money on food.
In an interview, four front-line staff members said that, on their own, individual cuts aren’t too damaging.

Added together, though, they amount to a dramatic erosion of services for addicts at a time when the courts are ordering more people into mandatory treatment and addictions are getting more complicated.

“(AFM CEO John Borody) is just constantly putting his finger in all the dikes,” said Dave Grift, a prevention and education worker. “The AFM keeps trying to do more with no money to do it with.”

That means staff have higher caseloads, spend less time with clients and turn away people ready to get clean.

“We’re worried we’re moving to a factory style of treatment,” said Rae Kujanpaa, a community addictions worker based in Dauphin. “People are just getting rolled through.”

The AFM revealed this week it will close most of its treatment centres over Christmas to save $50,000, a move Healthy Living Minister Jim Rondeau defended Thursday. He said few people are in month-long residential treatment programs over the holidays and it makes sense to ramp up for the post-Christmas influx.

He said the NDP has boosted AFM’s budget by nearly 55 per cent over the last decade — a hefty increase.

“We continue to expand programs and make them more accessible,” said Rondeau. “We’ve been trying to get them the resources they need.”

But staff say recent increases have been eaten up by new pension contribution rules set by the province.

Salaries, mandated by union agreements, have also increased, leaving virtually no extra money to cover inflationary operating costs.

Nearly 16,000 people got treatment at the AFM’s programs in the last fiscal year. That’s up by more than 2,300 from five years ago. But staff numbers have remained static at about 280 people, said Borody.

The province recently spent $9 million on a new treatment centre in Thompson that staff called “beautiful.” But so far, the AFM hasn’t seen any extra operating funding for maintenance, to staff three extra beds or to cover a $67,000 property tax bill.

Earlier this year, the AFM hoped to make good on a long-standing promise to staff its five adult treatment centres with two residential-care workers at all times. The province kiboshed the funding request.

Addicts often suffer from mental illnesses or multiple addictions and can get violent, making it dangerous for staff and other clients. On one shift last month, a staff member working solo reported dealing with an intruder, a suicidal patient, a diabetic with dangerously low blood sugar and an incoherent client who needed an ambulance.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/addicts-out-in-cold-workers-70603952.html

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McFadyen pleased with rural support

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Provincial opposition and PC leader Hugh McFadyen was in Altona for an early morning meeting on Nov. 16, launching a series of similar visits to locations in several southern Manitoba constituencies.

The invitation only event included close to 35 local business people, farmers, and municipal politicians, many who shared similar concerns.

Increasing regulation on producers and municipalities (especially regarding development) was a source of frustration to many, and McFadyen said he wasn’t surprised.
“It is what I expected,” he said. “I get a lot of questions about government policy decisions. It’s been a discussion point for a number of years.”

McFadyen said often the people with concerns aren’t upset about the policy itself. “The issue is the way government goes about it,” he said.

McFadyen also hinted at changing the make-up of his shadow cabinet in response to cabinet changes made by the NDP. “I don’t think it will be dramatic,” he said, adding that MLA Cliff Graydon will “continue to play an important role.”

Graydon is currently the critic for MPI, liquor control and gaming.

Keeping support in rural southern Manitoba may be simple, but McFadyen admitted they do have to connect with Winnipeg voters.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” he admitted. “In many ways the concerns of the people in Winnipeg are similar to other communities as well.”

But keeping in touch with their roots is very important to the PC party.

McFadyen said the reaction they are met with shows they remain on the right track.

“I think we are,” he said. “We’ve been rewarded with high levels of support. We never take it for granted,” he added.

A plethora of issues were discussed during the 1.5 hour breakfast meeting.

Infrastructure was a big concern for many, with rural municipal officials telling McFadyen that there are increasing restrictions on things like low level crossings, even though funding for the more costly bridge replacements is not forthcoming.

McFadyen also took the opportunity to praise both current MLA Cliff Graydon and former MLA Jack Penner for their work on the Letellier bridge. Work on the new one has begun after a decade of lobbying.

“Letellier bridge is now the most famous bridge in Manitoba,” McFadyen said, referring to the number of times that file was brought up in the legislature.

He also agreed with frustrated municipal politicians that getting subdivision approvals is harder. “There’s a general pattern of the regulatory side of government winning over the development side,” he said.

Agricultural issues were also brought forward. The ban on winter manure spreading was one example. Although the producer that brought that forward did not disagree with the intent, he pointed out a Nov. 1 beginning to the ban does not make sense in a year like this when the ground is not yet frozen.

Mayor Mel Klassen asked for support from McFadyen on giving one per cent of the existing provincial sales tax to municipalities. McFadyen’s PCs have committed to give half of a percentage point to start, and he pointed out that property taxes are an “imperfect” way of creating revenue.

McFadyen wouldn’t offer a firm opinion on the harmonized sales tax proposal, saying that the department of finance must release their analysis first.

He also weighed in on the Roseau River First Nation water issue, criticizing the lateness of the Public Utilities Board deadline of Dec. 31, 2010. “It just boggles the mind how these decisions get made,” he said.

McFadyen commented on minimum wage as well, pointing out that at one time it was very necessary. “Now its more of a political candy,” he said of the recent increases.

http://www.altonaecho.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2183748

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Transfer tax slammed

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Realtors call for exemptions, reductions

Winnipeg’s realtors have asked the province to consider exemptions and reductions to the land transfer tax, which the agents say is an impediment to some would-be homebuyers.

The provincial government keeps a registry of land titles and requires people to pay to transfer the title when they buy a property. That tax can run into the thousands of dollars. The Winnipeg Realtors Association says that can cause some prospective homebuyers to delay an entry into the housing market as they save up enough for the land transfer tax, which is paid up front as part of the closing costs of a sale.

“We feel it’s a very regressive, negative tax,” said Don Cook, chair of civic and legislative affairs for the Winnipeg Realtors Association. “The government’s really getting a good take on it right now.”

A spokeswoman for provincial Finance Minister Greg Selinger said the government has projected it will bring in $43.6 million from the tax this fiscal year, which ends March 31. The cost of administering the land transfers is about 1% of that revenue, she said, meaning about 99% of it goes into the government’s general coffers.

Suggestions

Cook said the realtors met with Selinger on Feb. 18 with a list of suggestions for changes, including an exemption for first-time buyers and affordable housing program participants. Ontario and B.C. exempt first-time home buyers, while Saskatchewan and Alberta have no land transfer tax at all, the Winnipeg Realtors Association said.

Cook said the realtors also suggested changing the rates in Manitoba.

Currently, Manitobans pay nothing on the first $30,000 of sale price, 0.5% from $30,000 to $90,000, 1% from $90,000 to $150,000, 1.5% from $150,000 to $200,000, and 2% on the portion above $200,000.

The realtors have suggested charging 0.5% up to $100,000, 1% up to $200,000, 1.5% up to $500,000 and a cap at the half-million mark. “We’re hopeful it will happen,” Cook said.

However, Selinger’s spokeswoman said the NDP government is “prioritizing initiatives that will stimulate our economy” and focusing on tax measures contained in last fall’s throne speech. The speech made no mention of land transfer tax.

She said the government has instead eased the property tax burden by eliminating the education support levy and increasing the education property tax credit over the past few years.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/winnipeg/2009/03/09/8677276-sun.html

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2008 GST Reduction Was Not Universally Praised

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“I came to this very store and promised Canadians that a new Conservative government would cut the GST from seven to six to five per cent and at midnight tonight we will deliver on that promise, three years ahead of schedule,” he said at a photo opportunity in a Mississauga store Monday.

Harper said this latest cut will result in an additional $6 billion in tax relief for Canadian consumers in 2008.

But NDP Leader Jack Layton said the GST announcement and other Conservative tax cuts will do little to increase wealth in Canada. In an end-of-year interview, Layton noted that the tax cuts could widen the gap between rich and poor, while the average family could see higher property taxes, post-secondary education fees and other bills.

“Those with the highest salaries – the millionaires, the big banks, the (profitable) corporations… The ones that don’t need the help – are going to get the most help; the oil and gas companies in the tar sands, continuing to get subsidies as well as a big boost from the corporate tax cuts,” Layton said.

Patti Croft, chief economist with the investment firm Phillips, Hager and North, said anyone making big-ticket purchases will benefit from the consumption tax reduction. But, she said: “In general most economists would prefer a cut in income taxes. It’s a more efficient way to reduce the tax burden. By cutting the GST, hopefully it causes Canadians to spend more.”

Ottawa realtor Duane Leon, however, predicted that even though the cut could shave thousands of dollars off the price of a newly built home, there would be little impact on the real estate market. Many builders have already announced that price increases in the thousands of dollars for new construction that will take effect early in the new year, he said, adding this will offset any benefits to buyers from the GST reduction.

The only buyers who will see an actual one per cent price drop in the purchase price of a newly built home are those who bought in 2007 and take possession in 2008, said Leon, an agent with RE/MAX Metro-City Realty. GST is not charged on resales of existing properties.

The director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, however, defended this second trim in the GST, saying it will save the average household between $150 and $200 annually.

“While some have criticized cutting the GST, it is a broad-based tax cut that puts $5 billion back in the pockets of over-taxed Canadians,” John Williamson said in a statement. Noting that this is the second GST cut that the Tories have made since July 1, 2006, he added: “This is good news particularly since $10 billion in the pockets of Canadian consumers is preferable to Ottawa hoarding the cash.”

The president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business agreed.

“The one percentage point cut puts over $5 billion dollars back into the national economy, at a time when sales are traditionally sluggish in many sectors,” said Catherine Swift.

“Our members’ No. 1 priority is tax reduction of all kinds,” she said. “They want to see more money left in Canadians’ pockets.”

The Goods and Services Tax was introduced by the Conservatives in 1992. All 10 premiers opposed the tax, lobby groups railed against it and one poll showed 80 per cent of Canadians objected

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