Junction Triangle

Could the World Cup impact the outcome of Thursday's election in Davenport?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-votes-2014/how-world-cup-c...

I too remember when Kathleen Wynne became Minister of Transport during those awful pile-driving days. She said she had gone to the area and found the noise wasn't too bad. And something about her grandchildren would never forgive her if didn't get transit so they could ride from the suburbs.
Meanwhile, our grandchildren were being pummelled daily from the pile-driving.
We lost any respect for her at that time.
But Hudak? Good lord no.

this is stupid. none of these candidates reflect the community. to hell with this and eventually to hell with davenport.

Dan Stein the Green Party candidate is one of the few candidates that clearly understands all the missed opportunities and potential cancellations in regards to the Airport link. In the process he somewhat makes a case for voting Liberal to stop Hudak from cancelling everything but his take is far clearer than most Toronto media "Tranpsortation Reporters" who basically just reprint press releases. Obviously he read and understood the 2010 Metrolinx study that showed they were on the wrong path. In his opinion the NDP abandoned the community on this issue; an idea that will find many backers I suspect.

Read his posting here.

If you think the map of proposed stations on an electrified line look like a DRL....you are right and should mention it at candidates meetings for provincial and city elections.

I decided to check the "Freedom Party" and looked at their budget documents to see if there was anything that impacts Ward 18. There really wasnt but I was surprised that they are convinced of a plot by the Liberals, NDP, and Conservatives to use living wills to force doctors to give lethal injections into old people so that they die and the government saves money. Yup. Its one of the first items in their document on page 4. (They say that this is not a real solution to saving money and that is open to debate but their initial premise is.). This is the worst kind of deliberate misinformation and worthy of a few words.

They claim this is all supposedly revealed in the Drummond Report on reducing government expenses. Yes living wills can reduce health care costs but when it comes to claims of killing people the Freedom Party should be called the Palin Party.

As anybody who has already dealt with elderly relatives or their parents the idea of getting a living will is a really good idea so that A) the end of life wishes of the person are known and followed and B) it removes decision making stress and potential arguments from the stressed family. The whole idea of living will is to create respect and dignity for those that may be near the end of their life. Having gone through this myself I can say that honouring a living will creates a great feeling of have respected the wishes of one you love. One side effect of living wills is that it stops the situations where patients who cannot speak for themselves are subjected to extreme measures to keep them alive because a family cant decide what to do or when to say enough. As people have tended to live longer and we have so many ways to prolong some semblance of life it is hard for families to agree when there is nothing more that can be done.

Living wills obviously save the system money, frees up beds faster, and directs staff to those who may be able to be helped. The Drummond report is clear about this and says we need to create conversation on this topic as a way of convincing people that living wills benefit the family, other families, and society. Nowhere in the Drummond Report does it suggest in any way that doctors provide lethal injections to kill people.

The Freedom Party overlooks the fact that living wills are as different as the people they serve. Different people will have different yardsticks of what they wish to endure in terms of pain, how they might wish to die, where they might wish to die (78% of people say they want to die at home). As well living wills are not just for the old, they are a great idea in case one is involved in an accident.Regardless, these are the wishes of the individual, made when they are mentally competent and in no way directed by governments trying to save money. The Freedom Party says that the government will force doctors to coerce individuals to chose to be injected to die sooner but not only is there zero evidence of this, most living wills are done with a legal expert who specializes in these issues, they are not done in doctors offices. (Never mind that the OMA would be against this practice.)

The Freedom Party talk about forced lethal injections is farcical because they are trying to confuse the issue of euthanasia with living wills. Living wills are about quality of care, pain relief, sedatives, do not resuscitate orders and palliative care choices and legal passive consensual euthanasia (when life support is removed by directive of a living will or family choice). Euthanasia/assisted suicide is in legal flux right now and there will be changes and probably Supreme Court challenges and the results could impact what legally can be put into a living will; but again it will still be the decision of the individual to decide. The government cant force you to have a regular will or a power of attorney...so the idea of forcing people to have living wills and to chose the outcomes is ludicrous.

There are a lot of good reasons for using living wills and saving the health care system money is one of them. But coercing citizens to end their lives? Sorry thats tin foil hat talk. I have a hard time taking a party seriously that needlessly creates fear among older citizens and discredits and politicizes the use of living wills; a document that brings a lot of calm and dignity to stressful situations. I have a living will and it brings me great comfort knowing that my wishes will be respected and that I will have control should I no longer be able to speak (or write long web posts) and its kind of a gift to my loved ones knowing that they will never be burdened should something happen to me or when my days draw to a close.