People in Ontario are forced to wait years for complex spinal surgeries in debilitating pain, suffering from a diminishing quality of life and risking life-long consequences and deterioration in function. These patients are all waiting unacceptably and inhumanely longer for surgery then medically recommended. Some with severe Scoliosis, with degenerative curving spines causing severe pain and limiting mobility, whose rotating rib cages, start to squeeze the very organs they're meant to protect, causing deterioration of lung and heart function. A handful of understaffed specialized spine surgeons are willing to help but face significant barriers. The government discourages, disincentivizes, these surgeons from performing complex surgeries by forcing them to wait months or longer to be paid and instead incentivizes them to perform government prioritized common surgeries which guarantee fair and timely compensation, further lengthening the wait, pain and suffering for patients who need complex surgery. In 2022, a lack of collaboration between the Ministry of Health's adjudicators and these health providers, has resulted in unfair assessments and compensation of complex cases, consequently furthering the wait for patients and leaving some in limbo. CBC''s Pelley interviewed 44 yr old Christine Kaschuba, mother of three, of Whitby Ontario, waiting over three years for surgery. Her spine is curved severely at 70 degrees in the shape of a C, the most common Scoliosis spine curvature. “The pain is unrelenting...while her lungs struggle to take in full, deep breaths. Most nights...she just wants to close her eyes and not wake up.” (1) My name is Karen and I am a baby boomer. I have lived in Ontario all my life. I was very fortunate and grateful to have had a complex spinal surgery to correct my serious scoliosis back in 2001 by highly-specialized spinal surgeon Dr. Stephen Lewis at Toronto Western Hospital. I believe I would not be alive today if I did not have that life-altering surgery. I did not have to wait years for the surgery and would have seriously considered suicide or MAID if I had to wait that long in such excruciating pain with a very poor quality of life. So I was shocked and extremely upset to watch the CBC national news on this health-care crisis in Ontario; (1) These patients, hundreds, are being discriminated against by being denied equitable and timely access to spine surgery. Some, are just teenagers and very young adults. Ontario's Excellent Care for All Act is definitely not for all. This is not the universal health care Canadians are so proud of. If you are an Ontario resident, please go one step further, download, sign and mail with postage, this non-partisan Ontario Legislative petition, recently co-sponsored by Green Party Leader MPP Mike Schreiner, be sure to put your full address with postal code. Click on https://1drv.ms/b/s!ApJ7tghCUbulzQkiBzErIqvqKZ2c?e=r7XFUk Updated 2024 Access to Spine Care SOURCES: (1) https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/scoliosis-surgery-patient-wait-surgeon-1.6884504 Health CBC Investigates June 25/23, "Patients wait in pain as a surgeon fights to get paid" https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-excess-funds-fao-1.6874664 CBC Toronto, June 13/23 -Ontario will have $22.6B in 'excess funds' that could be used on programs or debt, FAO says https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25218732/ Impact on health related quality of life of adult spinal deformity (ASD) compared with other chronic conditions, Eur Spine J, Jan 2015 'Medical and health policy providers should be aware of the impact of adult spinal deformity (ASD) on health-related quality of life (HRQL). A large international study comparing Adult Spinal Deformity patients with patients with other chronic diseases such as arthritis, chronic lung disease, diabetes and congestive heart failure, reported that surgical candidates with ASD displayed the worst HRQL scores.' https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34176081/ Does pulmonary function improve after surgical correction of adult idiopathic scoliosis?, Spine Deform, Nov 9 2021 “Pulmonary function improved in patients with preoperative pulmonary impairment of < 65% in %FVC and < 80% in %FEV1, and the real improvement was limited to patients with severe preoperative impairment.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37137668/ Identification of an increased lifetime risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in UK Biobank participants with scoliosis, Open Heart, May 10 2023 “Structural changes caused by spinal curvature may impact the organs within the thoracic cage, including the heart. ...This work identifies, in an adult population, evidence for altered cardiac function and an increased lifetime risk of MACE (major adverse cardiovascular events) in participants with scoliosis.” https://www.srs.org/patients-and-families/conditions-and-treatments/adults Scoliosis Research Society https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1411763/ Pehrsson K, Larsson S, Oden A, Nachemson A. Long-term follow-up of patients with untreated scoliosis. A study of mortality, causes of death, and symptoms. Spine 1992; 17: 1091± https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4128946/ Morbidity and radiographic outcomes of severe scoliosis of 90° or more: a comparison of hybrid with total pedicle screw instrumentation, Journal of Children's Orthopaedics, Aug 8, 2014 “Untreated severe scoliosis of 70° or more is associated with increased mortality as compared with the normal population [1]. Most patients with scoliosis of 60° or more present with major spinal deformity, restrictive lung disease, and, if left untreated, rapid progression of the deformity.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18939917/ Neurological symptoms and deficits in adults with scoliosis who present to a surgical clinic: incidence and association with the choice of operative versus nonoperative management, NeuroSurg Spine Oct 9 2008

People with disabilities in Alberta cannot get by or they are suffering on the streets, Aish can barely cover the average rent and cost of living in Alberta. The average rent in Calgary for a 1 bedroom apartment is $1,825 a month and keeps getting bigger. https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/calgary-ab The maximum payment for Aish is $1,787 this is completely unacceptable, Aish is meant for people who can't work because of their disabilities both physical and mental to still live a decent life in the province of Alberta. but because of the cost of living crisis and inflation, the ones who cannot work are suffering. most people on Aish can bearly get by, cannot find a place to rent or live, and can barely buy basic essentials due to the cost of living making everything expensive. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-assured-income-for-the-severely-handicapped-feature-1.5752665 Even though in 2022 the UCP reindexed Aish, we believe this is not enough. We are suffering, we cannot work. Aish is all we got We ask that Jason Nixon — Minister of Seniors, Community, and Social Services, and the Legislative Assembly of Alberta expand aish and make the maximum payment of 2,500 dollars to make it so we can live a decent life and ease our anxieties with the cost of living.

On August 22nd, Saskatchewan’s Education Minister Dustin Duncan announced new parental inclusion and consent policies for Saskatchewan schools that have raised a great deal of concern among trans people and allies because of their transphobic nature. He has ruled that schools must seek parent/guardian permission when changing the preferred name and pronouns used by students under the age of 16 in school, and has offered parents the opportunity to opt their children out of sex education classes. He states that this is to “support students and parents and recognizes the important role that parents and guardians have in protecting and supporting their children” as if using a different name and pronouns is something harmful for children that they ought to be protected from. You can read Duncan’s whole letter here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CwQOvritgq0/ If you agree that forcing trans children to out themselves to family in order to be themselves at school is not only a blatantly transphobic policy, but that it will lead to even higher rates of mental health problems, homelessness and even suicide to a group that already faces an increased risk of these things, please use our template to write to Mr. Duncan and give him a piece of your mind. Personalize our email to make it even more impactful and share your own stories. STAND WITH TRANS KIDS!

Road safety is important for all, and especially for seniors & children. Main St. should be a place we can feel free to travel without undue concern for our safety. Everyone can agree that the community spirit shown at car-free days, festivals, farmers' markets, and events should be encouraged every day of the week!

We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to create and implement a disability emergency relief benefit to provide immediate support to people with disabilities while awaiting the implementation of the Canada Disability Benefit.

Enough is enough. Now is the time to make sure we have a safe September. Now is the time to make sure every student and education worker walks into a safe, healthy environment. Let’s protect them by getting “back to basics” and providing clean air for them to breathe. Help us remind the Ontario government of its duty to protect students and education workers. Demand they take responsibility for this terrible failure to protect us all. Insist that they act to provide a safe September, and invest those unspent tax dollars on improvements to air quality in our schools - for the sake of our communities and healthcare system.

The displacement of thousands of tenants currently living in stable housing will make the rental market in Toronto even more competitive and volatile for *all* tenants. At a time when we do not have enough housing supply, it is socially irresponsible to destroy already dense housing, which will be removed from the market of available rentals for the next 3-5 years. If you care about rental affordability, please sign this petition. Demovictions don't just impact tenants being displaced, but the state of both short and long-term affordable rental supply. All rental replacements in new luxury condominiums only need to be rentals for at least 10 years, after which they can return to being market units. The result? Affordability is kicked down the road, out of the reach of from future generations.

The stench of corruption surrounds the process by which Premier Ford broke his promise not to open up the Green Belt. The report of Provincial auditor general Bonnie Lysyk, August 9, makes it clear that developers were the drivers of what areas of the Green Belt were to be opened. Lysyk describes how developers at an industry dinner slipped “packages” with their proposals for land that should be removed from the protection of the Greenbelt to the housing minister’s chief of staff, Ryan Amato. Amato was directing the process for choosing which land would be opened up. Of the 15 parcels that were, 14 were proposed by Amato, not non-partisan provincial staff tasked with the work. Of those, 12 were brought to Amato by the developers themselves. “Altogether, those who had access to the chief of staff at the September BILD event ended up with land removals that accounted for 6,784 acres, or 92 per cent of the 7,412.64 acres ultimately removed from the Greenbelt in December 2022,” Lysyk wrote. The main beneficiaries of this rich giveaway include prominent Tory connected developers Silvio De Gasperis and Michael Rice. Lysyk wrote in her report that she “found that how the land sites were selected was not transparent, fair, objective or fully informed.” Lysyk’s report comes at the same time as an ongoing investigation into the Greenbelt deals by Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake, the province’s ethics watchdog. Whether or not the RCMP Rackets squad is called in, the buck stops with our Premier, his broken trust and handover of vitally important protected land to vested private interests.

Ontario has an opportunity to be a leading example of sustainable development. If we don't act now, the window will close forever.

Our rivers, mainly the Oldman River, can’t be subject to selenium pollution without their fish populations being killed off. We see the desperate need to protect what little water we have. Stand up for what’s right.

The Island Corridor is an irreplaceable public asset. Unless a continuous transportation use is found for it, it could be broken up. Many people thought rail service was needed to keep the corridor intact but all over the world unused rail corridors like this one are being saved for public use by converting them to highly successful active transportation routes as multi use trails. Now that rail service has stopped on the Island Corridor for 11 years for safety reasons there is an opportunity to do a rail trail here as a safe local alternative transportation option and a world class low impact tourism attraction. Let's make it happen!

We are in deeply uncertain times. Climate change disasters, including forest fires, flooding and drought, are touching the lives of virtually everyone. Canadians can ensure the federal government acts as though climate change is an existential threat, by using its constitutional powers to take charge. A new world cannot be born while the needed changes to our cultural and economic systems seem politically impossible. Quoting from Klein's A Good War: "Most of us know the battle for our lives must soon get underway, and most of our leaders are now talking tough on climate. But we're not quite sure how to begin in earnest." The time has come for those of us who are aware of the risks to study this book, raise awareness, and lobby the government on its duty to act, no matter the cost. As CD Howe, who established 28 Crown corporations and did detailed economic planning to ensure WWII production was where it needed to be, famously said, “If we lose the war, nothing will matter.” It's even more true now: nothing will matter if we don't beat climate change and biodiversity loss.