Month: February 1998

By John Besley

When Queen’s Park next sits, Ottawa Centre MPP Richard Patten is planning to re-introduce a private member’s bill that would allow doctors to force mentally ill patients they think could be dangerous to get treatment.

Supporters hope this will ensure that troubled individuals, such as some paranoid schizophrenics whose sickness may cause them to refuse treatment out of fear, to get the treatment vital to their well-being.
Detractors say human rights could be threatened or that the current Mental Health Act could work if only health officials would interpret it properly. read more

By Karen Palmer
Centretown seniors are using a newly created “telephone tree” to fight provincial cuts to home-care funding.

They’ve started a month-long telephone campaign to pressure the province into re-investing $22 million in community-based health care before three Ottawa-area hospitals are closed in the province’s hospital restructuring scheme. read more

By Heather Ross

If you’re part of a community group organizing a safety audit in your area, you may have to wait up to two years to see any results.

Since the safety audit program began in October 1995, 10 audits have been submitted. Three of those are complete, three are under way and four have yet to be started. read more

By Ryan Bresee
Fans going to the Corel Centre to see the Senators play could soon be playing a game themselves: the waiting game.

The arena’s 70 cleaners have been on strike since Feb. 5 because they can’t agree on a contract with the building owner, Ogden Corporation. read more