Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 28, 1991, Winnipeg, Manitoba J14 Winnipeg free october Marc Gallant Winnipeg free press Ronald and Jean vindicated in their Battle with enjoy some Quality time with granddaughter Danielle Gallant plan wins fight far autistic son by Alexandra Paul medical reporter Ronald and Jean no Bess finally have peace i of they have their autistic adult son Derek in a Winnipeg group where the prov inces Public trustee has no Power Over where he lives or How he is they tried to place our son in an institution and we fought against Ronald no Bess the couple began court action against the j family services department when it threat ened in 1988 to make their son a mental in mate under the control of the Public now a special committee has submitted a report that backs the no Bess i the commissioned by family services minister Harold Gilleshammer in 1990 As a result of the family Calls for new Laws to protect mentally disabled people from being stripped of their civil a discussion the focus of Public hearings this month in Stonewall and Portage la committee Calls for new Laws to shield civil rights of disabled recommends Laws to protect the mentally disabled from neglect and the dictates of Public the thrust would be similar to legislation passed this summer under the Manitoba mental health act that strengthens the rights of the mentally the province is to table the legislation next states the report by the it says mentally disabled entitled to nominate family or friends to make decisions if they the Public trustee would Only be involved where other More natural alternatives Are unable or unwilling to the paper it also Levels harsh criticism at provisions of the Manitoba mental health act that Force people into group Foster settings and institutions against their it casts doubts on the legality of the current provisions of the act dealing with mentally handicapped Many services Are provided without a Clear legislative foundation and do not have an Appeal it for the no Bess the report is hindi it More or less gives us peace of an accomplishment that will help Ronald no Bess he said his now lives in Winnipeg in a supervised Home where he and three severely handicapped people get care 24 hours a it Doest have a Hospital atmosphere and we have full Access to he the report and the Public hearing process Are garnering Praise from advocates and rights activist Dale Kendel said those principles Are truly hopefully the legislation will truly reflect them when it is said presi Dent of the Manitoba association of Community the which supported the fam ily in 1990 in a threatened constitutional Chal Lenge to strike Down sections of the sat on the committee that prepared the Kendel said the lives of mentally disabled people Are currently controlled by the Public trustee under orders of with half in institutions and the rest in Community nip social services critic Becky Barrett if they implement and follow these they would change the focus from making the Law easy for the caregiver to giving individuals some decision making pow v Manitoba Canadian mental health association executive director Bill Martin praised the report for reflecting the conclusions of a recent Manitoba Law Reform commission paper on living wills and healthcare companies wages costing taxpayers per year by Dan Lett legislature reporter Over the last few Best moving and storage has had a bit of trouble making its court documents show that since Louis owner of Best has been involved in disputes with More than 30 employees according to the labor departments employment standards Are owed More than in unpaid fortunately the taxpayers of As they have done for hundreds of companies each assisted Nicholas by paying those Back wages out of a special Trust fund set aside by the each the province spends More than out of its Trust fund for companies that go bankrupt and another for companies like Best moving who refuse to Honor payment of wages the problem is despite the fact Best moving and storage continues to Nicholas has refused to pay the Back and even though the province is taking him to court under the largest payment of wages act prosecution Ever there is Little Hope of recovering the As one employment standards Branch investigator put it weve been his Nicholas personal labor minister Darren Praznik said his government supports a payment of wages Trust fund the Only one of its kind in can Ada but bristles at the suggestion employ ers Are using it As a Supply of ready Praznik said his department is engaging in an aggressive Campaign to enforce its pay ment of wages orders or pursue prosecution and seizure of no one should be using the province As their personal Praznik nobody should be using the taxpayers of Manitoba to underwrite their under current if an employer is ordered to pay an employee wages owing and no payment is made within 30 the prov Ince pays the wages out of the Trust fund and then takes the employer to court to recover the the bad news for the taxpayers is that most of the Money is never in the Case of Best even though the employment standards Branch and the Crown attorneys office have charged Nicho Las with numerous violations of labor its unlikely any of the Back wages will be according to Jim director of employment employers in Mani Toba have been allowed to thumb their noses at labor Law for so some just ignore or Ders to pay the Branch was almost discouraged from trying to prosecute chronic Viola tors because of the lukewarm reception it got when cases eventually did wind up in in the instances where the Branch was Able to get a successful the courts delivered fines of As Little As he Praznik said his department will attempt to revive prosecutions to Deal with those who ignore labor Law and if the court judgments Are not he will consider strengthening existing what we have started to do is revive our prosecutions under the Praznik we will look at the results of some of these prosecutions our regulations Arent Well have to look at strengthening the provinces real Hope is that it can deter employers with the threat of prosecution from trying to withhold wages in the first Mcfarlane because it is often impossible to recover the Money after the or Ders have been Mcfarlane said Many delinquent employ ers get off paying the Back wages because in Many cases they dont have the assets or the ability to Jeff de Booy Winnipeg free press mortar Board mosaic graduates in the faculties of education and theology at the u of w wait to receive their degrees during the schools fall convocation ceremony yesterday at the University athletic hospitals medicare adviser argues by Alexandra Paul medical reporter some patients Are kept in hospitals for no Good according to an american adviser on studies to Reform Manitoba financially ailing medicare this happens All Over the new Hampshire based professor John Wen of Dartmouth medical said in a recent Stopover that included a briefing with Deputy health minister Frank the amount of resources you have in a healthcare sector has nothing to do what works or what patients say they Wennberg Wennberg is an adviser to Manitoba Centre for health policy and a provincially funded thin tank for cos effective delivery of medicare the Centre opened this Wennberg said he is aware of studies that counter the need for common surgical proce dures such As prostrate studies that measure the value of medical and surgical procedures Are gaining Atten Tion As including Grap ple with the High Cost of health its inevitable that people Are going to ask the question of How resources Are what the benefits Are and what the costs said who is also researching the topic for the Wennberg said Hes convinced that the growth of doctors in a Community is deter mined by nonmedical its Clear that the number of doctors you have is decided by the politics of How Many medical schools you have and How Many Stu dents you have in the Wennberg by the same the origins of hospitals Are often based on religious or language differences in a he you have French hospitals and English and protestant Hospi tals and then youve got University teaching this has nothing to do with How Many Doc tors we need or what patients Wennberg he said Money worried planners should look at How often hospitals Are used for medi Cal ailments ranging from lung cancer and chronic obstructive lung disease to hypertension and urinary tract Community based care would make better sense for such but doctors use hospitals to avoid the has sle of arranging for medical services at he unions contest fair pay statute Challenge May have National implications Bozen Olijnyk Law courts reporter Manitoba pay equity legislation is being challenged by unions represent ing healthcare workers who say the Law As its being applied violates the charter of rights and the lawyer for the unions says that if the court Challenge is it might Lead to drastic changes in pay equity legislation across the it could mean that provinces would be forced to close the Gap Between male dominated and female Domi rated jobs All at rather than try ing to phase it in gradually under the scheme that were Robb tonn said in an in the Council represent ing nine unions in 23 healthcare facilities will be taking the province and the Manitoba health services commission to saying the legislation violates Section is of the charter which guarantees Equality for men and the unions argue that the legislative provision of the pay equity act Vio lates the charter because it provides for the continuation and perpetuation of a recognized sex based discrimination in payment of tonn says they will also argue that the Manitoba labor Board gave an unconstitutional interpretation to the pay equity legislation when it ruled it was acceptable for the province to place a monetary Cap on the amount to be committed to pay in january the labor Board ruled in favor of the province by saying it didst have to go All the Way towards closing the wage gaps Between male dominated and female dominated the unions had wanted a 96centan hour pay increase implemented Over four years to bring the pay for female dominated professions in line with their male but the under subsection 7 3 of the pay equity can limit in creases to Only one per cent of the pre Vious years payroll for four consecutive which would still leave a 24 Centa hour wage Gap at the end of that tonn said the unions Council put for Ward a proposal that would eliminate the wage Gap Over four the councils proposal would Cost about million More Over four but at the end of the fourth year would leave the annual payroll Only million higher than the provinces tonn said the Case could have implications for provinces like which also have Laws phasing in pay equity Over several unions say province dreams Law the province is breaking its own pay equity Laws by not taking Steps to finish the Job of closing the sex based wage Gap in the healthcare says the head of the Council rep resenting workers at 23 health facile what we have now is a situation where the government and the unions involved in pay equity have deter mined there is sex based wage Dis yet the province wont take All the necessary Steps to close the Irene chairwoman of the Manitoba Council of health care said in an said the Council was forced into launching a constitutional Challenge to the provinces pay equity Law for the Public sector because the government refused to implement it in a Way that would eliminate any wage discrimination at the end of the four year period outlined in the the legislation says the Manitoba health services commission and the which funds health can implement pay equity Over a fou year period and not spend More than one per cent of the payroll of the previous the Manitoba labor Board interpreted this Section of the act to mean the province want obligated to pay any More than even if the Gap haunt been but Giesbrecht said regardless of any time the whole Point of pay equity is to close the Gap Between jobs dominated by women and jobs mostly held by they didst finish the Job they set out to and As a the discrimination against those working in Wom a nominated Fields still she Deputy labor minister Roberta Ellis Grunfeld said the fou year period has never been a problems in other govern ment areas such As colleges and universities and Crown corporations where pay equity has been implement ;