ONTARIO HOSPITALS FACED WITH STAFFING SHORTAGES

Libby Znaimer is joined, first, by Dr. Kevin Smith, President and CEO of the University Health Network followed by Dr. Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) and Helen Winter, a registered Nurse working in the emergency department of a downtown Toronto hospital.

Ontario hospitals are grappling with a staffing shortage issue and it’s so bad that several of them have had to close their ER departments. According to the Ontario Nurses Association, more than 20 hospitals have had to close so far. Many of the staff shortages involve nurses and there are cases where nurses are being asked to pick up extra shifts, handle a very high patient load and are often asked to work outside their specialty. Helen Winter describes that many are leaving the profession due to burnout. She tells us that she has had to cut back on her hours and that nurses have a significant repertoire of skills that can be transferred to other higher paying jobs outside of the hospital. Today, our healthcare experts weigh in on the latest crisis plaguing our health care system.

THE RISE OF ANTISEMITISM AND ISLAMAPHOBIA IN CANADA 

Libby Znaimer is joined by Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, Director of Policy at the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre and Canadian Senator Salma Ataullahjan.

According to Statistics Canada, Canada’s Jewish community faces the most amount hate crimes compared to other religious groups after seeing a 47 percent increase in police reported antisemitic crimes (487 cases reported) in 2021. Jaime weighs in on the latest data and whether Ottawa is doing enough to address the problem especially in the months following the highly publicized national summit against antisemitism that took place in July of 2021. And, the Senator weighs in on the ongoing threat of Islamophobia and attacks of hatred on the Muslim community.

THE STATE OF THE LABOUR MARKET

Libby Znaimer is joined by Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

All of us are feeling the pinch of high inflation which recently hit 8.9%. Will salaries keep up? The average annual increase of seven major union wage settlements in March and April was 3.1%. That’s almost double the average pace of pay increases between March 2020 and January 2022. The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents 120,000 workers or about a third of federal employees, is demanding a pay increase of 4.5% per year. The union representing education workers has just called for 11%. Rocco weighs in on the latest regarding the labour market.