Disabled Seniors in Fraser Health Authority Only Ones in BC Paying $300 "Wheelchair Maintenance Fee" Imposed by BC Liberal Government

Only in Fraser Health Authority, you say? Pity.

Disabled seniors only pay $300 annual wheelchair maintenance fee in Fraser Health Authority

FOI request shows government allowed the maintenance fee to be imposed in 2010.

Bill Tieleman’s 24 Hours Vancouver / TheTyee column

Tuesday September 10, 2013

By Bill Tieleman

"Last fall we felt it very important to sit down with the health authorities and go through the list of things that were allowed to be charged as extras so that there would be consistency across the province." -- B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake, July 23, 2013

Why is the Fraser Health Authority the only one in B.C. charging seniors in residential care an outrageous $300 annual "maintenance fee" just to use a donated wheelchair?

Why should seniors in a Fraser Health Authority facility pay $300 a year when those using wheelchairs in another facility a mile away in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority don't face the fee?

What happened to Health Minister Terry Lake's vaunted "consistency across the province" when Vancouver Coastal said there was no way it would implement the same fee?

Why did the Ministry of Health tell Fraser Health to charge the wheelchair fee and then not admit it until a freedom of information request proved it in July?

Why did Vancouver Coastal and the Interior Health Authority both back off on their own plans to impose a wheelchair fee and say the ministry and authorities are reviewing the situation?

And the biggest question: will Minister Lake end this offensive fiasco and order health authorities to stop any wheelchair maintenance fees?

The obvious answer that explains this mess is that the BC Liberal government is so desperate to balance the budget that it ordered health authorities to pick the disabled seniors' pockets.

And it's also clear that the province enabled the wheelchair maintenance fee to be imposed back in 2010 -- but until encouraged by the health ministry, no authority has been heartless enough to charge it.

Minister Lake says there is a "hardship provision" so no one who can't afford to pay the fee will have to.

Yeah, right. Let's be clear: most of these seniors already give up 80 per cent of their after-tax income to be in residential care and have only a $200 monthly comfort fund for all incidentals like shampoo. That's where the extra $25 a month would come from, and it would be a hardship for all of them.

The solution is equally clear: Minister Lake should stop trying to squeeze money out of seniors who hardly have any, but need a wheelchair in their remaining days.

Ministry led fee imposition

But will he? The reality that the Ministry of Health asked Fraser Health to impose the fee, as outlined in an FOI request response obtained by journalist Bob Mackin:

"A proposal to introduce Wheelchair Rental Fees at the Owned & Operated Residential Care Sites was submitted in the [Program Budget Marginal Analysis] process," reads a May 6 Fraser Health briefing note on wheelchair maintenance fees in residential care facilities.

"Subsequent to that submission, the MOH [Ministry of Health] requested FH to implement wheelchair maintenance fees to align with a similar proposal made by [Vancouver Coastal Health]. This request was based on a desire to have similar practices in all Health Authorities and to align with the practices in [Community Care and Assisted Living Act] facilities."

New Democrat leader Adrian Dix questioned a defensive Minister Lake in the B.C. Legislature on July 24 about the wheelchair fees FOI disclosure:

A. Dix: "When this wheelchair tax was announced -- and I guess the minister may be arguing it's not a medical or health care need -- the government blamed the health authorities.

"They said: 'It's the health authorities that did this. It wasn't us; it's the health authorities.' Oh, not all the government said that. The Premier said it's something that's done by almost all the health authorities in the province and had been done for a while, which would have been a better defence, except all the facts contained within it are wrong.

"In fact, we know that the very briefing note says that residents were to be informed by April 1. We know that this did not happen. Conveniently for the government, no one knew about the tax until after the election.

"Fraser Health said that the decision to impose the wheelchair tax -- in the document -- was made after discussions that began in late 2012, presumably after Fraser Health got its marching orders.

"Can the minister tell this House when the decision was finalized, and can he tell the House -- a very simple question: did the government order the other health authorities to do the same thing?

Hon. T. Lake: "This is a chargeable fee that is allowed under the regulations in British Columbia. There was a patchwork of approaches across the province.

"If there was a non-profit-owned and -operated facility, they may charge a fee. If there was a private facility that had publicly funded beds, the residents were expected to have their own wheelchairs. In the health-authority-owned and -operated beds, again there was a patchwork of approaches.

"The ministry sat down with health authorities and said: 'We need a consistent approach to make sure that all residential care patients are being treated equally and fairly across the province of British Columbia.' We are working with the health authorities to make sure there is clear communication with residents and their families about the allowable charges.

But I repeat: no one that is unable to pay a wheelchair fee will pay a wheelchair fee in British Columbia."

Tax wheels on

Well, in just days every senior in the Fraser Health Authority will be paying the $300 a year wheelchair maintenance fee, while seniors in other regions will not.

Do you find this whole fee imposition repulsive?

Join hundreds of other people who oppose the fee on my Facebook group Wheelchairs for BC Seniors and send the government a message.

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Spot the Political Weasel Words - how cliches keep politicians and reporters in business

Keep elected officials and journalists that cover them honest. Call out these slippery lines and clichés.

"Write this down.....one game at a time."

Bill Tieleman’s 24 Hours Vancouver/The Tyee column

Tuesday August 20, 2013

By Bill Tieleman

Crash Davis: "You're gonna have to learn your clichés. You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to know them. They're your friends. Write this down: 'We gotta play it one day at a time.'"

Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: "Got to play... it's pretty boring."

Crash Davis: "'Course it's boring, that's the point. Write it down."

- Bull Durham, 1988

Ever heard awful, boring, clichéd words coming from the mouths of politicians and journalists?

Of course you have -- practically daily if you watch television news and political panels!

Even the revered Peter Mansbridge, veteran anchor of CBC's The National, will regularly throw out one of the laziest questions in the media lexicon: "What do you make of this?"

Well, I make that it's a classic cliché that abdicates the interview entirely to the person asked. But it's hardly the only terrible turn of phrase.

For example, has any cabinet minister in recent memory "resigned" because of their role in something gone wrong? No. Instead we hear weasel words like this, after the BC Liberal ethnic outreach scandal earlier this year:

"When mistakes occur, and they do, we must confront them and take responsibility for them. I've talked to [John Yap], and he has agreed that he is going to step aside from cabinet," Premier Christy Clark told media in March.

"Step aside?" Is he square dancing? Will he step back inside shortly? No, Yap resigned, but don't expect the truth to be told. Unless, of course, a politician is desperately trying to sound sincere in interviews.

"To tell you the truth" and "to be honest" or "to be frank" are other classics -- because isn't the politician already supposed to be telling the truth?

B.C. Deputy Premier Rich Coleman is a master, getting two clichés into one short sentence.

"I think, quite frankly, the proponent here didn't do a great job of that, to be honest with you," Coleman said in 2011 while referring to a proposed mine.

No one is immune

Other annoying pseudo-aphorisms include the catchphrase "but at the end of the day," a signal that after blathering on for ages, a politician or journalist is about to finally, mercifully come to some conclusion that often contradicts what they've previously said.

No less an admired columnist as Chantal Hébert is not immune to using a cliché as a journalistic crutch. Writing on federal Conservative challenges in June, Hébert uncorked this one in the Toronto Star.

"With ongoing investigations into Senate spending, the upper house will almost certainly continue to give the government more than its share of headaches between now and the 2015 election," Hébert wrote.

"But at the end of the day it is the abrupt loss of a chief of staff with a central role in the operations of the government that falls in the potentially more lethal category of political injuries," she concluded, cliché confirmed.

Of course, if you are constantly concocting clichés there's only one thing to do -- promise to end the practice "on a go forward basis"!

Otherwise, to be honest, at the end of the day, you may have to step aside.

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Accused's Lawyer Believes BC Legislature Bomb Plot Involved RCMP “Mr. Big” Sting

Questions mount after alleged "self-radicalized" bomb plotters John Nuttall and Amanda Korody's recent court appearance 

Lawyer Tom Morino outside BC Supreme Court August 7 - Bill Tieleman photo

Bill Tieleman’s 24 Hours Vancouver / The Tyee column

Tuesday August 13, 2013

By Bill Tieleman

"I think it's fair to say yes, this involved undercover, Mr. Big type covert operations." 

- Tom Morino, lawyer for B.C. Legislature bomb plot accused John Nuttall

Did you know that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has a target of six disruptions of "terrorist criminal activities" this fiscal year?

No doubt one of those six disruptions happened when the RCMP arrested John Nuttall and Amanda Korody on charges of plotting to explode pressure-cooker bombs outside the B.C. Legislature on July 1 during Canada Day celebrations.

But after Nuttall and Korody's B.C. Supreme Court appearance last Wednesday, Aug. 7 before Justice Jeanne Watchuk, questions about the case continue to mount.

One query: how much pressure is the RCMP under to meet their terrorist targets as the federal Conservative government looks to reduce police expenditures?

Another question came when Nuttall's lawyer Tom Morino said after the short hearing was adjourned to Sept. 20 that while he has only received limited prosecution disclosure about the case against his client, it's enough for him to conclude the RCMP used "Mr. Big" tactics against Nuttall.

"Having seen Mr. Big cases, nothing in the [preliminary] disclosure surprised me," Morino told this reporter.

"We've received preliminary disclosure -- an executive summary I'd describe it as," Morino said. "We'll have full disclosure before the next appearance. I would anticipate thousands of pages of disclosure."

Strange court appearance

The controversial "Mr. Big" approach pioneered by B.C. RCMP undercover officers in the early 1990s involves police posing as criminals to gain suspects' confidence and collect evidence against them.

The tactic is seen as coercive and not allowed in Britain and the United States.

Yet more issues surfaced when Nuttall was sent to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam in late July.

"The only reason I'm aware that he has been certified under the Mental Health Act is because my client called me and told me," Morino said outside court.

"In my opinion, there's a sufficient nexus in time between this certification and the alleged incidents that it certainly raises the spectre of NCRMD (not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder) -- or as we used to call it, 'insanity,''' Morino said.

Both Nuttall and Korody were taking methadone to reduce withdrawal symptoms from narcotics like heroin while living in poverty in a Surrey basement apartment when arrested.

In court Aug. 7, Nuttall looked more like an Amish farmer, with a dark beard and shaggy, shoulder length hair, than a suspected terrorist.

Nuttall turned to the courtroom full of media and gave what could only be described as a goofy grin out of place with the serious charges. He and Korody exchanged wide smiles, clearly pleased to see each other but again seemingly oblivious to their dire circumstances.

Why is RCMP so confident?

So how did two apparently hapless recent converts to Islam allegedly mastermind a plot to kill and injure hundreds of people in Victoria?

How were they "self-radicalized" and inspired by "al-Qaeda ideology" as RCMP claim, and did undercover officers or informants play a role in aiding their alleged bomb-making plot?

"In order to ensure public safety, we employed a variety of complex investigative and covert techniques to control any opportunity the suspects had to commit harm," RCMP assistant commissioner Wayne Rideout said in a July 2 statement announcing the arrests.

"These devices were completely under our control, they were inert, and at no time represented a threat to public safety," Rideout said then, but did not detail how that occurred.

The BC Civil Liberties Association has also raised concerns about the role of a possible "Mr. Big" police operation.

"The question is, how could the police be so confident that the explosive devices wouldn't work?" says Michael Vonn of the BCCLA.

"The surmise is they knew that because they either provided or provided portions of them, or somehow had been actively involved with the accused in developing or facilitating the alleged plot," she said.

Several American cases of terrorist activities have drawn charges of entrapment by defence lawyers.

In the case of James Cromitie, a Walmart employee tempted by a well-paid FBI informant offering $250,000 and a new BMW in exchange for firing missiles at U.S. warplanes and bombing Jewish targets in New York, a federal judge chastised the FBI.

"Only the government could have made a 'terrorist' out of Mr. Cromitie, whose buffoonery is positively Shakespearean in its scope," Judge Colleen McMahon said, while still sentencing him to 25 years in jail.

Trial expected in 2015

Morino said what was expected to be a bail hearing for Nuttall on Aug. 7 will instead take place at some later date.

"We can conduct a bail hearing whenever we wish. But until such time as I have some sort of reasonable proposed release plan in place, it's really a waste of time," he said.

Korody has now retained lawyer Mark Jette to represent her. Jette, who has previously acted for jailed gangster Jarrod Bacon and his parents in separate cases, was not in court Aug. 7.

Morino says a judge and jury trial is a long way off.

"I don't expect trial dates until 2015," he said.

So the B.C. Legislature bomb plot mystery continues, as does the RCMP's goal of disrupting more terrorist activities before the next fiscal year.

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A Chance to Decriminalize Marijuana in BC With Sensible BC Citizens Initiative Campaign

Simple marijuana possession charges have doubled in BC since 2005 - it's time to stop the persecution

Sensible BC graphic shows dramatic increase in charges

"Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marijuana in private for personal use."

- US President Jimmy Carter, Aug. 2, 1977

It simply makes no sense that thousands of British Columbians face a criminal record each year for simple possession of marijuana.

And it's even crazier that the number of cannabis drug offences reported by police in B.C. jumped from 11,952 in 2002 to 16,578 in 2011.

These government statistics mean that even as marijuana has become increasingly socially acceptable, more people are being arrested in B.C., charged with cannabis possession offences and getting criminal records.

Amazingly, this province has seen marijuana possession charges more than double between 2005 and 2011, from 1,787 charges to 3,774.

Those charged don't include marijuana dealers, importers, exporters or growers -- just people found with small amounts of cannabis for personal use.

It's time to follow the example of Colorado and Washington state and end the persecution by supporting a B.C. citizens' initiative to decriminalize marijuana.

But the Sensible BC campaign that starts Sept. 9 won't succeed if British Columbians -- who polls show overwhelmingly support decriminalization -- don't get involved and force politicians to act.

A difficult task ahead

Sensible BC director Dana Larsen said in a Friday interview he is optimistic about their chances but strongly urged those who agree to volunteer as canvassers.

"The odds are way better now than when we started," Larsen said. "We have 600 canvassers signed up in the first few weeks but we need more."

A successful initiative requires the signatures of 10 per cent of registered voters in each of B.C.'s 85 ridings in 90 days -- about 312,000 in total.

"The odds are way better now than when we started," Larsen said. "We have 600 canvassers signed up in the first few weeks but we need more."

Larsen is counting on some of the 56,000 Facebook friends Sensible BC has to go out canvassing and is calling B.C.'s 1.4 million landlines twice to find supporters, as well as working a 17,000-person email list.

But the province's initiative process is extremely challenging. Only Fight HST's initiative has succeeded since initiatives were introduced in 1995.

Larsen said that big cities present the toughest obstacle.

"I feel better about the rural areas -- we really have to grow in the densely populated urban areas like Surrey and Vancouver," he said, because voters must sign the petition for their own riding only or they are disqualified.

Sensible BC has already succeeded in other ways, Larsen pointed out.

"We've shifted the debate from the federal government to what the B.C. government can legally do," he said, adding: "The Washington and Colorado marijuana referenda passing are huge."

Larsen confident of victory

And Larsen points out those who doubt Sensible BC's proposal can work that B.C. has effectively decriminalized a surprising list of things before, despite federal opposition: ownership of unregistered long guns; injection drug use at Vancouver's Insite and impaired driving.

The provincial government simply stopped enforcing the Long Gun Registry before the Conservative government abolished it; it won court battles against the Conservatives when they tried to terminate the Insite safe injection; and it toughened drinking and driving laws but moved the majority of charges to B.C. laws outside of the Criminal Code of Canada.

Sensible BC also notes that Elections BC has approved the initiative's proposed legislation to decriminalize marijuana.

"Elections BC rejected the first four drafts of our legislation," Larsen said. "They've said it's now legal. At $50 per application, it's the cheapest legal advice available!"

That is partly why Larsen says B.C. can decriminalize marijuana possession by simply ordering police not to enforce the law.

Unfortunately, the opposite is happening right now, with marijuana possession arrests up significantly since Stephen Harper's Conservative government took power in 2006. And that's despite Vancouver police reducing the city's number of charges.

But Larsen is confident of eventual victory, pointing out that polling shows that even 57 per cent of Conservative voters support decriminalization.

Marijuana will be decriminalized in British Columbia -- but it could happen a lot sooner if enough citizens support the Sensible BC campaign and sign the initiative petition.

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