Elder Advocates seeks long-term care rules review

A campaign for a review of the rules governing Alberta’s long-term care system will be launched tomorrow at an event in Edmonton.

Minister of Seniors Sarah Hoffman, also health minister, has been invited to the meeting, which is being held by the Elder Advocates of Alberta Society .

The theme of the campaign for review of the field’s “labyrinth” of legislation and practices is Resolution NOT Retribution in Long-Term Care.

“As a result of ‘quality-of-care’ concerns, for many Albertans in long-term continuing care the Alberta Health Charter promises of ‘client-centred care’ and ‘family as part of the care team’ are being broken,” states an Elder Advocates release.

“Apparently for the sake of bureaucratic expediency, families face removal of decision-making authority, forced eviction, visiting restrictions/limitations, outright banning -- even legal action –- when questions are raised.”

According to the organization, occurrences at Alberta long-term care facilities, despite legislated safeguards, have included:

·      A woman being restricted from visiting her parents for more than 2,000 days.

·      Raising of medical care concerns by a family being followed by the needless transfer of one of its members from the stability of her long-term care bed to an acute-care hospital bed.

·      An Alberta man having access restricted to his 101-year old mother who requested that he visit during her final days, and being permanently banned from all Alberta Health Services facilities across the province.

Personal perspectives of affected families, will be presented at the event.

It will take place at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 18 at the Old Timers’ Cabin, 9034 Scona Rd. Elder Advocates chair Ruth Adria will be the moderator.

Other invited participants are Drew Barnes, MLA Cypress-Medicine Hat, Opposition Health Critic; Tany Yao, MLA Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, Opposition Seniors’ Critic; and Edmonton lawyer Allan Garber.

Beginning in the 1980s, Elder Advocates has worked to help older Albertans dealing with a variety of issues including abuse and neglect in care institutions, the Alberta Guardianship and Trusteeship Act and age-based driver screening.

Further information is available at www.elderadvocates.ca.

John W. Bilsland Award shortlist announced

The Strathcona Place Seniors Society has announced the shortlist for the John W. Bilsland Award, a new award that celebrates and fosters the creativity of older writers. 

Earlier this year, entries in three categories, short fiction, short non-fiction and poetry were sought from writers aged 55 years and older living in the Edmonton Metropolitan Area.  Prizes of $500 will be awarded in each category. 

Final judging will be done by local authors Todd Babiuk and Theresa Shea, and poet Alice Majors. The non-fiction category is being judged by this blogger.

Short fiction works shortlisted are: The Perfect Soldier, Michael Edwin Lamb; A Link Into Hell, Michael Edwin Lamb; Beloved By The Moon, Katherine Koller; Homing Device, Sara Coumantarakis; and Rosa’s Gift, Audrey Seehagen.

Poetry selections are: When I Was We, Anne Lightfoot; The Abandonment Of Robert Frost, Audrey Ruth Shield; Legacy, Anne Stewart; Swans, Michael Mott; and Vacancy, Barbara A. Fraser.

The non-fiction Picks are: Sneaking Scarlet Sister Mary, by Mary Alice Arial; The Rectory, Betty McDowell; The Deepest Betrayal, Lynda De Beer; Dr. Caulfield, Donna Petit; and Heard, Kathy Hamlin.

Winners will be honoured at a gala dinner and awards presentation on September 12. Tickets for the event are $50, with a charitable receipt for $25, and are available from Strathcona Place Seniors Centre.

John W. Bilsland, MA (British Columbia), PhD. (Toronto), is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Alberta. He has taught creative writing at the Strathcona Place Senior Centre for 25 years. 

Strathcona Place Seniors Centre, 10831 University Avenue, has been serving older adults in south Edmonton for 42 years, providing a range of social and recreational programs.

For further information email JackBilslandAward@gmail.com or contact Executive Director Linda Ensley at 780-433-5807.

Rallies seek justice in name of Cindy Gladue

A demonstration calling for justice for Cindy Gladue will take place at noon tomorrow, Thursday, April 2, at the Law Courts Building in Edmonton, 1A Sir Winston Churchill Square.

Gladue, a 36-year-old Edmonton woman who worked in the sex trade, died in June 2011 following an encounter with Ontario trucker Brad Barton.

Her death was the result of massive blood loss from an 11-centimetre wound in the side of her vagina, while she lay in a bathtub in the Yellowhead Inn.

Arrested and tried for first-degree murder in the Provincial Court of Alberta, Barton was acquitted by a jury on March 18.

The demonstration is being held to protest the verdict and to underline calls for the case to be appealed. A petition to that effect addressed to Alberta Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Jonathan Denis has also been set up.

While her death is first and foremost a personal and family tragedy, the case of Cindy Gladue has become a rallying point for people concerned about issues including missing and murdered aboriginal women, safety for sex workers and violence against women.

“This is another example of the way aboriginal women in Canada are marginalized, erased, and denied justice,” states a release issued by organizers of the Edmonton demonstration.

“Additionally, Ottawa has repeatedly ignored requests for an inquiry into Canada’s shameful secret. On May 16, 2014 a report by the RCMP identified 1,017 women and girls were murdered between 1980 and 2012. A homicide rate that is approximately 4.5 times higher than that of all other women in Canada.”

Justice for Cindy Gladue and all indigenous women in the sex industry is the demand put forward by the organizers of a demonstration planned for Toronto tomorrow. 

“Though the circumstances of Cindy’s death and trial are gruesome, her story is not unique, nor is the indifference of the Canadian legal system to an indigenous woman, especially those in the sex industry,” according to a statement on behalf of No More Silence and STRUT Toronto.

“This verdict is an abomination--and it represents a larger pattern of deep and relentless violence by individuals and the state against indigenous people. We support those who are calling for an appeal to the verdict in this trial--but we also know that for indigenous women, especially sex workers, the court systems will never provide justice. The legal system did to Cindy exactly what it has done to thousands of indigenous women--to over-police and under-protect.”

They call for measures including the decriminalization of sex work and creation of safe spaces for it.

Demonstrations have also been organized for tomorrow in more than 20 other communities across Canada. Information links are available on the Justice For Cindy Gladue Facebook page.

The Edmonton event will begin with an opening ceremony and prayers, followed by procession with drums from the Law Courts Building to Churchill Square, where it is expected to arrive at 12:30 p.m.

Following an honour song, Fawn Lamouche will give a statement from family, to be followed by presentations by Grand Chief Bernice Martial, Treaty Six; Grand Chief Steve Courtoreille, Treaty Eight; and Muriel Stanley Venne, of the IAAW and  Aboriginal Commission on Human Rights and Justice.