Mini-rant of the day

Why why WHY doesn't ODSP cover more dental expenses?

My client has three teeth left.  THREE.  We found a clinic that will waive their fee for extraction, but dentures have to be made elsewhere and would cost him about $500 each (upper and lower).

I guess it's not "emergency dental care" but does this ensure an acceptable standard of living?  From what I understand some outside agency determines eligibility for dentures.  Crap, now I have to get on the phone and figure out if he can appeal or something.  I probably should have known this too, before I got his hopes up that he could get some teeth.

Bleg.  /endRant

Why Occupy?

So I’ve been considering heading down to check out the Occupy Toronto demonstration.  So far, it’s been non-violent which is encouraging.  And the police have been getting along with the protesters.  To be honest though, I’ve been skeptical as to the point of the protest – Canada has not had the same economic downturn as the United States, and our banks did not get bailed out by the government.  Are people showing up in solidarity with those struggling south of the border?  Are they just hippies who want to camp out and play djembe’s in the park (not that there’s anything wrong with that, I am part-hippie myself) or folks who simply enjoy causing a ruckus?  But just when I start to give in to my doubts and feel negative about the whole thing, signs like this are encouraging: 

Maybe there is value in reminding Canadians that the income gap has been widening in recent years. In reminding our government that they must continue to work for improvement in our social systems, not rest on their laurels. In reminding the 1% that their gains are someone else’s losses. In encouraging citizens to become engaged.


Maybe some positive forces will come together and organize out of this for real change.  Yeah, I think I’ll go for at least a little bit.

Mental Health in the News

The Ontario Medical Association is set to present a new ad campaign, and have already released a list of “key health priorities” in advance of the provincial election later this year.

The summary of the list contains a couple of mentions to mental health care specifically. The OMA points out that people with mental illness tend to have complex health needs, and require health services more often, however only 1 out of 3 gets the care they need. They also highlight service gaps for young people and the negative effects this has on families. The ad campaign is said to focus heavily on mental health issues.

After having posted the other day about the Toronto mayor’s anti-homeless attitude, I heard statements on the radio that afternoon from Ontario’s Minister of Health Deb Matthews, commenting on the need for more community and supportive housing to address homelessness and mental health issues in the province. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what I heard. I’ve searched and searched, and can’t find any links or articles about this. She has discussed these issues in the past however, and has a good track record of linking poverty and health issues.

Speculation continues as to the mental health status of Richard Kachkar, the man accused of killing police officer Ryan Russel by running him down with a stolen snowplow. While this story and ones such as the Arizona shooting seem to have led to some discussions about preventative mental health care and assessing risk of violence, I fear they are sometimes drowned out by the fascination of spectacle and political rhetoric. It’s especially disappointing in both cases to hear such frequent use of terms like “psycho” “crazy” “nutbar” etc. as though those offensive labels somehow explain why a person would commit these types of crimes.

The CBC radio program The Current has been running a great series on mental health. It is available to listen to online, or as a podcast.