I would like to put on the
agenda which is the endorsement of the Kim Rogers inquest recommendations.
Candice and I would do the presentation of it along with Sherrie Tingley. I'm
not sure but I think everyone has the recommendations already but I assume they
would need to go as an attachment to the agenda. The PIAC motion would be quite
straightforward - that HRSS and Council endorse the recommendations and request
that the province implement them immediately.
I will be at NAPO this afternoon
and tomorrow until about 3 pm if you need to get in touch with me. With a
little luck, my regular e-mail may work too but it's not reliable. I will give
you two my NAPO e-mail but please don'tsend it out to the rest of the committee
- it's pres@napo-onap.ca.
Thanks,
KIMBERLY ANN ROGERS INQUEST
RECOMMENDATIONS:
T0: The Government of Ontario - The Minister
of Community, Family and Children's Services
1. The zero tolerance lifetime
ineligibility for social assistance as a result of the commission of welfare
fraud, pursuant to Ontario Works Act, 1997, O. Reg. 134/98 Section 36, should
be eliminated. The temporary ineligibility in the instance of offences that
have occurred prior to April 1, 2000, should also be eliminated.
Rationale:
Evidence
indicates that this would have a devastating and detrimental effect on our
society. To prevent anyone of having to go without food and/or shelter, to be
deemed homeless and therefore and most importantly, to prevent the death of
impoverished individuals.
TO: The Government of Ontario - The Minister
of Community, Family and Children's Services
2. A provision should be added to the
Ontario Works Act, permitting the Local Ontario Works Administrator to exercise
discretion in the use of any suspension of Ontario Works benefits, in instances
that could be life threatening to the client and/or dependents.
Rationale:
Evidence
indicates that suspension of benefits is detrimental to the client and the
community.
TO: The Government
of Ontario - The Minister of Corrections - Probation and Parole
3. When someone is serving a custodial
sentence of house arrest, the government should ensure that adequate housing,
food and/or medication is provided to the person.
Rationale:
An individual placed under house arrest, who is faced with a suspension
of Ontario Works benefits, and has no other financial resources, would find it
difficult to survive, and should not be dependent on Charitable Organizations.
TO: The Government of Ontario - The Minister
of Community, Family and Children's Services
4. The Ministry
of Community, Family and Children Services and the Ontario Works Program should
assess the adequacy of all social assistance rates. Allowances for housing and
basic needs, should be based on actual costs within a particular community or
region. In developing the allowance, data about the nutritional food basket
prepared annually by local health units, and the average rent data prepared by
the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation should be considered.
Rationale:
To ensure that social assistance rates are adequate and
adjusted annually if necessary.
TO: The Government of Ontario - The Minister
of Health
The College of
Physicians and Surgeons
5. Physicians should be educated on the
potential risks of tri-cyclic anti-depressants in the treatment of depression,
and should be encouraged to use the safer class of anti-depressants, such as
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) as a first line drug therapy.
Wherever appropriate, physicians should encourage patients to access supportive
counseling services in the community.
Rationale:
To encourage the use of extreme
caution in the prescribing of medications. By encouraging the prescribing of a
less dangerous or lethal drug.
TO: The
Government of Ontario - The Minister of Community, Family and Children's
Services
6. Ontario Works should continue its efforts to detect
ineligibility or fraud at the earliest possible time in order that corrective
measures may be taken short of prosecution or criminalization.
Rationale:
To eliminate
and/or reduce fraud convictions.
TO: The Government of Ontario - The Minister
of Community, Family and Children's Services
7. A committee should be established by
the local delivery agents for Ontario Works under the auspices of the Ontario
Municipal Social Services Association composed of various stakeholders
including representatives of the Ministry of Community, Family & Children's
Services, the Ontario Social Safety Network and the Steering Committee on
Social Assistance. This committee's mandate would be to develop a model to be
used throughout the province for the assessment of whether cases involving
allegations of welfare fraud should be referred for prosecution. Such a model
could be based on an enhanced version of the Sudbury model and would include an
evaluation of the life circumstance of the recipient and the consequences of a
conviction on both the recipient and/or dependents.
Rationale:
There should be a
full appreciation of the person's life circumstances and the impact of the
consequences of a fraud conviction. During this inquest, it was noted, that the
various Organizations, including Charitable Organizations, assisted the
deceased prior to her death, therefore they should have an active voice in this
Committee.
TO: The Government of Ontario - The Minister
of Community, Family and Children's Services
8. Ontario Works benefits for drug therapy
for the treatment of medical conditions that threaten life or cause serious
symptoms should not be discontinued during any Ontario Works suspension.
Rationale:
Evidence showed that discontinuation of drug therapy would be
life threatening.
T0: The Government of Ontario - The Minister
of Health
College of
Physicians and Surgeons
9. Consideration should be given to the
creation of a computer access Internet program such as British Columbia's
PharmaNet system. For example by using a health card, that would permit
pharmacies to access a patient's drug dispensing records from other pharmacies,
as well as to alert other pharmacies of a patient's past attempts to utter
forged prescriptions. Pharmacists should be required to notify the prescribing
physician of any attempts by the patient to alter the prescription.
Rationale:
Evidence showed
that several different pharmacies were used to fill prescriptions. This will
give pharmacists a history of a patient's prescriptions.
TO: The Government
of Ontario - The Minister of Education, Colleges & Universities
10. The Ontario
Student Assistance Program (OSAP) should amend the application form by
highlighting the possibility of criminal prosecution, future ineligibility and
loss of loan forgiveness as a result of providing false declarations.
Rationale:
Evidences
showed that there was false declarations submitted repeatedly.
TO: The
Government of Ontario - The Minister of Health
College of
Physicians and Surgeons
11. Physicians
should be encouraged to write out prescriptions in both digits and longhand to
prevent modification of the quantity by patients, e.g. "40, forty
tablets".
Rationale:
Evidence was
introduced indicating possible quantity changes on the Physician's prescription
by the patient. This will prevent a
patient from changing the numerically written number.
TO: The Government of Ontario - The Minister
of Health
12. Health
Canada and the publishers of the Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties
(CPS) should ensure that the information for both brand name drugs and generic
drugs reflect the same information. For example, the current descriptive
entries for Elavil (brand name) and Amitriptyline (generic name), while the
same pharmaceutical/medicine, are noticeably different with respect to dosage
for out-patients. .
Rationale:
To provide doctors with accurate information in regards to
dosage and side effects.
TO: The Government
of Ontario - The Minister of Corrections, Probation and Parole
13. When a person
is subject to a conditional sentence, as part of the prisoner's orientation,
Probation and Parole should provide them with a written list of community-based
agencies which advocate on behalf of prisoners, together with appropriate
consent forms to permit information-sharing.
Rationale:
To ensure the
sharing of important information in regards to support services available in
the community.
TO: The Government of Ontario - The Minister
of Attorney General
The Government of Ontario - The Minister of Correctional
Services and Probation
14. Ongoing
professional training and development of materials should be provided to all of
those involved in the investigation, charging, prosecution, sentencing and
supervision in relation to all offences.
Rationale:
The evidence showed that the Crown
and Courts were unaware that upon conviction the accused would be subject to a
suspension of Ontario Works benefits.