Urban Daddy Investigates: What happened to the patio at the Starbucks at 1740 Avenue Road?

On Wednesday of this week, I was asked by the community – my former community of 8 years, actually - to investigate the disappearances of the patio on the north side of the Starbucks at 1740 Avenue Road (at St.Germain) and right across from the fantastic Safari restaurant (the best Chipotle Corn Chowder in the city and amazing lamb burgers!)

This patio means a lot to the community. There is a Facebook page devoted to making this patio and the locals who frequent it into a reality show. I could totally see that. Students, local residents, real estate agents, all kinds of people flocked to that patio to sit, chat and consume Starbucks products. This patio is one of a kind in that upper-middle class area of Toronto and It was the place to be seen… And heard.

Our urban family, often spent time hanging out there with our real estate agent, Mr. Real Estate himself, Marshall Cohen or with my in-laws where the kids would watch the world go by eating oatmeal, yogurt or mint frappuccino chip (oops, that last one was me).  More common was myself with a grande Americano while the kids covered themselves in yogurt or ate the pre-packaged egg, apple, cheese snack.

Ask anyone who has sat there or walked by and they will tell you about the characters who hang out there.  Some seem to be there ALL the time.  One common memory was of the guy with the full-length fur coat (but not a real fur coat, that’s cruel) smoking his cigars, of the elderly couple who meet there every day to chat with the neighbour and their family before everyone heads out to the office or for a stroll. 

I checked online to see if the City of Toronto had posted some patio guidelines or amended the official plan to prohibit patios from the West side of Avenue Road and found only one possible link to a draft City-wide zoning bylaw amendment to the official plan relating to Patio’s, drafted by Toronto City Planning department. 

Outdoor Patios

Proposed rules under the draft City-wide zoning by-law

Area 2 (part of the Former City of Toronto): -rear yard patios are not permitted in CR zones -side yard patios are permitted up to a maximum 50% of the building depth and -maximum size restriction (the greater of 30m2 or 30% of GFA) -separation from Residential zones (40m if elevated & 10m if not elevated) -entertainment uses not permitted

Since it is not clear to me whether or not these proposals were made permanent, or even if there was a public consultation, or if the slightly raised patio was within 10 meters of the residential property to the West of the location so I reached out to my friend, Ward 16 City Councillor Karen Stintz to ask for an update as to why the city asked Starbucks to remove the patio and why one cannot be added back to that spot.  I explained the value of this patio to our community and the fact that Tim Horton’s which had just opened up further north on Avenue Road asked for and was granted a permit for a kick-ass patio, yet this Starbucks location was not.

I was curious to hear what she has to say on this matter.  She is very alert to issues within her ward.

As of Friday morning I had not heard back from Karen or her office, which is fine – she’s busy with some other things too, like the TTC and aggravating the Ford brothers, but I did receive word early this morning that last night the City of Toronto swept in and re-installed the patio!

Success.

Could it have been related?  I’d like to think it was an oversight on the City’s side and one phone call from Karen got the ball rolling.

But none of that matters… The patio is back so summer can begin!

Now off to enjoy the sun and try something off the Starbucks hidden menu that I posted about last week!  Wonder if someone from the community will buy. 

 

Above is the St. Germain location and the patio was on the right.  Below is the Roe location – on the other side of the street which also lost it’s patio.

Related articles

• Are you hungrier than a 5-year-old? (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• http://urbandaddy.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/the-not-so-secret-secret-menu-at-starbucks-revealed/ The Not so Secret Starbucks Menu Revealed.

 

Thursday Thirteen – Taxation Related

As a taxation professional, it was only a matter of time before I posted a Thursday Thirteen that was taxation related.  I have a timely post this week around tax season – Canadian style – however some of it crosses the globe.If you ever want to read more taxation information or read my thoughts on managing, you can do so at www.intaxicating.wordpress.com.

But in the meantime, with tax filing season fast approaching, here are the 13 things you need to know before you file your 2011 tax returns;

13.  Contrary to popular belief of those on the left and those silly ”Occupy” folks, in Canada (and the US), the top 10% of Canadian earners pay half of all personal income taxes, while the half of earners with the lowest income pay less than a tenth (1/10th) of the total. So those in the driver’s seat, the high and middle-income earners, they DO have some choice as to how much they want to spend and how much they plan to save, so by spending less, they pay less consumption taxes, less property tax, less gasoline tax, and other taxes and user fees – bank fees, late fees. interest on credit cards, etc., 

12.  Regardless of where you are and what you do, you really should file a tax return.  Canadian reporting is voluntary in certain conditions, but be sure before you pass on filing.  The CRA has a great list of when you need to file and why you should file right here;  http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/flng-blgtns/menu-eng.html

11. You have the option to defer the paying of taxes, in some cases, when you save for retirement inside a RRSP / IRA or any other form of registered retirement savings plan.  In these plans, you defer payment of income taxes until later in life.  There are taxes assessed, when you withdraw the money after you have reached a certain age, usually 65-years-old, but those tax rates are probably lower than you would be paying now, if you have above-average income.

If your income is below average, you may be better off to pay taxes now and save in a tax-free savings account (TFSA).

If you save for your family inside a registered education savings plan or a registered disability savings plan, there will be a deferral of taxes on interest earnings, other investment returns and government grants. Then the child or other relative will likely pay little or no taxes on those savings.

10. Before you file make sure you have all your slips.  Amending sucks and looking for them last-minute can cause a lot of stress.  Trust me on that one.

9.  Make sure the government has correct information for you – address, name, direct deposit because you want your refund and if they audit you, they might not be re-assessing you, but rather they may be looking for an additional copy of a receipt they lost in the processing of 20 million tax returns.  Get to it and get to it quickly.  Do not ignore government mail and not open it.  Open it and action it..

8.. File this one electronically – but keep your receipts handy for audit and verification purposes.  It’s quick, you may get your money earlier and you’re saving trees,  My kids say thank you..

7.  If you owe money, do not write a note and attach it to your return, but contact the government and make a payment arrangement and honor it.  When your paper return comes into the processing centres, the processors, who are usually temporary hires to help the CRA get through the tax season, rip of cheques and process them right away, then they tear off any unnecessary paperwork and send the returns to a data processing group.  So if you include a piece of paper or maybe gold glittery powder, it’s in the classified waste bin right away.,

6. Think before you bitch – A third of all income in Canada is paid in taxes. But before you consider moving out of the country, consider that the Canadian tax burden is less than that of 19 other developed nations.  We, as Canadians only pay more taxes than 10 developed nations.

5. Why all the taxes?  Where does this tax revenue go?  With the tax revenue, 62% of it goes to pay for health care, education and social assistance, including unemployment benefits.  The rest, a measley 38% goes for everything else we need, like infrastructure, social programs, etc.  Not such a bad deal afterall, eh?

4. Not everything is taxed, here are some examples - There is no tax on a winning Lottery tickets, on scholarships, inheritances, gifts, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) to the taxable Old Age Security (OAS) pension, Canada Child Tax Benefit cheques or child support payments after a divorce.  You pay no tax on at least the first $9,000 of waged earnings or $40,000 of income per year if you receive only eligible corporate dividends and $18,000 if you receive only capital gains.

3. On the flip side, some high-tax items - The income tax rate on income beyond $127,021 a year in 2010 was 46.4%. Taxes on cigarettes in Ontario was 63.5%; alcohol, 52.7%; and regular gasoline, around 36%.

2. The HST effect – The combined 13% federal and Ontario sales tax, the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) has boosted the incentive to conserve energy, because provincial sales tax did not apply to energy before July 1, 2011 – Thank you Dalton! – So you will save more if you choose a compact, well-insulated home close to your job and buy fuel-efficient vehicles – like my hybrid vehicle - appliances, lighting – get those halogen, CFC-free bulbs, and furnaces.

1. Tax relief opportunities – Numerous tax breaks and benefits aim to encourage you to better yourself or the economy, such as seek higher education, earn high grades, raise children, move closer to a job, belong to a professional group, take public transit, make charitable and political donations, invest in companies, start a small business, and save for retirement.  So get cracking. 

There are some easy wins here and some clear opportunities to save money and where we are all letting money slip through out fingers.

But whatever you do, get it there on time!  No point in paying the government a late filing penalty of $400.00 for your procrastination.

 

Related articles

• 2012 income tax season: 11 questions you are afraid to ask (moneyville.ca)
• CRA probing high-flying TFSAs (business.financialpost.com)

 

Ontario Election Wrap-up – Topical all these months later…

I found this draft post sitting in my folder which I meant to post it but probably left because I was so dismayed at the size of the mistake that folks in Toronto made for the rest of the province of Ontario by re-electing Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government.

So instead of deleting it, I read it over and decided to post it now.  I have come to realize that while I am not a political pundit in any way, nor am I a prognosticator, I try to be informed and I do my research so below is what I knew and felt at that time.  Have a read and tell me how true a lot of it is…

The post:

Here is my Ontario election wrap-up, urban daddy style.
First of all I want to thank the nearly 1000 people who googled “who do I vote for in the Ontario election” and came to my blog on election day. I hope you read what I wrote and it made sense. I was not endorsing the Ontario Conservatives party blindly as a life long conservative, but I felt like I really presented some key facts, not opinions, which seemed to me to be a whole lot of common sense.

I looked at the previous 8 years of Liberal rule in Ontario and I found;

HST

An eHealth scandal in which the minister in charge fled and tried to become Mayor of Toronto

Sex Education being taught to kids in grade 2.

“Smart” meters resulting in higher hydro charges

Green energy act

Wind Mills

Another rise in the minimum wage, this one pushing it up to $10.25/hr

Delisting of health care items like chiropractic and physio therapy when our population is aging and are going to need these services.

A whole lot of broken promises

The list goes on.

But after going through yet another Provincial election where voters in Toronto blindly voted red, I awake to the same old and I’m not feeling warm and fuzzy about Ontario. Already this morning, one day after that election news media is reporting that the unemployment rate in Ontario has gone UP.  Ontario is fast becoming a have-not province. Yet another finger pointed at Dalton and Co.

But before I continue, I also want to thank WordPress, www.wordpress.com, for adding me to the list of http://botd.wordpress.com/growing-blogs/ of Blogs of the Day – the Fastest Growing Blogs on WordPress.com. I really appreciated that!

So let’s take a look at some people who were re-elected for the Liberals.  This is a telling sign for me because if I’m voting for a policy, or a plan (recall: I did vote for notorious left-wing councillor Joe Mihevc as he appeared to be giving my riding what it needs) I have plenty of reasons to support my decision… So I’m not a 100% conservative die-hard. I do look at other factors and vote that way.

I don’t think voters in Toronto know who they elected and I’ll bet if I stood on a street corner and asked questions of the voters they would have no idea.

For example, did you know that;

Monte Kwinter who won in York Centre… Again, has been the MPP in that riding since 1985. 26 years. Monte, bless him, is 80-years-old. Think he’s in touch with the new generation of have-nots coming out of University expecting jobs, and a lifestyle like their parents currently have?  Probably not.

What about Mike Colle? He’s been in office since 1999. He was born in 1945, so that makes him a 66-years-old. Is this the future of the Liberal party of Ontario? Yet these guys got in easily because the older voters recognize the names, see the pretty pamphlets and just robotically fill in “Liberal” at the ballot box.

The reason I bring these gentlemen up is not to pick on people for their age. I’m 40, and if I ever chose to run in an election would be doing so later in life, but I know first hand having been in Colle’s riding, beside Kwinters and in the riding of Dr. Eric Hoskins, that these people are invisible to Torontonians. They show up at election time with pamphlets and because they know there are going to get elected.  The rest of the time, you could ask 50 people on the street who their MPP is and I’ll bet you 48 of then shrug their shoulders. It’s ridiculous.  Invisible.

What’s worse is that by re-electing McGuinty, voters are signing up for more taxes, more user fees and at some point Dalton has to realize that he cannot keep spending, errr, wasting money on stupid projects because the taxpayer is not going to be able to pay for this year over year… Money is tight and once people realize the waste and cuts and costs they’re going to flip out ala the anti-Rob Ford, anti-Stpehen Harper rhetoric in the news every day.  So either taxes are going up, or more cuts will be coming, and based on Dalton’s need to have a high minimum wage, I’ll bet he de-lists more items from OHIP.  That’s easy, right?  Or more user fees (fancy description for taxes). 

Let’s just hope he makes the right choice when the City comes to him for subway funding and cough up a ton to create lots of subways and bring Toronto into the 20th century.  I doubt that will happen, to be honest.

He’s just not that good of a leader.

But hey, you guys voted for him!  Enjoy.  Just hope you don’t need a hospital…

Remember, when the Conservatives suggested a two-tiered healthcare system all the people freaked out.  Well Ontario, it’s here and not by the Conservatives, but brought in by the Liberals.  Now I see why they refuse to fund IVF… It would save the system money year-over-year.  Liberals can’t save money.  It’s not the way they do things.  They de-list and keep things de-listed.

I’m shaking my head.

You should be too.

Related articles

• C-sections won’t be delisted by OHIP, Health Minister says (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)

 

What the Family Day long weekend means to my family.

 

The Family Day long weekend means rest and relaxation to me and my family. It means a one day break from the daily grind of work, school and programs, and it means time to get some stuff done around the house, like cleaning and organizing and sadly, an extra day of being annoyed at my kids.

On this long weekend we sorted, cleaned, ate, slept and played a lot of Cityville.

Image via Wikipedia

I realized how exhausted I’ve been since I changed jobs – I’ve been sick with an infection for 5 weeks now – and my energy level is at an all time low. My waist is growing to an all-time high. In the past 5-6 weeks I have managed a few dubious achievements, heights not reached since my early 20′s, as I drank a lot of coffee, ate a lot of McDonald’s and through all those chemicals, caffeine, sugar and fat, still found myself without any energy.

I have visited that wonderful treadmill we bought a month ago just twice.  It misses me.  I know it does.

I played my first ball-hockey game in 5 weeks on the family day Monday and thank goodness for a 2 hour afternoon nap, because I was beat by the end of the warm-ups.  I somehow managed to step it up and had my best game in at least 10 years.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the 21st was my birthday and I think the extra day off from life helped me get some rest and spend non-programmed time with my kids and we all really enjoyed that.

I’m thinking there should be a family day every month, don’t you?

 

Image via Wikipedia

 

On the actual Family day Monday we took the kids to the Art Gallery of Ontario (we got married there 10 years ago) as there is now a kids area where the kids can draw, colour, dress up, read, play, paint, play table tennis and so much more.  The kids created art on Monday which was placed in the gallery under the kids section.  They thought it was fun, the parents thought it was cool. 

After a couple crowded hours there we headed into Toronto’s Chinatown for some dim sum.  It was, as usual, great and because it was so close to my birthday I got an order of the grilled octopus tenticles and shared some with Berry.  I was so proud of that stomach, to try something new.

Then home and more rest.

I miss you family day.

 

What did your family do?

 

C-sections won’t be delisted by OHIP, Health Minister says

So it looks like the Ontario Liberal government has finally come to their senses and announced Thursday January 26th that C-sections won’t be delisted by OHIP.  

So very kind from the government that implemented a “user fee” or yearly tax to use the health care system in Ontario.  This same government has a completely messed up strategy when dealing with the Ontario health system, for example instead of reigning in spending on things like, eHealth, they instead look at the other side of the ledger and either put in user fees / taxes or delist coverage of items, such as chiropractor care, physiotherapy coverage and quite a few more, years ago.  Where are the people who were screaming about Mike Harris‘ conservative wanting to have two-tiered health care?  It’s here, folks, it’s here and courtesy the Ontario Liberal party. 

Why cut costs when you can just delist services covered, right Dalton?

In this specific case, the Ontario Liberals have done exactly what Toronto mayor Rob ford did that got him absolutely slammed by Toronto’s left-wing media when he announced there was going to be a hike in TTC fares last year, then savings were found and the increase was put on the shelf (until a few weeks ago when it came on in).  Dalton’s doing the same things with C-sections.  He said it needed to be de-listed in order to save money, then after a few days announced it would not be cut and he looks like a hero.  Ford, on the other hand, was portrayed as though he created this crisis in order to look like a hero once the increase was shelved.

Double standard?!?

For sure. 

Granted c-sections are a completely different matter involving woman’s bodies and possibly life and death, the thought process here – or at least the spin being put on by the Liberal spinmakers is that there is far too much “cosmetic” c-sections being done which are unnecessary and cost the Ontario health care (OHIP) system greatly from surgery to recovery to complications.  I liken this to the same Ontario Liberal stance on IVF treatments… They’re turning a blind eye to the bigger picture and missing a great opportunity here to be human and not risk alienating the largest segment of society.  Then again… Where is the Federal Liberal party right now?!?  Oh yes, in the hands of former NDP leader Bob Rae. 

After pulling c-sections off the DNR list, Premier Dalton is now stating that the health care system is
“ripe for reform” which to mean means more items are going to be delisted in the upcoming months and years.  I agree we cannot afford such “trivial” surgeries like c-sections when we’re spending $5,000,000 on the Canadian Human Rights museum… in Winnipeg.  Misplaced priorities???  Yes.

So I guess all those folks who screamed about Mike Harris and all that he cut can now look back and at least understand why he did what he said he was going to do – and was elected to do.  He cut costs to keep items covered by OHIP.  Now in come the Liberals and all of a sudden they are critical of Harris’ methods, so they implement the tax and ignore method which sees more taxes, excuse me, “user fees” and delisting of covered items and a heck of a lot of wasted spending.

Harris said he was going to cut and he did.

McGuinty said he would not tax but he has and he has also created a 2-tiered health care system in Ontario which requires me to fork out my own case to pay for physiotherapy in case I hurt myself and need rehab.  Imagine if I were poor…

Or worse.  Imagine if I were a poor pregnant female in need of a c-section and it was delisted by this Liberal government…

 

 

Related articles

• Ontario not delisting C-sections, health minister says (ctv.ca)

 

Taking a closer look at employing live-in caregivers, in Ontario. Their rights.

I received this great comment, which I didn’t want lost in my comment section and I felt was worthy of its own post.

I’m going to re-post it I’ve cleaned it up just a little bit.  
In case there are any nannies coming to this page who are being mistreated, here is some information about [their] rights. In Ontario, your work relationship is covered by the Employment Standards Act. This means that the parts of the Employment Standards Act relating to hours of work, breaks, overtime pay and termination pay apply to you. If your rights under the Employment Standards Act have been breached, you can file a claim for compensation.

For more information about the employment standards act, check out this website: http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/.

For information about filing a claim; http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/claim/index.php

If you think your human rights have been violated, for example, you were terminated or harassed because you became pregnant or took a maternity leave or you were harassed or terminated because of a disability, you may have recourse under the human rights code.

For information about filing a human rights claim in Ontario, check http://www.hrlsc.on.ca. if you call the number for the hrlsc you can call the intake line and get a sense of what assistance the hrlsc might be able to provide for you. Services can range from legal advise to representation at a mediation session or at a hearing.

I think the one thing that needs to be perfectly clear here is that in Canada, especially here in Ontario, no employee deserves to be treated poorly, and I think there is some misinformation about employing live-in caregivers as a result of the stories about how poorly they are treated in other countries, like Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.  But let’s remember that as Canadians, we are better than that and respect that there are people coming to Canada to work and raise our children and look after the sick and the aged.  They deserve to be treated as any other employee would and as you would want to be treated if you were in their situation.

I’ll never forget a conversation my wife and I had with a former neighbour who was looking for a nanny.  She had terminated the employment of her previous one because she was unwilling to help out in the middle of the night when their newborn woke up and this caregiver wanted to go out on weeknights.  When my wife snapped at her that they are employees, not prisoners, the woman seemed surprised.  Needless to say, she never spoke to us again.,,

I want to thank the sender of this comment and if she would like to comment on this post with her information, I’d be more than happy to edit this post and include her details, if necessary.

 

Undecided? Not sure who to vote for in the Ontario Election? You MUST read this!

So the Ontario election is coming up on this Thursday, October 6th, and you, like many I have spoken to are undecided. Whatever should you do?

Let me give you some suggestions / recommendations / my opinion to see if I can help you make a decision.

1. Vote. Regardless of whom you decide to vote for, it’s your democratic right to vote and you should do just that for the billions of people who cannot vote, or who are in countries where they are not allowed to participate in the vote for fear of being punished.

2. Vote Liberal. Are you shocked? Me too. I cannot believe I wrote this. If broken promises, an unclear platform, secretive sex education to grade 1 students, a billion wasted on eHealth, cigarettes for votes and all that is to your liking, then put that “X” for good ‘ol Dalton. If, on the other hand you are holding back on voting for Timmy Hudak because he doesn’t look the part, or you don’t get that warm fuzzy feeling, I leave you with this advice… We know what damage Dalton has done. You don’t know what damage – or good – that the PC’s can do.  We’re still in a recession and conservatives are good to have in power during this time.  See Stephen Harper and Canada.

3. Have NDP Leader over for a BBQ. Of the 3 leaders a poll indicated that most Ontarians would like to have NDP Leader Andrea Horwath over for a BBQ and hang with her. I’m all for that. She seems nice and all, but be carefull what you wish for. I saw a great cartoon explaining socialism, which I will post if I can find it, but there was a poor guy in the street asking some guy for money and the guy responded “SURE!!!” and as he’s doing that he is reaching into the picket of the guy standing behind him – lifting his wallet and grabbing the money needed to give to the poor guy. Am I saying that socialists are thieves? Heck no. I’m saying the rob Peter to pay Paul routine gets tiring after a while. If the NDP we to – heaven forbid – take power of Ontario again – SEE BOB RAE – then all the “Peter’s” will leave the province. No Peter… No money for Paul.

4. I don’t smoke but I do like my cookies. Thank you Liberal MPP Mike Colle for the Dad’s Oatmeal cookie at the Eglinton West station this morning, with your campaign sticker on the back. You are not in my riding, I’m voting PC and you told me last month to vote Liberal so there are “not Conservatives at all three levels of government”. Ummm, good platform.

5. Where exactly was George Smitherman’s donor list? I suspect some of you are looking at this and are ready to dismiss this. It was an issue from the Toronto Mayoral election when now-Mayor Rob Ford disclosed his donor list and former Liberal health cabinet minister Smitherman refused to. Sure 4 months aft the election he had to, but I still do not recall seeing that. So why the concern? As Health Minister, Smitherman was in command of a billion dollars of your and my tax money which was wasted. Did he accept the blame? Nope. Did he blame others… Yup. And he ran away from Provincial politics all the way back to Toronto in hopes of being elected the mayor of Toronto. In doing so, he received donations from citizens like you (not me) and your neighbours, but he also took donations from some pretty suspicious characters. I recall Barbara Hall – former mayor of Toronto and now the Integrity Commissioner in her very non-partisan position was endorsing Smitherman. Something was not right with his campaign and I think he learned all his tricks from Dalton.

6. Thinking more Liberal and less Conservative are you? Here’s something you need to know about the NDP – Liberal unholy alliance. First of all, if the race is close, organized labour (unions) tend to remove support from the NDP and move to the Liberals. Secondly, the last time there was a minority government, the Libs and New Democrats worked together to push through all the Liberals legislation. Above board? NOT.

7. Speaking of organized labour… On Tuesday, October 4th, in Windsor Ontario, Liberal leader McGuinty got yet another boost from Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union boss Ken Lewenza. With polls still pointing to a close finish when voters head to the polls Thursday, the union chief took aim at Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak’s “defeatist attitude” in opposing government aid for economic development.
I’m sure he meant he didn’t like Hudak’s anti-union stance…

8. My friend, Mike Yen is running for the PC’s in Trinity-Spadina and he reported that a group on non-English speaking residents went to vote for him and asked the volunteers there to assist. They asked what number on the ballot Mike was – He was #8, but these volunteers told the group he was #4. #4 belongs to the NDP candidate in the riding. The volunteers… NDP sympathizers.
That, my friends, is dirty politics and a reason to avoid the NDP.

9. The Liberals vowed to fund IVF, not only because doing so is a kind thing to do, but mainly because doing so would save teh government a ton of money. It’s taken them 5 years to look into it. $30million to save $30million. Dollar for dollar. What is taking so long!!

10.  I almost forgot the HST!   What party increases taxes during a recession???  Right!  The Ontario Liberal Party.  And what did Finance Minister Dwight Duncan have to say about the HST?  He basically said that they brought it in because it should have be done years ago but only they had the balls to do it.  Yikes. The HST was not a good idea. It may never be a good idea. It should not have brought in during a recession, and in BC, where the HST also came in at the same time the HST did in Ontario, well that leader was forced to resign and it’s being removed in 2013.

So to recap:

NO Liberals.

NO NDP.

Yes to Voting

Yes to Premier Hudak.

 

For Liberal Health Minister Deb Matthews: An IVF True and False.

Just 3 days away from the Ontario Provincial Election, the leaders – Dalton McGuinty, Tim Hudak and Andrea Horwath are hoping to get to election day without getting scathed.  I’m still waiting to hear from any of the leaders on this issue. 

The other night, Timmy Hudak was on LeDrew Live on CP24 and I tried tweeting in my question on IVF, but it was not asked, and I have not heard back from any of the candidates that I have emailed or asked in person.  It’s odd.  The Liberals commit then don’t follow through, and the other parties don’t commit to anything that is not on their agenda. 

So I thought I would help Liberal Health Minister Deb Matthews – still considering funding IVF a mere 5 years after it was mentioned in their election literature – by posting a true and false article on IVF. 

So here we go!  I have spent hours and hours scouring the net looking for facts about IVF and trying to determine if they are true and false.  Man, that was a tough challenge.  Some sites pro-IVF had very different opinions and facts than the anti-IVF ones.

I believe, however, that I have enough information to present my true and false list for IVF.  The purpose?   Glad you asked.  To get a better idea around the procedure in order to present all the facts to those who may be interested and to the political parties (read: Liberal Party of Ontario).  I’m not a doctor, so please do not go and make any drastic decisions based on this post, but try to understand how any couple thinking of IVF is getting their information.  First from Google, then from an IVF clinic or their doctor.  Imagine after years of infertility landing upon a site that is anti-IVF and feeling terrible for wanting to have a family. 

Here they are in no particular order;

Question 1.  In order to avoid the need for IVF, men just need to hold on to those sperm for a while and those guys will be the ones to fertilize the egg? 

Answer 1.  I believe this answer to be false.  My reading tells me that holding the sperm provides the opposite effect, and to have your best chance, you have to keep them fresh. 

Question 2.  I came across this question a lot in reading up on IVF material.  Isn’t IVF only needed for old people who should have started conceiving earlier in life?

Answer 2.  Not at all.  We’re not all lucky enough to meet our sweethearts in high-school and get knocked up right away, so what those people need to know is that age does have an impact, however, some couples just have fertility issues in their 20′s, some in their 30′s and some in their 40′s.  

Question 3.  If I lead a healthy lifestyle, then age-related infertility won’t be an issue for me, right?

Answer 3.  False.  A healthy lifestyle can help avoid any infertility that is preventable, however it will obviously not stop the aging process. 

Question 4.  When IVF is needed it’s mostly because of the woman, and rarely because the man has issues, right?

Answer 4.  False.  Men also lose fertility as they age, and while i women, the drop is more dramatic and starts earlier, fertility in men does decline with age. 

Question 5.  So I’m eating healthy, not smoking, but getting up there in age.  I can still overcome age-related fertility with fertility drugs, right?

Answer 5.  False.  Fertility drugs help many couples overcome infertility, but age-related infertility does not usually respond as well to these treatments.

Question 6.  Maybe I really do not need IVF because the only reason we’re not able to conceive is because we’re both stressed.  Does stress cause infertility. 

Answer 6.  False.  My research has told me that while stress may slightly decrease your chances of getting pregnant in any given month, infertility has been shown to cause stress.

Question 7.  I don’t see the point of Ontario funding IVF like they do in Quebec when all couples need to do is try harder and they will eventually get pregnant, right?

Answer 7.  False again.  A large percentage of infertile couples can get pregnant with help but not every infertile couple will.

Question 8.  Does smoking really have an impact on my ability to have kids?

Answer 8.   Yes it does, so quit.

Question 9.  Can a healthy diet help us get pregnant?  Then I won’t need to spend money on IVF when I can just spend money on a good diet?

Answer 9.  True. An increasing number of studies confirm that lifestyle may have a significant effect on the probability of pregnancy. Couples undergoing IVF treatment with a relatively unhealthy lifestyle are less likely to succeed; they can improve their prognosis by adopting certain changes in their lifestyle, such as quit smoking, lose weight, even for a period of just one or two months before their treatment!

Question 10.  Isn’t IVF akin to playing G-d?

A:  (IVF) is the joining of a woman’s egg and a man’s sperm in a laboratory dish. In vitro means “outside the body.” Fertilization means the sperm has attached to and entered the egg.  Nothing like that mentioned in the bible.

Question 11:  Did the Liberals use the following wording to get elected in 2007; “

• Help people have families by making fertility monitoring available earlier in life, so people know whether or not they are likely to have a problem having children and make treatment and adoption more accessible and affordable for people.”

Would “Make treatment” and “affordable” fit the bill for IVF?

Answer 10. True.   Yes they did.

Question 11.  True or false.  The Liberal party has been reviewing the funding of idea of funding IVF in Ontario for 5 years.

Answer 11.  True

Question 12.  The Province of Quebec saved $30 million dollars (give or take a dollar) in their first year alone of funding IVF?

Answer 12.  True.  And they continue to save.

So how did you do?

Remember, you still have time to ask your MPP, or those running in your riding as they get in their last-minute phone calls and door visits to see where they stand about this issue.  It’s not too late.

And remember when you vote that the National Post ran a story on October 2nd, that the Ontario Liberal Party had a study conducted which they have had the result of for 2 years which states that if the Liberals funded IVF they could have minimum $600 million dollars over 10 years… That’s the truth.  Your ruling government, folks.

If you want more information, please go to www.conceivabledreams.org. A wealth of information can be found here!

 

So why the interest in IVF?

So after my first post on In-Vitro Fertilization the hits to my blog have been through the roof for me, however that has not translated into posted comments.  Instead I have received emails, many without links to blogs and the majority of them anonymous.  I will say that I have had some really nice, supportive comments from IVF supporters and like-minded Conservatives, and some not so nice comments from the other side – anti-IVF folks, what I suspect might be Liberals and general complainers. 

To the detractors, I say, go find something better to do.  I have made up my mind and since this is my blog, I choose the topic and I posted my opinions after doing a lot of research looking at all sides of this issue.  When looking at both sides of the coin the one thing that jumps out at me over and over again is the financial benefit to the Province and the taxpayers, should the government fundi this procedure.  If you can argue there are no cost savings, then please enlighten me.  If, however, you want to tell me we should not be interfering in G-d’s work, then please, don’t.

I have also had conversations with aspiring political leaders on the left and on the right and they both agree this needed to have been funded back in 2007 as the Liberals promised and that this McGuinty promise fell by the wayside with many other incentives the Liberals brought forward to get themselves elected.  It’s a very telling tale.

In discussing this post among people who have read this, I have been asked a few times why the interest in IVF, and I’ll tell you why.  I know a lot of families who have gone through IVF and I know many who were preparing to go through it.  In most of these cases it come up when we start talking about having kids and itgoes from there.  But the cost… $10,000.00 a treatment, really adds delays to the conversation.  That’s a lot of money and that amount is only the correct amount if it works the first time.  In cases we have known, couples have spent 5 or 10 times that amount in effort to have children.  They have taken loans, used up savings, by passed down payments on houses in order to grow a family.  That is dedication and I respect that a lot.  It just goes to show if you really want something bad enough, everything else is insignificant.

While IVF is not guaranteed to work 100% of the time, it does give couples hope that they will be able to conceive children of their own and in the cases I know about where the procedure did not work out as planned, the couples were that much more overjoyed when going through the adoption process (also VERY expensive, mind you).

So let’s take a step back and look at IVF, and why is it necessary?

As a refresher to those people who forgot grade 10 health class, or who may not know, women are born with around 400,00 eggs in their ovaries.  Once a month, during a woman’s regular cycle, her body produces hormones to grow and mature some of these eggs which nest in the wall of the uterus.  When these eggs are mature, ovulation occurs, and the egg(s) are ready to be fertilized by the male’s sperm.   If the egg(s) are not fertilized they disintegrate, and about 2 weeks after that, menstruation begins and the cycle restarts.  

What IVF does, is that medication is given to stimulate the ovaries to allow for many eggs to grow and mature.  Those eggs are then surgically removed once they are mature enough and they fertilize in a laboratory.  As the embryos grow, they are then placed back into the uterus in the hopes that they will implant and cause a pregnancy.  Not exactly rocket science, but a very scientific process.

So how many Ontarians are impacted by infertility issues?  Would you believe 1 in 6.

When Quebec recently introduced funding for up to three cycles of IVF to help create families.  It was found that this also helped reduce the number of multiple pregnancies in that province from 27.2% to 5.2% in just 6 months.  As a result, Quebec is now on track to save hundreds of millions of dollars as the number of twins and triplets in neonatal intensive care units is expected to drop significantly.

No surprise that Ontario could realize similar savings by providing OHIP coverage for IVF — between $400-$550 million in savings over 10 years.

So I’m still puzzled as to why we’re discussing this?!?

For more information I recommend you drop by Conceivable Dreams, www.conceivabledreams.org.

Conceivable Dreams, the OHIP for IVF Coalition, is the provincial voice for thousands of infertility sufferers and their supporters across Ontario. Their goal is to have OHIP coverage of IVF funded by the Ontario government as is being done in Quebec. With an election coming up right now in Ontario, now is the best time to ask all candidates where they stand on public funding of IVF.

 

Why Is In-Vitro Fertilization NOT an issue in the 2011 Ontario Provincial Election?

Can some please explain to me why In-Vitro Fertilization is not a major issue in this 2011 Ontario Provincial Election?

As we near the election day – the 40th general election in Ontario on October 6th, 2011 - I find many people still unaware of all the major issues, one of them being Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudek.  I really feel that the PC’s missing a great opportunity to  put pressure on the Ontario Liberal Party for an election promise they made in 2007 that they have since reneged on.  Sure, Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals are great at making promises, then not doing what they say – see taxes… Lots of new taxes, but this issue is a can’t miss win for the PC’s and I’ll explain why if you continue reading.

Let me first be clear about my intentions here.  I was approached by an organization called Conceivable Dreams, http://www.conceivabledreams.org/ asking if I would be interested in writing a couple of posts about IVF with the hopes of raising awareness and getting this on the election radar of voters and of the political parties.  Sure, the ultimate goal of getting IVF funded by the province is also in mind, but getting this out there to the electorate was the number one priority, so here it is. 

So what makes me qualified to have this discussion with you?   I have been involved in politics for as long as I can remember and as a father to 3 beautiful children who experienced stress, delays and questions surrounding childbirth, I know some things about IVF so I jumped at this opportunity to learn something new and to ask some questions that I am pretty sure have been asked by everyone else already.  I learned that it makes sense for the Province of Ontario to fund this procedure much in the same way that the Province already funds vasectomy’s and abortions. 

Ontario’s new slogan:  Want to not get pregnant?  Come to Ontario.  Want to get pregnant?  Go to Quebec.  

So in order to prepare for this post I did a LOT of research – I read a lot of opinions – saw a lot of comments and came to this conclusion;  There are 2 very distinct views on this topic.  The first view, is that the Province has no right funding this procedure.  It’s not Ontario’s fault that couple cannot conceive children, it’s G-d’s decision, so these people need to go adopt some of the millions of orphaned children in the world.  There are lots of kids available who need a good home.  Then there is the other side, the side that says parents who want children of their own, and I mean REALLY want children of their own that they are willing to find the $10,000.00 per procedure in effort to get pregnant are more than likely the kind of parents the Province of Ontario wants to have. 

So why has funding this procedure not yet come to fruition?  Probably because all we ever hear about is the $10,000.00 per procedure cost and that is a lot of money to be spent on a procedure, except when you look at the other side of the coin.  At $10,000.00 it is more common – from what I have read – for doctors to implant more than one fertilized egg, meaning there are greater chances that there will be multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.)  With multiple births, there is a greater chance for the children to be born earlier, for there to be complications to the children and with the expectant mother which in turn means a great reliance on the health care system.  Those costs FAR exceed the costs of the procedure.  In addition if the procedure were funded then doctors would not have to implant more than one embryo and with the reduction in multiple births, comes a reduction in costs to OHIP (the Ontario Health Insurance Plan). 

So now you might understand why Quebec has funded this procedure in 2010.  In Quebec they earmarked $30 million dollars for the first year of this program and expected savings of $30 million dollars in that year.  Those are crazy numbers.

So what do the detractors say?

From what I’ve read the comments are pretty down-right mean and nasty.  Very cold comments mocking parents who cannot have children, making references to G-d wanting it that way, and it’s their fault that they waited too long to have kids, or that they chose an infertile partner.  Some pretty unnecessary stuff indeed.  I can guarantee you the majority of these couples who look to IVF are not looking for an easy way out because they have tried the ”natural” way and have been unsuccessful, so they want to pay $10,000.00 a shot in hopes of having a child this way.  I can also come to the conclusion that IVF is not the only treatment that these couples have tried or will try in effort to get pregnant, so don’t worry IVF-haters.  You won’t be asked to fund that too.

But all in all, I do not understand the fuss.  When an individual files for bankruptcy and their creditors are not paid all the money they are owing, who gets hit in the end?  All of us, through rising costs, and increased insurance rates.  Should I get mad because others cannot budget properly?  Or what about all those people who are not working but who have a plethora of social programs at their need.  Who funds those?  I do, through property taxes and other levies and user fees.  Should I post negative comments about people who are unable to work and how its not right for me to be paying their way?  Absolutely not!  I may comment about the city wasting money but never as it relates to those less fortunate that me.  I would never tell anyone how to live their life, how many children to have, who they can or cannot marry and what techniques they can and cannot use to get pregnant.

Step back folks, and take the emotion out of this process.  It’s not about you.  It’s about the province funding a process and saving your tax dollars and my tax dollars while helping couples become parents.

So please Tim Hudek, take this issue to debate and call Dalton McGuinty on this.  In 2007 he campaigned on this issue and now almost 5 years later they are still “investigating” this matter, in the words of Deb Matthews the Ontario Minister of Health.  Tim, take a stand, and this election is yours!  But please take it one step further and fund this procedure.  The haters will always be haters.  The parents struggling to conceive will have one less thing to worry about.