Friday June 27th

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is VOCM Open Line call seven oh nine two seven,
three fifty two eleven or one triple eight five ninety
eight six two six of viewsing opinions of this programmer
not necessarily those of this station. The biggest conversation in
Newfoundland and Labrador starts now here's VOCM Open Line host

(00:22):
Paddy Daily.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Well, all right and good morning to you. Thank you
so much for tuning into the program. It's Friday, June
the twenty seventh. This is open Line. I'm your host,
Patty Daimy. David Williams is producing the Common with an
edition of the show. So if you're in the Saint
John's metro region. The number of dial ofget in the
Q and on the air sevens er oh nine two
seven three five two one one elsewhere a toll free
long distance one eight eight eight five ninety VOCM, which

(00:47):
is eighty six twenty six. So beginning this weekend, one
of the biggest softball tournaments in the province is the
forty third annual Constable William Moss Memorial Fast Pitch Tournament.
Takes place from June twenty ninth to the fifth of
July various fields around town. There's thirty plus teams. So
good luck to all participating and for folks who might
not know who Constable William Moss is, here we go.

(01:09):
He was trying to get killed in March the twelve,
nineteen fifty nine, during the International Woodworkers of America Strike
at Badger. He eventually became known as the Badger Ride.
He was struck in the head by a piece of
pulpbull during the melee at the tenth of March at
Partently nineteen fifty nine. Eventually died in hospital in Grand Falls.
A couple of days later, a lager was arrested and
charged with murdering Constable Moss. Eventually was acquitted by a

(01:30):
jury in the New Filand Supreme Court, and the softball
tournament named after Constable Moss begins this weekend. So the
NHL entry draft is this weekend. Is there anyone from
the province who's likely to get drafted? I don't know.
I've had to look around or try to look at
the scouting report and the rankings, but didn't find a name.
But if you want to fill me in, let's do

(01:51):
it all right. So, apparently the possible thunderstorm in this
neck of the woods today there's a frost warning for overnight,
so if you've got something in the ground that you
need to protect from the frost, you might want to
plan for that. Today it was a possible thunderstorm. It
caught me thinking that sometimes the world is just so curious.
I remember a story, this is back in the seventies,
nineteen seventy five, about a golfer being struck by lightning

(02:11):
on the golf course, and then I go try to
find the story, and lo and behold, it was on
this date in nineteen seventy five where Lee Chartoho was
the defending PGA champion. He was playing with Jerry Hurd,
Bobby Nichols, Jim Ahern, and Tony Jacqueline. They were struck
by lightning at the Western Open. I was suffering minor burns.
So isn't that weird? I thought of that story. I
looked it up and it was on this date in

(02:32):
nineteen seventy five. Okay, so apparently, and I guess understandably.
So the city of Saint John's is now telling us
that there will be additional security in public parks. They've
had secured out of Bowering Park and now apparently it's
coming to Bannerman Park as well. People talk about the
issues that we see in the parks, especially after hours,
and so this is probably required. So they're going to

(02:53):
hire private security firms to do this type of work.
He wondered what type of training, because it's different being
a security guard, say friends at the liquor store or
at the grocery store or at Atlantic Place versus in
the park and what might go on in the park.
And the comments come from Angela Crockwell at Thrive and
she's welcome to come on the programs from day. We
should actually get Angelain for to the touch base with her.

(03:14):
She's wondering about the most vulnerable people in society, the
marginalized people that may indeed be targeted for possibly not
really doing anything wrong. But security is coming to a
park near you. If you live in town, there you go.
End of the school year. We can absolutely reflect on
anything education and the hard work that has to be
done over the course of the summer. You know me,

(03:37):
all right, And of course with the kids out of school,
there's going to be bikes on the street more more
often than not, in scooters and skateboards, and let's just
be mindful that it is going to be a little
bit of a change of pace throughout the course of
the day. The kids will be out there, so let's
be careful. And also this one, sometimes I struggle with
whether or not we should even mention some of these stories,

(03:58):
but let's do it, okay. So for some teenagers, they
may indeed be isolated and lonely, and consequently we hear
more and more stories of some of these teenagers who
are turning to chatpots for company. So there's actually lawsuit
that's been filed in Texas Federal court because the allegation

(04:19):
is one of these chatbots and this is character AI.
The lawsuit says that this chatbot led the lonely team
to die by suicide. So these chatbots will reflect what
you say, and it will also of course harver some
information from the internet. But the stories are pretty clear here.

(04:42):
So when the teenagers who are speaking to a chatpot,
all of a sudden, you know, see and feel and
think of that as a friend. Next thing, you know,
there are occasions where the chatpot is talking about cutting yourself,
hurting yourself as a way to deal with your pain
and your loneliness. Texas lawsuit says it led all the
way to a death by suicide. So these can be

(05:06):
very helpful tools that in artificial intelligence in general, but
we're learning more and more every day just about some
of the additional risks. Yes it could be helpful, and
yes it could be fun, but it can also pose
a risk. So I don't know how many parents because
here's some of the problem. Look, even for me, I'm
in my mid fifties, I'm not as in tune with
tech as so many of our children are, so some

(05:28):
of the things that maydeed come across as very innocent
or innocuous might not be that. So I guess that
conversation is probably worthwhile to have with your team, especially
if you've noticed a change in behavior, more withdrawn from
the family, maybe angrier than in the past. And even
some mornings talk about the checkpots telling you don't tell

(05:49):
your parents because they won't understand. So, boy, oh boy,
I read that story this morning. I really didn't know
if we should talk about it, but I guess to
avoid it just makes things potentially worse, all Rightly, Minister
Paul Pike, Deputy Minister and maybe some other staff are
heading to Victoria to act as mediators between the town itself,
and the firefighters who have walked off the job twenty

(06:10):
to twenty four out in Victoria are no longer at
the Hall. So they got backup coming from Sam and call.
But that's not ideal. So what does mediation look like here?
Because I again I don't know the players, I don't
know the fire chief, I don't know the mayor. So
the chief is justin parises and the mayor's Barry Dooley.
It seems extremely heated, extremely contentious. So even brokering a

(06:31):
deal to get back to work, that doesn't necessarily mean
that the tense relationship and or the conflict that's obviously
ongoing and is very deep, given the fact that firefighters
who have a commitment to their community and they've joined
the Hall for a reason, and now if they find
themselves in a place where they no longer want to
work under the leadership of Mayor Julie, where do we

(06:53):
go from here? So this story, I don't know where
it ends, but I think it's probably a good idea
for the government to try to intervene in some form
or fashion, not hoping for heavy handedness, but there's got
to be a resolution here in some form whatever that
looks like. I don't know, but if either Chief Persons
or may or Julie would like to chime in on
the program, we can do it. And even the allegations

(07:15):
which became the star that broke the camel's back is
such a weird one, you know. The fire department said
they went into this building to try to find a
part of a water pump from out of commissioned truck,
and the allegation is that they were breaking and entering. Anyway,
we can talk about it, all right, what do I
got here? So before we get into the Auditor General's

(07:37):
report on travel agency nurses, which we have to keep
talking about. We can't shrug our shoulders and say government's
broken corruption or inn companies or we have to keep
talking about it. But before we get into that, so
we talk about firefighters walking off the job. I heard
a rumble about this particular story a couple of days ago,
hadn't been able to confirm it, but apparently five doctors
at Saint John's Hospital Saint Clair's are now resigning, so

(08:01):
a joint notice of resignation has been brought forward to
they're talking about their work environment is unsafe for both
patient care and provider well being. They're all internal medicine
doctors at Saint Clair's. The doctors say they will not
be performing any duties outside their contractual obligations. No evenings,
no weekends, starting on July first. The resignation takes effect
on October the first. One of the quotes from the

(08:22):
letter says it has become increasingly clear to them that
continuing under the current model would further compromise patient safety
and the already fragile well being of the team. The
health services have not offered a comment. They said they
can't comment on the resignation, but they talk about valuing
their partnership and relationships that they have with healthcare professionals.
The questions I would have is number one, this is

(08:43):
a huge problem obviously, is what exactly are the details
inside the unsafe working conditions and what is it that
puts peril for the patient and the wellbeing of the doctors.
And apparently two doctors in that department have already resigned
some while back, So it's not just about the work

(09:03):
they do with the inpatients and the mercy rooms on
a daily basis. It's also apparently compromising their ability to
react to a code blue. Lack of proper code blue
team is unsafe and we'll have disastrous patient. How it
comes from medical and surgical patients. So that's the ability
to respond to a cardiac issue, a pulmonary issue. So
right after we try to dig into the Auditor General's report,

(09:26):
we hear this story. Oh boy, all right, and I
let's get into the ag I don't know how deep
anybody wants to dig into just the numbers, but I
guess the numbers are the driving force here. Two hundred
and forty one million dollars on private AGC nurses over
the last three years. That's one thing. So on that front,
before we get into the examples of potential or possible fraud.

(09:50):
You know, even when we were told that there was
a strategy in place to reduce our alliance on travel nurses,
how exactly does that work? Because just imagine being a regan.
You're working on four North B and you have a
hard time getting schedule time off. You're working alongside of
someone who makes at least double what you make and
has much more freedom regarding their scheduling. You know full

(10:11):
well that looks so attractive you can't blame it on
our end for one to join the ranks of a
travel agency, nursing company or agency of which we are
paying that two hundred forty one million dollars to eleven
different agencies. So that's one thing. How do you put
that toothpaste back into two redchard nurses are furious. We've
heard from a Vet Coffee on the VOCM morning show.
They are not pleased, understandably. So then you get into

(10:35):
things where there has got to be some deeper investigation
beyond the critically important work done by the Auditor General
Tonise hand or Hand and her team. Electric vehicle rentals
for people were potentially not even in the province. You know,
some of the accommodation's numbers, some of the appliances and
things that have been billed, you know, overtime work that

(10:56):
has been paid out with no verification that overtime was
actually worked. These structural breakdowns are infuriating, so of course
Minister Crystal in House says it's an outrageous report and
they've got to do whatever, Yet do what and do
what when? So you know, you look back at these
school board scandal and the splitting of invoices, a couple

(11:17):
of people paid the price with losing their job, even
though that could have probably been more as well. But
in this circumstance, I asked the Anie Hanray yesterday if
she thinks of systemic She did not say it was.
But regardless of we're talking about travel agency nurses, the
way that the government executes procurement, the way invoices are paid.

(11:38):
The lack of oversight, the lack of monitoring, the lack
of transparency is galling. It absolutely is. Yes, we can
talk about these structural improvements that have to be put
in place, but if there are potential fraudulent behaviors by
whoever working at whatever level of government, let's bring in
the RNC. Right, Let's not noodle around and let take

(12:00):
a long drawn, windy road of human resources management additional training.
If people, regardless of what structural changes need to take place,
if people are sitting there and knowingly paying out moneies
without any verification for the merit or the veracity of
the invoice, whether it be for an electric figure which

(12:20):
they were told not to do, whether it be for
overtime that they could not even verify it had been done,
if people willfully just took their pen or their keyboard
and just put their John Henry to it and Moneys
went out the door, and they know they were in
the wrong, then let's make sure if they did, if
there was any inkling of criminal activity here, any inkling

(12:41):
of fraud, let's deal with it like that. You know,
Let's not shrug our shoulders and just hope that the
powers at Bee do the right thing. Let's ensure. Let's
make sure they do. And that requires the heat brought
to bear, whether people by opposition politicians, programs like this,
other media outlets, and most importantly you as the voter,

(13:02):
you as the taxpayer. So while I was going through
that report yesterday, and you know, accommodations in hotel rooms
for the partner of a travel agency nurse of Winnipeg,
what is going on here? So I'm intending on keeping
this story on the front burner turned up on high
for as long as it takes to get some actual
appreciable move Now again, I can see travel nurses were

(13:23):
probably required, certainly at the beginning of the throws of
the pandemic. And yes, we're told that some of these
safeguards and guardrails are now being instituted, that that does
not mean that we can just put in new structures
and let people who maybe, possibly possibly were fraudulent in
their actions. Let's do whatever's required here to send a message,
and let's make sure that every department that seems an

(13:46):
invoice coming the door has people in place with the
integrity and the ethics and the training and the structure
to ensure that this is reduced as best possible. Anyway,
that had me absolutely HaLow my hair out of my
head yesterday. Let's change it up and get a couple
more in there before we get to you. Some of
the issues that deserve a lot of conversation are really

(14:08):
emotional and traumatic. It's hard for me to understand how
I should really approach it. But again we have to
numbers from the RCMP reports of intimate partner violence. They
continue to rise in this province. Here's some numbers. Over
a five year span from twenty nineteen to twenty twenty three,
the number of reported occurrence is involving intimate partner violence

(14:29):
went up from thirteen hundred and sixty seven to three thousand,
three hundred and ninety four overall increase about one hundred
fifty percent. There was another increase of about fifty one
percent to twenty two hundred and forty six and twenty
twenty two. So apparently they are approaching capturing these numbers
differently and including things that were once not included. Hope

(14:52):
that comment is not offered to soften the blow, because
just the fact that it continues to rise is extremely problem.
You know, I guess it all starts when we're young.
You know what sort of morals are instilled by our caregivers,
our parents, our grandparents and our friends. The numbers that

(15:12):
you see on the court pockets are horrific, So what
do we do? You know, they talk about things like
the ankle bracelet program that was promised some while back,
and that was brought forward by then Minister John Hogan
who's now the premier in the province. So even in
this one, this is not the ultimate protection. This does
not cure it, but it can indeed offer further security
for those on the receiving end. So they want the

(15:35):
ankle bracer to monitor people accused of serious or repeat
intimate partner of violence crimes and released on bail. It
has been pledged and it has been promised, hasn't come
to bear. Let's see what we can do here. Then
a bulk of these are repeat offenders. Jolie Garland at
the RCMP says seventy percent of inte par partner violence
incidents involve repeat offenders. One third of incidents involved one

(15:56):
or more parties that are currently on court ordered conditions.
It's a difficult story to tackle. So, you know, whether
it be people who are working as advocates in that arena,
more than welcome to have you on the show to
talk about as a community what we can actually do,
you know, as a government, what policies need to be enacted.
In addition accle bracelets, they're also talking about panic buttons,

(16:19):
risk assessments, increase training within law enforcement and their judicial system,
as well as a victim services navigator or advocate within
the government. So, whether it be folks working for ACT
Now Intimate Partner of Violence Reformed Committee, we're happy to
have you on the show. And I know this is
a difficult conversation, but every time we ignore or we
allow these issues just to dwell in the shadows or

(16:40):
in the courtrooms or in the prisons, then we probably
don't advance the cause. So again, I know it's difficult
to talk about but I think we probably have to
do it. How we doing out there, David, I get
a few like to get through, all right, So we
know here from Snova it's about the plans to couple
the top size which came up from Ingleside Tech out
at bull Arm with the concrete gravity structure that was

(17:03):
floated out of Percentage Bay I think back in May.
So good news for the industry, good news for the government. Coffers.
When first oil is produced with these new facilities in
the spring of twenty twenty six, about eighty thousand barrels
of oil per day by twenty twenty eight, it does
beg a question about what the future of Bullarm looks like.
Pretty important component in the province's economy and opportunities into

(17:28):
the future. Haven't heard much from the government in recent
times about the work done by Narrow and df Burns,
who are trying to put their best foot forward to
either be the companies leasing bull Arm or to own
it and operate it outright, So good news for people
working in that industry. And I'll just go back to
the natural gas report that we heard a couple of
weeks going on. So it's justin the John dark Basin,

(17:51):
and there's somewhere in and around nine ten trillion cubic
feet of natural gas, and the world wants natural gas.
So the fact of the matter is there's no royalty
regime yet, so good to have this analysis done, good
to put some numbers out there, see how industry reacts.
But until there's a royalty regime, you won't hear anything
from a company that is planning on to utilize the

(18:12):
natural gus that they're sitting on. But that is not
an insignificant fines because remember it's just in the gen
dark basin where that money or that gas has been identified,
all right, And in that world Bill C five, that
breakneck pace for that nation building project piece of legislation.
It was two components. One about reducing federal trade barriers.

(18:34):
That's a good thing. The other thing was about the
so called fast tracking of these major projects, whether it
be pipelines of which nobody's pitched one yet, pipelines, expansion
of the electricity grid, and whatever the case may be.
It did indeed get amended at the parliamentary the parliament
level and automended in the Senate. There was a few proposed,

(18:54):
but they all got vhotoed down. So here comes Bill
C five. There's a lot of power inside of one
minute office and the ability to decide step a bunch
of important environmental protections and the constitutional requirement for consultation
specifically by indigenous groups. You were hearing from them right
around the country and their concerns. There last one before
we get to you, all right, and this is about

(19:17):
nation building projects once again. The Innu Nation has been
in court with hydro Quebec for a long time here
looking for reparations based on environmental damage at the Upper Churchill.
So now apparently they were able to strike an out
of court deal. Remember back in twenty eleven the New
Don Agreement was signed basically was compensation for Churchill Falls.

(19:38):
It did pave the way for the muskrat Falls muskrat
Falls development. But here's the numbers. It doesn't really sound
like the amount of money that they were talking about
in the past. They were looking for two point two
billion dollars from hydro Quebec. Hydro Quebec is going to
pay eighty seven million dollars to the Inu of Labrador Labrador,
members of e g Inu First Nation and the Mushawa
Innu first Nation over the course of the sixth years.

(20:00):
It also has a three percent out of the dividends
which Hydrocobec receives from Churcher Fause Corporation will go to
the Inu of Labrador. The story goes on to say
it also paves the way for gall Island. Remember the
Innu were clear there will be no gall Island until
they're made hole. And what that was in reference to
is what folks call rate mitigation monies. And we can
go through all the rape mitigation pots that have come

(20:22):
to bear since the beginning of Muskrat. But they say
they're going to be out about a billion dollars. But
this report, this news story anyway, says this also pays
the way for Goal. How like what's involved there? They're
not doing a for eighty seven million dollars or three
percent out of the Upper Churchill. They were talking about
a billion dollar shy based on the arrangement they had
with the goverment to Newfolanta Labrador regarding Muskrat. So it's

(20:46):
just one sentence, also paves the way for Goal. I
don't know how does that happen anyways? Between that and
the Upper Churchill memorandum, butt understanding or whatever you want
to talk about today. Let's do exactly that. We're on Twitter,
We're a VOSM open line followers there, email addresses open
on a fearsome dot com. When we come back, let's
have a great show. That means you're in the gear
to talk about whatever's on your mind. Don't go ahead,
welcome back to the program. Let's be get on line

(21:07):
up two. Tom you're on the air.

Speaker 3 (21:10):
Good morning, sir, how are you this morning?

Speaker 2 (21:12):
That's a bad how about you?

Speaker 3 (21:14):
That's a bad Patty. I had to call because after
I listened to the other Judendo's report yesterday and what's
happening in the healthcare system, Matt and I hardly slept
last night, just saying what is going on with people
that's allowing this to happen? When you know all of

(21:34):
us have a contract. Do you have a contract for
your cell phone? You know how the system works. Basically,
there's three steps. You talk to someone, you get a
deal five dollars a month for your cell phone. The
bill comes in, Yeah, that's what I agreed to. And
did I get the service? Yes? And you paid the
seventy five dollars. Now in government, in industry and business

(21:58):
and everything else. One person doesn't do all of this
like you do at home. It takes a minimum of
three persons. One person who gets the invoice checks it
against the contract. Yeah, that's what the contract says. The
second person confirms that the goods and services were provided.

(22:19):
Then the third person, after the first team done their jobs,
approves payment. What's happening. That's the system that's been in
existence ever since the Financial Administration Act was created. But
the problem is in government. This is not just healthcare, Paddy,
this is every single department that this is happening. People

(22:44):
authorizing payment, people confirming delivery don't even have the contracts,
So how can they confirm first of all that it's
according to the contract.

Speaker 4 (22:56):
Now.

Speaker 3 (22:56):
I know that because thirty years ago when I was
over in government working for Roger Grimes after I retired
from the military. That's the first thing I said to
him when he was a Minister of Tourism for Roger Watt,
in the name of goodness is happening, and that's what's
happening today. And the said thing to say, like I
just said, these people don't even have a copy of

(23:19):
the bloody contract. So how could they determine if the
build for a rental car or for a toaster for
somebody else is in the contract. You know, it's absolutely
deplorable that this is happening.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Let me just take that one step further. So someone
sent me an email saying, why am I advocating for
an even further bloated bureaucracy. I'm not. The people are
already there. That's not what this is about at all.
So here's an idea. Let's put a bit more of
the onus on the people submitting the invoice as well,
so for them to be obliged to provide said backup

(23:55):
and confirmation of things like overtime. You know, we can
take people's names out of it, but we can see,
you know, copies of check stops, and if we talk
about other expenses like toasters and coffee grinders and stuff,
the contractor, when submitting an invoice, attaches a copy of
the contract that refers to said eligibility, so that you know,

(24:15):
some of those boxes are checked by people that are
doing business with the government. I think that can be
part of this solution. But you know what gets me
going even a little bit more on this one is
with all of the attention that has been on travel
agency nurses since twenty nineteen, how can this be the case?
I mean, if the government knew that people were questioning this,
whether it be the Registered Nurses union, individual taxpayers, people

(24:39):
like me, people like you. With all of the focus
on the travel nurses, you would think they would have
done everything humanly possible to ensure that costs were rained
in and verification of every single invoice for regardless of
what it is, a coffee grinder, an electric vehicle all
of our time, hotel rooms, airbnb's whatever. You think they
would have been really really ardly modeled. Throwing that particular

(25:01):
because of the public interest.

Speaker 3 (25:04):
Oh yeah, I totally agree with you. That's one part
of it. But you know as well as I do
that people supplying product to government a lot of times
will try and cook the books. That's part of the system. Man,
it's always going. But we we the people the government,
the people in government have got to be the people.
That's the end of checking these things. You know, I

(25:25):
used an analogy for you when I was in the military
as a finance officer. You know, I was in colleague.
I had a forty million dollar contract with shells. Apply
aircraft fuel to us. You know, a simple, simple deal.
A lot of one negotiates a contract. We need forty
million dollars worth of aircraft fuel. So in comes to
the invoice to sheell is we got it by the
train load. Tank cars would come to the base. So

(25:47):
one of my staffs in corporate with check and say, yeah,
that's the price. That's what the contract says. Now he
passes on to the next guy. The next guy confirms,
delivery slips, everything is fine. Then it comes to me
for payment. That's the process. But you can't do that
unless each of the people in the chain has the contract.

(26:10):
That's the simple process. Check it against the contract, and
I'd be willing to bet your dollars to donuts. The
same thing has happened in transportation when we're buying tires,
or we're buying spear parts, or we're buying all the
rest of the things in the hot Further in the
healthcare system, when we're buying milk and supplies for the
kitchens and all of those things. What's happening there. You know,

(26:33):
if I were to minister tomorrow, now I understand this
how and I've read on your website, the steps she's taken.
But if I were to administered to mow, the first
person I would call in who's a project manager for
this who's responsible for this program? Get in here, tell
me what's happening. This is what you need to do.
You know. The big thing we fail to recognize is

(26:55):
you can delegate all the authority in the world you want,
but you can't delegate responsibility. So the minister delegates her
authority to somebody who's a project manager, and she's got
to confirm. But that person is doing their job. Clearly
those people aren't doing their jobs.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
Obviously not Tom. I appreciate the time this morning.

Speaker 3 (27:16):
Thanks a lot, Thank you lots, Patty. And the other
issue too. You have mentioned at the beginning with the
school bushes, your school is out and once again picking
up my kid from the bush yesterday almost got ran over.
Fortunately my dash cam and the cops will be issuing
your tickets. But crazy, crazy, crazy people have to actually
taking my call.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
People are in a rush to get nowhere anyway. Thanks Tom.
All right, let's take a break out of the way.
Welcome back to the show. Let's go. Line of three
saying more to the ADIP member for Saint john Senter
is the leader of the party. That's Jim Din Jimy
around the air. Good morning, Patty, thanks for having me

(27:58):
on No problem.

Speaker 5 (28:00):
I just want to tell a talk of two issues
that are connected that that's the the AG report on
agency nurses and the recent news that the internal medicine
specialists as saying Claire's have passed in their resignations and
there will be a lack of coverage between July first

(28:22):
and on October first.

Speaker 3 (28:24):
And when they when they finally resigned.

Speaker 5 (28:27):
But I guess the thing here, I think there's been
a real failure to address the human resources piece. And
we're saying it's interesting that we had the AG report
and we have this resignation by doctors at Saint Clair's
in with the age obviously very clearly. One of the
things that stood out most for me is that a

(28:49):
figure on average fourner dollars per nurse for agency nurses,
and I was thinking, what could we be doing with
that too, not only recruit nurses, but to retain nurses
and to address and other health professionals too, by the way,
and to address the the the the challenges that they
face within the system. In the in Saint Clair's. I

(29:12):
go back a few years ago, and I'm trying to
at least too maybe a bit more on that. When
they announced the that they're going to build, they knew
uh Saint Clair's Hospital as such, they're going to replace
Saint Clair's. And at that point I knew from talking
to doctors and that and staff who work there, it
wasn't the hospital, it was the human resources piece. And

(29:36):
what frustrates me most is that that that does not
seem to have been addressed here at Saint Clair's. It's
clear what the doctors said, the end of the interness
program is going to put an undue stress on the
system and the and the ANLHS has not addressed it.
With regards to the nurses, we see a clear even

(29:57):
use of the word fraud and the age a use
and regarding some of the agencies, and we haven't really
fully addressed the human resource fees. I I I find
that frustrating. I've been in this, I guess this position
now for going on, I guess going on seven years.
Hard to believe, but and yet, and yet we're hearing

(30:19):
the same the same concerns, similar concerns, and it's frustrating.
I think, at the very least, instead of focusing on
the new infrastructure, focus on the the the human resource fees.
I don't care if I'm going to a brand new
hospital and no one.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
Is there to treat me.

Speaker 5 (30:38):
What good is having that that that hospital? Uh, in
many ways I want to see I want to see
a flesh and blood person or talk to someone who can,
who can, who's there dedicated to helping me. That's the
part that I find frustrating about these two stories in
the space of week. To help care related stories basically

(31:00):
come down to a human resource issue that it seems
to be seems to be looted this government in handling.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
Yeah, so just add to it. You know, the folks
that internal medicine at the Health Sciences have also said
to the health authority, don't think we can take on
the workload because we can't, and obviously they can't. So
I still have a couple of questions, like I haven't
been inside the doors of Saint Clair's in quite some time.
I do know that it is, you know, it's old

(31:29):
and it's run down and it needs of you know,
some TLC. But when they talk about unsafe conditions that
jeopardize patient safety. Do you know exactly what they're talking about.
I'd love to have some details, because I think that's important.
There's some things that just cannot be rectified overnight. Some
things possibly can be dealt with in the short term,
but if these are big structural issues or what have you,

(31:50):
then we've got an issue beyond just this resignation letter.

Speaker 5 (31:55):
I would if I've been in there a few times
in the emergency war, and I would say, there're a
number of people there who I know we've helped in
the past, who are unhoused. Uh, there's nowhere for them
to go. They're they're there. It's it's the I got.
I've got to give utmost credit to the staff there,
just in dealing with the number of people who who

(32:18):
come who who who come there, and who are helping
that well, I would call it overwhelming at times. That's
the first thing I and I would say that that's
probably the the the one of the main main considerations,
although I can't say for certain, I will say this, Patty,
you talk about the the oldest part of the hospital
is that white building. That's one that's one hundred years

(32:41):
old on the corner of Saint Clair and UH in
the Merchant But the newest part of that building, newest
part of the hospital is only six years older than
the health science is complex. That's that's the key thing.
The hospital like the new if there's been misleading, I
think you can is in need of an update.

Speaker 3 (32:59):
Sure.

Speaker 5 (33:00):
What it still comes down to and I've talked to
it spoke to several doctors three years ago and they
said the main issue has to do with just a
level of staffing and also the number of people who
are in a cute care beds that really need be
in long term care facilities. So the h and it's
one doctor in particular, said, look, we could you could

(33:21):
handle You can deal with a lot of the issues
if you had a bed for those who should be
in long term care. So it comes down to it's
still to me a human resources piece, I think, and
and if and again if you if you do, I
hope you don't have to go to the emergency ward.
But I've been there with a few people in the past.
It's it's it's on it's on wheels. UH and the

(33:44):
staff are are doing their best to manage that. So
I would assume that's part of it, but I wouldn't
be able to say for certain. But the fact is
that the eternal the obviously has gotten the doctors to
take this drastic step. Is the end of an internal
program which would provide the necessary resources to deal with this,

(34:05):
to deal with the challenges of the workload they're facing.
It's not about it's not about whether the building is old.

Speaker 2 (34:12):
It seems very.

Speaker 5 (34:13):
Clearly here and I had asked that question, you know,
is it about the state of the building. No, it's
the building is actually for the most part, is not
the is not the top concern. It's about having the
people there to deal with the patients who are coming
in and people seeking help.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
And I can't speak for the doctors. But if it's
about patient safety, am I going to say this to resign?
I know what you're to resign And we're talking about
patient safety, I mean, what are the patients going to
do right now? So if it's simply human resources, that's
one thing. If it's about infrastructure, that's also in the

(34:53):
same envelope. But if we're talking about patient safety, to
not have a doctor available as an internist, I have
to compromise this. Patient safety pretty big in a pretty
big way. I think so, I don't know.

Speaker 5 (35:03):
I've got a couple of well, I would, I know,
I understand where you you're you're going with that, and
and certainly that would be there certainly be a concern
and it and I think there there's.

Speaker 3 (35:14):
Certainly validity in that.

Speaker 5 (35:15):
However, I would put it this way. Most doctors, any
doctor I've dealt with, the their their prime director is
is to look after people. For them to take this step,
I would assume it's not the first step, It's probably
the last thing they had. They've been driven to this

(35:35):
point where they have no choice but to to to
get the new flann Labordory Health Services and the government
to listen. This is a pretty drastic now they given notice.
But I go back to recent events with regards to
the the the n NHS and the decision to move
adult care. It's certain adult care adult obstectors into the

(35:59):
into the GANE way. It's very clear that I do
not believe that in LHS nor the department are fully
appreciative or listening to the health professionals in their system.
We've heard, I listened to the look read this report.
I listened to the President of the nurses union and
very clearly it seems there's a deepening frustration with the

(36:23):
lack of progress on this.

Speaker 6 (36:25):
I do not believe.

Speaker 5 (36:26):
I do not believe that if in LHS, if the
government have been listening, we would we would be in
this situation right now. I would like I would from
personally speaking, I would like it with regards to the
age report, I would like to see a plan how
do we how do we move to making sure that
we keep our nurses in the system. We put in

(36:50):
a an a tip ourselves and had to do with
We'd like to know what the projective expenditure on agency
nurses for the following year will be for twenty six.
What we got back in May. In the May was
that the health services are the help the newferin and
LHS is actively working on a total expenditure projection for

(37:10):
twenty twenty five twenty twenty six agency nurses, but the
projection is unavailable at this time. That's at the end
of May and estmate can be provided within the next
couple of months. Now, think about that the budget is done,
are the provincial budget is done and we still don't
have anything as to what the expenditure is going to
be like an agency nurses, whether it's going to be

(37:31):
an increase or reduction or what? To me that that
speaks to, I don't know, sleepwalking is the term my views,
like you, you should be on top of this by now,
and I would like to see if we want to
start a starting point, I would like to see with
regards to nurses, what is the what is that budget
for next year? Is it a is it a reduction?

Speaker 3 (37:53):
Is it going to be an increase?

Speaker 5 (37:54):
What's the plan to reduce? What's the plan to retain here?
With regards to the Saint Clear's, it's going to come
down to have they even spoken to the doctors, have
they taken their their their concerns seriously? Why aren't there
going to be in the Why is the internets.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
Program ending there?

Speaker 3 (38:10):
What?

Speaker 2 (38:11):
Those?

Speaker 5 (38:12):
Those are the key things that that I would want
to know that drove doctors to take such a drastic step.
And I cannot believe that they they did this, they
did this lately there.

Speaker 2 (38:26):
I'm no doctor, I'm sure they didn't.

Speaker 5 (38:29):
No, no, and I'm not and I'm not suggesting you're
saying that either, but it shocks me, It really does.

Speaker 2 (38:35):
Yeah, me too, Jim might have to get going, but
I appreciate your time.

Speaker 3 (38:40):
Thank you, I appreciate it.

Speaker 5 (38:41):
Take care of Patty.

Speaker 2 (38:43):
Jim didn't and if you remember, Saint John Center, leader
of the party, break time. Let me come back. There's
a school bus driver in the queue. Don't go away,
welcome back to the show. Let's keep going here. Line
number two, Good morning caller, you are on the air.

Speaker 7 (38:54):
Good morning, Patty. I've called this show before with differently.
Choose that bus driver's face. I've been a bus driver
in Saint John's for over thirty years and I drive
the minibus, and years ago sometimes I would drive a
wheelchair bus, but right now I'm just driving an ambulatory bus.

(39:15):
But one of the things that as a bus driver
that we encounter, of course, are people passing the bus
with the stop sign extended. Years ago, when the cars
had license plates in the front, it was easy for
a bus driver to record a license plate because when
you're stopped unloading or loading a passenger, you can see

(39:36):
the car coming towards you, and you know by their
way to speed that they're not going to stop for
your stop sign, but it still gives you time to
look at the car, get the license plate number, and
then the car just.

Speaker 8 (39:46):
Wishes on passed.

Speaker 7 (39:47):
But now it's actually, you know, it's impossible to get
a record of the car because you know they go
through and then you can't turn around and see the
back of the car to get the license plate. So
it's too bad that the government removed the front plate
because you know, I don't record near as many license plates.

Speaker 8 (40:08):
I used to.

Speaker 7 (40:09):
Another issue facing bus drivers and anybody who's driving a
larger vehicle in the city is the construction, of course,
but there's the placement of the construction signs and the
different things that we have to maneuver. One of my
routes I drive for two schools, and one of my
routes takes me up Marror Meeting Road. Now that street

(40:30):
is hard enough to maneuver as it is with people
parking like they're in front of fabulous foods and coalman's
and stuff, and now they have these very big stuff
or construction signs there that you have to try to maneuver.
Then is you know, you're trying to make a right
hand turn or a left hand turn in a large
vehicle and these construction signs are.

Speaker 9 (40:52):
In our way.

Speaker 3 (40:54):
Now.

Speaker 7 (40:54):
Just last week when we had.

Speaker 10 (40:55):
All the wind.

Speaker 7 (40:57):
I was driving along ropewalk Lane, and I mean we're
on the road most drivers, you know, between seven seven thirty,
so sometimes we're passing through a construction site that the
workers are not even there yet. So I had to
call the city because the debris had blown all over
roebock Lane and cars were trying to get around it,

(41:18):
and I was trying to get around it. And you
know what I'm finding there, These construction companies are leaving
their debris all over the city even when there's nothing
going on. There's lots of sites where they come in
to do their work on the road or whatever, and
they're not there for weeks, and their signs are still there,

(41:40):
the sandbags are still there, those orange sticks are still there,
and it's really really an eyesore.

Speaker 3 (41:47):
You know.

Speaker 7 (41:48):
The city is trying to enhance its beauty for tourists,
but then anybody driving around the city, I was thinking,
what's going on. There's no construction happening here.

Speaker 3 (42:00):
It's all the.

Speaker 6 (42:02):
Pre left, you know.

Speaker 7 (42:03):
And that's why I find really annoying.

Speaker 10 (42:07):
The city.

Speaker 7 (42:08):
They take their little orange markers and their red markers
and their green markers, and they go out and they
draw circles around the potholes that need to be fixed,
and there's two. I can actually chuckle about it. There's two.
Every year they keep coming with their markers and drawing

(42:28):
the hole around this pothole, and the potholes never fixed.
You know, this happens a lot around the city. One
that I found hard to maneuver is coming up Topsil
Road making a left can I'm sorry, a right hand
turn on Columbus Drive. They were from the Shopper's Shopper's
drug micro village. Small area that stick and that little

(42:51):
green circle has been there for as long as I
can remember. And if we're on coming up tops of
Road trying to make that right hand turn, a bus
can't make that turn with that thing in a way.
So I think the city should really address to construction
companies and say, look, clean up your debris, you know,
reduce the size of your sign. I've hit a few.

Speaker 11 (43:14):
I had no choice.

Speaker 7 (43:17):
And just overall maintained the roads better. Just one more
thing and then I'll let you go. Years ago, I
used to drive a wheelchair bus and it was still
at the same time where they do all those cutouts
in the pavement, Like what's going on now on like
Cornwall Avenue, Lamartant Road. And I tell you, when those

(43:39):
little ones were in the back of the bus in
the wheelchair and they're going over all those bumps and everything,
that wheelchair is like rocking back and forth. That is
a very very bumpy ride. Earlier this year, I had
a student on my bus who had their arm in
the cast and in a sling and they were complaining

(44:00):
the bus was rocking too much, and I said, I'm sorry,
there's nothing I can do. The roads are terrible. And
so you know, from a person's perspective who's in pain
or has to sit in a wheelchair, like, you know,
the roads got to be in better condition. It's crazy.

Speaker 9 (44:16):
You know.

Speaker 7 (44:17):
They talk about tourism. Oh my goodness. Yeah, any tourists
come here is like driving in a in a city
that's not paved. It's absolutely terrible. It makes for a
very unenjoyable ride. Not to mention you're beating up your car.
So I think the city needs to address this, address

(44:38):
the dirt and the debris and the garbage is around,
and address state of the roads. I don't know why
they can't come in, you know, dig a hole and
then pave it right away. Why don't they have to
leave it for days and days and days And the
entire length of the margin road is torn up and
it was only just recently that it was re surfaced

(45:01):
or repaved or whatever the word is. Uh, and that's
it's how to up again. So I don't understand. It's shameful,
it really is. It's shameful for the city.

Speaker 4 (45:11):
To come up.

Speaker 9 (45:12):
Yeah, fair enough through this and their tours through this.

Speaker 2 (45:17):
The gap between the grind and the patch is sometimes
far too long. I'm sure that new flat drive parts
of it look like a patchwork quilt from space. So
there's lots of bad sections of road in the city,
no question. And if you're on a school bus, for instance,
the impact for the comfort of the ride or the
driver is even worse than it is, say, for instance,
in my passenger vehicle. So I get where you're coming from.

(45:39):
I appreciate the time. Anything else you want to say
this morning, No, just it's too bad.

Speaker 7 (45:45):
They remove the front license plates. That makes it very
difficult for a bus driver to record anybody who's about
to pass them.

Speaker 2 (45:52):
Fair enough, good point, thank you, Yeah, okay, take here too,
all right, Wheels save the collars who are in the
que because we're just right up against the news and
so just one of those things. People have concerns about
the lack of front plates and the issues regarding speed cameras,
which are coming to a speed zone near you, hopefully
sooner than later. Every time I say I'm a support

(46:13):
of speed cameras, I take some pretty heavy swats, so
be it. I think they're a good idea if they
slow people down, perfect, because that's what we desperately need
around here. And just quick mention on school bus. It's
so many years back, I can't remember exactly when, but
Transport Canada had done a investigation or a review of

(46:33):
school bus safety but didn't tell us the results. It
reminds me of the department doing all the testing of
the affluent flowing into the bay at the old fish
sauce plant Saint Mary's. They knew was killing the fish,
but they didn't tell the community. Just remarkable. But in
school buses, we're told that the way school bus is designed,
the compartmentalization protects the ride or protects the children, we

(46:58):
don't need seatbelts. And it turns out they figured out
that's not really accuracy accurate at all. So the reason
it kind of feels like is why we didn't have
seatbelts and school bosses is because at that point you'd
probably be reduced to two per seat as opposed to
three per seat, needed more bosses, and all the rest
of it goes with it. So when you do studies
like that and you don't tell the general public, and

(47:19):
you did said studies or investigations on the public time,
it's disgraceful. And I can't even remember who was in
government at the time when they did that review of
school bus safety and didn't tell us the results. But anyway,
let's take a break. When we come back, we're speaking
with you. Don't go aheat welcome back. Let's go to
line one, DeBie around.

Speaker 12 (47:39):
The air, Yes, pat anything, I'm speaking about the school
issue where I'm going to discover.

Speaker 8 (47:46):
Her encarmenter to discovery cent Yes, encment.

Speaker 12 (47:51):
I'm complaining about speaking about the issue where they covered
me to go do my homer right, pray me to
get my eleven credits. They covered it, but I can't
get the transportation covered or a fear to go with
someone else. They won't cover that. And I'm also going
to speak about the healthcare over in Carpenter the hospital

(48:12):
do because they're three weeks ago. I had a broken
spring foot and I was there like for twelve to twelve,
seven to seven hours, seven twelve hours, and there was
only two doctors that doctor female. One left, then there
was one there in beck there, then he left. Then
there was one on the screen and then they ten

(48:32):
on six or seven ambulance. They'll make you do your results,
make you wait and I had to X ray my
foot and I was there for hours, seven to seven
twelve hours. Finally got to see one ten o'clock and
my Kamala apartment picked me up. My friends, my friend
mine his, and that's ridiculous. Then there was a man

(48:54):
dropped down when the heart of that. He was there
for seven hours too, twelve hours complain with chest pain.
And he was eighty year old and he said not
for this, call his wife and just when he picked
him up, he dropped the break there and then Pargla died.
I've hard that because they wouldn't sent and tend on them.
And he tended on the ones and them. Then the

(49:14):
one's sicker before himself, and he was there complaining with
chest pain. Saying he had art of that, and he
news there having suff from one then and they made
him that poor memory and he died and in the
family he got the money for it sudo hospital that
doctor because they won't saying that's the sin. Little girl
that was over there just the past week, three weeks afore,

(49:38):
I lost my brother during cancer doo. He died.

Speaker 3 (49:41):
My brother he staged for cancer.

Speaker 12 (49:44):
He died there June seventh, four fifty seven pm before supper.
His sister from Vancouver calmed me and said, where are
you to We'll hope you sit down. I got bad
news break brother, I said, what is it? Is he
any any good bad news? I said, yes, he did die.

Speaker 13 (50:00):
I said no, my.

Speaker 12 (50:01):
God, no. And then I got another recall from my cousin.
It was me cousin, daughter of brains over guys, he
was over there over they both got the cancer that week.

Speaker 2 (50:14):
I'm sorry to hear that. There was a lot of
bouncing around there. So let's just let's stick with the
I'm really sorry for your loss, and I'm okay so
in so far so, if social assistance gave you support
financially speaking to get the materials to do your g
or complete your I guess ABE is Adult Basic Learning

(50:37):
ab GED. And so your concern is that someone won't
pay for you to go.

Speaker 12 (50:45):
Yeah, there's transportation A to B right, because I don't
have no voices or orange or carve the area.

Speaker 2 (50:56):
You need to go? All right, okay, I mean we're.

Speaker 3 (51:01):
So you're cross.

Speaker 2 (51:05):
Let's take turns to go across chilt right, let's let's
take let's take turns. So you have to go from
whitburnt to wear carpenter to carpeer and there's no possible
way that someone that you know can give you a spin.

Speaker 12 (51:20):
No, No, they're all busy, were busy with overturns.

Speaker 2 (51:29):
Well, I certainly you know, with the losses that experienced.
I'm really sorry to hear that. Michael doolences to you
and family and friends. Thank you, But I'm the g
ed bit in some form. It kind of feels like
we did our part. So what is it that you
need to go to carbon here for?

Speaker 12 (51:45):
That's just a dude to a B, Like I said,
dopey education, he said, coming to Palmer Loving Credits right
discovers and you're across from the wharf.

Speaker 3 (51:56):
I know it is.

Speaker 2 (51:59):
Okay, So the best I can do.

Speaker 8 (52:01):
Okay, you should be paid for reall.

Speaker 3 (52:06):
Isn't that right?

Speaker 12 (52:07):
In Colbert? I'm looking all right.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
Okay, Debbie, good luck. If anyone was listening wants to
give her a rod, you can help her out if possible.
There we go, Let's keep going. So go to line
number two. Say good morning to Liz Row remember the
board of directors at the Schizophrenia Society of Newfoundland and
LABRADORGA morning Liz around the air.

Speaker 4 (52:27):
Hi, Patty, I'm just calling today to talk about one
of our upcoming programs.

Speaker 2 (52:31):
Sure, let's call which one, right, So it's called.

Speaker 4 (52:35):
The Family Recovery Journey. I think we've been on on
open line before talking about it in the past. We've
offered it a number of times in the past as well.

Speaker 7 (52:44):
So it's basically a.

Speaker 4 (52:46):
Educational program that we provide to loved ones and family
members of people with schizophrenia or any psychotic illness.

Speaker 12 (52:55):
And we're going to be.

Speaker 4 (52:55):
Offering an upcoming program on July twelfth and thirteen from
ten am to four pm at the New Mental Health
Hospital and as well virtually so we're doing a hybrid
this time, and we're going to have lunch and snacks provided,
so that's always a good incentive. Yeah, we just really

(53:16):
wanted to have it in person as well, the fear
because we have this new beautiful facility, so why not
use it?

Speaker 2 (53:23):
And what's interesting, you know, we'll get into the family
recovery journey a little deeper here is just yesterday I
was saying, what are they going to actually apply a
name to that new mental health and additional facility? And
apparently that is the name. That's what we're going with
a little bit on inspiring, but that's neither here or there,
I guess.

Speaker 8 (53:40):
Yeah, yeah, you're right inside.

Speaker 2 (53:42):
The family recovery journey, you know when you talk about
the different needs out there, because not every family unit
is the same, the different levels of support, different levels
of understanding of the diagnosis, and you know, social group
of friends and support. So how do you craft it
so that you can really hit each family where what
they need because it's not of one size fit's all.

Speaker 4 (54:03):
You're yeah, you're absolutely right about that, and I think
so the family recovery journey is kind of designed for
mostly for people who their loved one has experienced their
first episode of psychosis fairly recently, so it's sort of
designed to be an introduction and overview of schizophrenia and
psychosis and kind of meet people at the very beginning

(54:24):
of their journey and sort of go through how to
manage crises, how to live with psychosis, and how to
live with your loved one that has psychosis. However, there
are lots of people that we actually, you know, repeat
the program and come back and do it again because
they are always sort of learning new things. So we
try to sprinkle in information that would be relevant, you know,

(54:46):
not just for the beginning of your journey, but maybe
if you are further along, we can talk about that
as well. So it is quite flexible, even though we
do have a schedule we sort of stick to. But
you're right, everyone is at a different place in their
recovery and in their journey, so we try to keep
that in mind. And the groups are usually fairly small,
so we can kind of work with people as much

(55:07):
as we can.

Speaker 2 (55:08):
Lots of starting point as insofar as whether it be
a tip or just some go tos for families. So look,
what are we telling people, you know in this family
recovery journey? So can you give us a couple of
clear examples about what people will be told and how
it's intended to help.

Speaker 12 (55:25):
Sure.

Speaker 4 (55:26):
Yeah, So, so, as I mentioned, sort of the first
session or the first bit of the session will be
sort of defining psychosis and schizophrenia as well as causes
and treatment. But then we kind of go into how
to communicate with loved ones who might be actively in
a psychotic episode or you know, experiencing various symptoms of schizophrenia,

(55:47):
including symptoms like what we call negative symptoms, meaning that
they kind of don't experience a lot of motivation and
pleasure and things. So we talk about how to communicate
with people when they're in those periods. We talk about
how to help your loved one get treatment because a
lack of insight is a part of this disease, and

(56:07):
so that means people do sometimes struggle to get the
will to have treatment, and so we educate family members
on how to approach those situations. We educate family members
around how to like handle substance use and their loved
ones in voluntary admissions to the hospital.

Speaker 14 (56:27):
So there are very sort of.

Speaker 4 (56:28):
Tangible things that we work with loved ones.

Speaker 7 (56:31):
Though about.

Speaker 2 (56:34):
I'm just going to say this, whether or not it's accurate,
I'll let you be the judge of it. You know,
one thing for families who have someone belonged to them
has a recent diagnosis of schizophrenia and maybe their first
experience with psychosis is that even trying to navigate inside
the family also comes with that. We'll call it stigma
in the general public about a diagnosis of schizophrenia. You know,

(56:55):
it's the myth associated with somewhere with that diagnosis is
automatically violence we have to be worried about. So when
families are simply trying to deal with day to day life,
they also have to be able to manage public perception.

Speaker 4 (57:07):
Yeah, you're very right, Yeah, and absolutely, And I think
part of what the schizophrenia Society is trying to do,
it's sort of change the way that we look at schizophrenia.
You know, it is a brain disease. It's you know,
there's actual imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain. It's not
a failure on the part of the individual in any capacity.

(57:28):
There's many risk factors that you know, contribute to the
development of this disease. So but you're right, that's that's
not something that everyone understands or knows in the public,
and so families are navigating that and something I guess
in addition to this program, the family Recovery Journey, you know,
in general, the Schizophrenia Society often meets with family members

(57:50):
and loved ones just to kind of talk to them
about these things and help them navigate the public stigma
that they probably or or may face. But but yeah,
I think it's getting better with time.

Speaker 2 (58:03):
I'm glad to hear it, because that's one of the
purposes of how we approach mental health, mental illness, and
mental well being on this program is it was forever
in a day that there was the stigma was just
so overwhelming. And now that people are being more and
more open to talk about, whether it be their own
mental illness and or family members and or the healthcare
delivery system in full organizations like yourself, I think we're

(58:26):
I hope that we're trying to erode some of that
stigma because a real pragmatic conversation about mental illness shouldn't
sound much different if we're talking about cancer or a
broken bone or a hip replacement. There's nothing to be
embarrassed about. It's a real part of life. One in
four Canadians are struggling, and so not to be able
to talk about it honestly and in mature fashion would

(58:47):
be to our collective detriment. So I'm glad we have
these types of conversations.

Speaker 4 (58:51):
Yeah, me too, Me too.

Speaker 2 (58:53):
Let's give the folks the details one more time before
we say goodbye.

Speaker 4 (58:56):
Absolutely, so July twelfth and thirteenth going to be hybrid.
So if you're in Saint John's I want to attend
in person, that'd be great. It's at m HAK, the
new Hospital Mental Health and Addiction Center attached to the
Health Science and we'll tell you the room when you come,
so ten to four and with lunch and snacks provided,
and also virtually to register, you can call seven oh

(59:21):
nine seven seven seven three three three five or email
ed at SSNL dot ca.

Speaker 2 (59:30):
H I real inppreciate your time this morning, Liz.

Speaker 4 (59:31):
Thank you, Okay, thanks Patty, You're welcome here.

Speaker 2 (59:34):
Bye bye. That's ms Rowe remember the board of directors
at the Schizophrenia Society of Newfoundland and Laborador. Let's take
a break. Let me gome back. We're talking Canada strong past.
Don't go ahead, welcome back to the show. Let's go
to line number three. Good morning, Pam, you're on the air.

Speaker 9 (59:47):
Hey, Patty, here are you this morning?

Speaker 2 (59:48):
Oo? Great? How about you?

Speaker 12 (59:51):
I'm fine.

Speaker 9 (59:52):
I know there's so many issues happening through Canada, through
the world, throughout Newfoundland Labrador. Your pro I'm just really
captured a lot of that this morning. But your program also,
I guess, lit a little bit of a personal fire
in me. A couple of weeks ago, you had posted
on the VOCM website about the Canada Strong Pass, and

(01:00:13):
I think it was meant to be Oh, look what
the federal government are doing. Isn't this beautiful. It's free
admissions to some parks Canada places, discounted stays. But what
really grabbed my attention was this free discounted travel with
the rail.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
Just one second I posted something about Canada Strong Pass.
The VOCM news team, Oh okay, because I didn't no, sorry,
the VOCM news team on the website. And you know,
I think many Newfoundlanders, like myself and probably across the country.

Speaker 9 (01:00:48):
They go there and they read the news and they
participate in the question of the day, and I noticed
the Canada Strong Pass and it's so of course I
did a little bit of research because I remember it's
been something that's been happening. I think there were since COVID.
The government is trying to help the tourism industry and
kind of get some people moving of that type of thing.

(01:01:10):
But the issue is to Canada. Strong pass highlights the
double standard that Newfoundlanders seem to face New Folanders and
Laboratory and seem to face whenever there's this you know, oh,
it's an across Canada initiative. Well it's not an across
Canada initiatives because it doesn't include discounts on.

Speaker 2 (01:01:27):
Ferry, on any ferry. I mean, I've made that exact
point at least two or three times this week. When
talking about Marine Atlantic and the pledge by the Prime
Minister to cut the fees in somewhere around half. I
made specific mention of via rail and the discounts being
afforded to people traveling on the rail. I've mentioned that
it doesn't cover any of the fairies, whether we're talking

(01:01:47):
BC farries or Marine Atlantic or anything else. So I've
made that point many, many times this week in an
effort to ensure that whatever pressure could be brought to
bear on the Prime Minister to follow through with his
pledge regarding Marine Atlantic, if we just let it. Oh,
we don't talk about it, then of course, what are
the what do you think is going to happen? Nothing?

Speaker 10 (01:02:04):
Right?

Speaker 9 (01:02:04):
And I think, you know, I'm not sure if if
everyone is aware. I mean, something like this can kind
of slip through the cracks because it's not highlighted enough
that Newfoundland isn't included, like you know, you've brought it up,
of course, but I don't think it's it's getting enough traction.
The fact that you know, the impact on like Via
Rail and Marine Atlantic are really the same beast when

(01:02:28):
you're talking about federal money. They're both subsidized Crown corporations
by the Canadian government. But Marine Atlantic I think is
you know, maybe I think we subsidized maybe like to
sixty five to seventy percent, whereas the aarrail is up
to one hundred percent subsidy sub subsidy. And particularly with

(01:02:52):
this Canada Strong pass, and there's also like a Canada
Via Path, people have to the age of twenty five
are traveling either for free or heavily discounted rate, and
that same consideration is not giving given to Marine in Atlantic.
And I don't need to talk about the terms of

(01:03:12):
unions and the ferry service, and you know, access to
the rest of Canada and the elbow strong. Elbows ups
and Canada is strong, and we're going to be united,
and we're all going to be traveling throughout Canada because
we're going to avoid the US because we're not the
fifty first state.

Speaker 8 (01:03:29):
All that stuff aside, it's just not fair.

Speaker 9 (01:03:33):
We have no other alternative to get to the rest
of Canada besides the airfare, which, as you can imagine,
is highly caught. You know, there's a big cost. My
sister and her son just left. She has she lived
in Ontario for a number of years, like I did.
Many Newfoundlanders live away. She came back, but she had
raised her children there. So three of her five kids

(01:03:55):
are still in Ontario. So if she's going to go
up there and going to do the Newfoundland mommy thing,
and she's going to bring up a fetal offsters, and
she's going to bring up some bottled moods, and she's
bringing up all these lovely things for her children in Ontario,
there's no way she's going to get on a plane.
She's going to get in that car.

Speaker 3 (01:04:13):
And that's just a mom and a little boy traveling.

Speaker 9 (01:04:15):
That's thousands of dollars out of pocket. Days she's a
nurse and she's dazed out of her vacation to drive
off and back to spend time with her kids because
the cost is just prohibitive to do it any other way.
And it's you know, it's just sad that we're not
included in this past and that her son couldn't travel
for free on a ferry when one of the election

(01:04:38):
promises was exactly that we are going to do something
for Newfoundlanders and Laboradorians. Mark Kearney said it. It was
chatted about by the Liberal members who ended up getting
in the government, and nothing has been done and no
one's talking about it. I've sent some letters and again,
this is not I don't even know. I'm not in
the travel industry.

Speaker 12 (01:04:58):
I don't have a business.

Speaker 9 (01:05:00):
It's just I think, from being a journalist for so
many years, starting out with the Independent and writing about
Newfoundland and Labdor and following politics, it's just another snub
and it just really grabbed me, and so I started
writing some letters and saying, hey, pay attention to this,
writing letters to government, posting some things on Facebook, setting.

Speaker 7 (01:05:22):
It around to local media.

Speaker 9 (01:05:24):
I know Russell bless his little heart was with Christoph Freeland,
I believe this morning talking about it, and christ kept
going back to all the positive things. So, okay, we
can go up the signal hill and we can go
for a you know, go visit.

Speaker 8 (01:05:38):
A museum or gallery.

Speaker 6 (01:05:39):
But what about travel?

Speaker 9 (01:05:41):
That's the big cost I got here.

Speaker 2 (01:05:43):
So a couple of things. The cost recovery model that
you spoke to, sixty five percent, they actually did away
with that recently, which is a very good idea. The
via rail support what is going on there. I think
we deserve more because what happens with the via rail
for this strong kind of strong past is up to
seventeen travel for free in economy if they're companied by
a parent or an adult for eighteen to twenty four,

(01:06:06):
it's twenty five percent off, and we were told Marine
Atland would be caught by around half. So I think
we should be asking for more than what viareili is getting.
Why because that's what the Prime Minister said, So twenty
five percent discount for someone on an adult eighteen twenty four,
but everyone over that age is paying full fare. That's
not what we were talking about in Marineland. We were
talking about half for everybody, half for everything, which is

(01:06:28):
a little bit different and more aggressive and promised by
the Prime Minister. So just I'll add that to it.

Speaker 3 (01:06:34):
Yep.

Speaker 9 (01:06:34):
The government is basically recouping the costs to operate the
ferry off the public, which are Newfoundlanders and laboratories. I mean, yes, tourism,
I get it. Tourists can pay if they want to
come to Newfouland and they have the money, they want
to spend the dollars, but don't make it prohibitive, you know,
the children, even, like I said, having children travel at

(01:06:56):
a for free is at least something. But that discount,
you're right, it should be more than what is offered
of the A rail because that was what was promised.
And again we are being snubbed and it just feels
like a double standard. And you know, I can people
wonder why New from Landers and Laboradorias, you know, have
this unique culture. I think it's because we become insular

(01:07:17):
because we just don't feel like we're included in these
Canada wide initiatives.

Speaker 2 (01:07:22):
We're part of Canada fair Ball. Appreciate the time, Pam,
thanks for doing it, Thanks so much, Take care you too,
Bye bye all. Right, another one before we get to
the break. Let's go line for Jerry are on the air. Yes,
by how you doing not too bad? I suppose you.

Speaker 6 (01:07:36):
You are the man that's going to help me out today.

Speaker 2 (01:07:38):
Oh let's see what I can do.

Speaker 15 (01:07:42):
Well, I figure everybody else going didn't get problem solved,
so I figured i'd give you a chance.

Speaker 6 (01:07:46):
Can you hear me? I'm outdoors and it's a little
bit windy.

Speaker 11 (01:07:49):
Go ahead, Yeah, well the wind is the issue that
oncomm about Patty.

Speaker 15 (01:07:53):
Okay, so dars season started up and I negeta started
on the right foot, and I tell you, like the
noofie wind or something fierced right yep, And like I mean,
on a nice day getting up with a nice, calm,
smooth swing down the middle middle fade.

Speaker 6 (01:08:12):
I gets over there yesterday and every day.

Speaker 15 (01:08:14):
Like lately, there's just a winding into the tee and
by the time by the time she just finished slicing
his almals back to the feet. And I'm just thinking
I heard it sat on the other day of hitting
wedges and golfer. It's got to be somebody here in
the province that's used to playing in this wind.

Speaker 6 (01:08:33):
They can call in or write in. I mean you're
on until twelve.

Speaker 15 (01:08:37):
So we got about an hour and a half here,
like to get the weekend.

Speaker 6 (01:08:42):
I find the right foot and the wind is not going.

Speaker 3 (01:08:45):
To slack off, but the looks of it.

Speaker 9 (01:08:46):
So if you got anything for me, man to get
me down, like when I'm talking about that wind into
the tee, like, what, well I gotta do?

Speaker 2 (01:08:55):
Okay? Uh, well, I'm not I used to be pretty good.
I'm not very good anymore a player in the wind
because I hit the ball really high number one. So
it's about the club you choose. But here's the best
advice anyone ever gave me about playing in the wind.
And it's sort of counterintuitive, but it's absolutely the right
way to approach it. When you're swinging down wind, you
can swing hard. When you're swinging into the wind, you

(01:09:16):
have to swing easy because even high ball hitters, the
easier your swing, the lower the trajectory, which helps with
playing in the wind. So that's my one tid bit
of advice there, swinging easy to the wind, because you
see it all the time amateurs get on the tee.
They're driving the ball into the wind as fierce as
they can get sometimes and they swing like they're jumping
out of their shoes, and it's the exact wrong way
to approach the wind. Swing easy into the wind, swing

(01:09:38):
hard downwind.

Speaker 6 (01:09:40):
Listen, man, we might just save my summer brother.

Speaker 2 (01:09:47):
Jerry, go get him. You two pel bye bye.

Speaker 3 (01:09:53):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (01:09:53):
That's pretty good. Yeah, and I do hit it pretty high.
So the wind is not my friend on the golf course. Anyway.
Let's take your break away. Welcome back to the show.
Let's go to line number two saying worder Brenda Hollie.
She's planning running for War II counselor in the City
of Saint John's and the upcoming municipal election. Morning, Brenda,

(01:10:13):
you're around the air.

Speaker 8 (01:10:15):
Hi, Patty, thanks for taking my call.

Speaker 2 (01:10:17):
The problem to Patty.

Speaker 8 (01:10:19):
I was phoning about.

Speaker 16 (01:10:21):
Today public safety and you know, sort of sharing the
space in Saint John's as a whole, but in particular
Ward two.

Speaker 8 (01:10:29):
Of course, I wanted to talk about the open drug
use that we're.

Speaker 16 (01:10:33):
Seeing down around bandmin Park, Bishopfield School and the green
space which is also called Father Walter's Hill, which I.

Speaker 8 (01:10:41):
Didn't know the name of that until the other day.
It's opsoit the gathering place just when you do the
crosswalk there.

Speaker 16 (01:10:48):
It's a little green area. You know, I'm going around
the ward and people are phoning me. You know, I
haven't been elected yet.

Speaker 8 (01:10:56):
I'll throw that out, but people.

Speaker 16 (01:10:58):
Are phoning me to say, you know what do we
We feel really afraid for our children. Kids are seeing needles,
crack pipes and things like this. So I just you know,
it's a concern for both parents and business owners as well.

Speaker 8 (01:11:13):
In the ward. We met with Patty various levels of
government last just earlier this week, actually before school got out.

Speaker 16 (01:11:20):
There was a complaint gone into Minister Abbot and he
was very responsive and he had a meeting just the
other day with so there was Minister Rabbit, Mayor Breen.

Speaker 8 (01:11:33):
Deputy Mayor Shiloh Leary, the Aaron Se was there. The
school we had at Bishopfield School.

Speaker 16 (01:11:39):
Several parents were there and they were really really afraid
and you know, worried about their children stepping on a
needle or you know, picking one up. And we're just
sort of had a meeting about coming up with ideas
what we could do, you know. And I just wanted
to bring this up today, Patty, because we were talking
about earlier all mental health issues and you know, all

(01:12:02):
the like, and of course in my vocation is social
worker for mental health and addictions, and I just wanted to,
you know, voice that we need to you know, we're concerned.
I want to validate people's concerns, but we need to
look at this through a health lens. This is as
it's public safety, but it's a health It's a mental

(01:12:25):
health sort of crisis, is what people are saying. You know,
the people I see on the streets and many times
because I live in this ward as well, they don't.
I mean, they're out in these fields and there's usage
happening in the daytime and other activities. I'll just leave
it at that, but I wonder if there's meaningful engagement Patty.

(01:12:46):
You know, addiction is a funny thing. You know, there's
detoxing is one.

Speaker 8 (01:12:54):
Piece of it.

Speaker 16 (01:12:55):
But you know, everyone needs a home of food and
a structure of their day and a sense of belonging.
And I reference this the last time I called in
the opposite of addiction is connection, and this is the
place where we have to start, you know. But I
just wanted to throw this out this morning, and you know,

(01:13:17):
let people know that you know, I'm working on this
as a parent. I came to Bishopfield School as a
parent of a kid who attends that school just on
Monday with this, with this bigger meeting, But it was
a really good place to start. I think we've mobilized
and come up with a good crew to meet again.

(01:13:38):
But I think there's we needed other people at the table,
other stakeholders like swap safe works access program, maybe someone
with lived experience, and folks from the gathering place and
still a circle.

Speaker 8 (01:13:54):
So you know, hopefully we'll be able to get that.

Speaker 14 (01:13:56):
On the go.

Speaker 16 (01:13:57):
And I'm told by ministravities for a meeting as early
as next week.

Speaker 2 (01:14:02):
Brenda, It's the same question. I mean, I understand these
issues and we have to identify them, but I'm always
sort of grasping for a better understanding what municipal politicians
think their role will be, whether it be in clean
needles and or the plastic receptacles for them, and or
policing and or specific pockets of the city where he sived,

(01:14:25):
maybe more rapant drug use and maybe other parts. So
what do you think the municipal's municipality's role is.

Speaker 9 (01:14:32):
Well, I mean, we all have you know, happy people, happy.

Speaker 16 (01:14:35):
Cities, right, So I was really delighted that Mayor Brien
and Deputy Mayor Shilo Leary and other representatives by the
way of the city for the wellness programs attended that
meeting because we.

Speaker 8 (01:14:46):
All have a role to play. We all have a
role to play in this.

Speaker 16 (01:14:49):
So they were on because you know, they want to
the city owned the you know, Bannomin parkt is under
the jurisdiction of the city, so I understand, and that
security were hired. I know that Bishopfield had their last
day of school, you know, sort of the speeches and
so on at the park, so that we wanted to
make sure there we're safe safety there with with security folks.

Speaker 8 (01:15:14):
You know, there's a place for police here for sure.

Speaker 16 (01:15:18):
But Patty, there's a bunch of things right, Like we
don't have a safe injection site in this in this city,
right is one of the things.

Speaker 8 (01:15:26):
Well. I know that SWAP has a you know, a
needle program down at Kiddividy Lake.

Speaker 16 (01:15:36):
And that's fine, but maybe there needs to be more
of them around, you know, like in the downtown sectors specifically,
because that's where we're seeing the bulk of the usage.
I mean, we have the gathering place there, we have
Stella Circle and and you know, folks, I think what
happened is, you know, the folks that we're talking about,

(01:16:00):
they lived in boarding houses for years downtown and as
downtown became gentrified and the price and cost of living
increased and became astronomical, people were really driven out of
their neighborhoods, right, And so they might have been here
long before some of us who had to concern that.

Speaker 8 (01:16:19):
And so now they're living in various areas.

Speaker 16 (01:16:22):
But what I wanted to speak about and when I
see people and as I walk around in my own word,
in these green spaces and using.

Speaker 8 (01:16:30):
I mean, what are they doing in the run of
the day, like watch structure is set up for them
in the day. You know, Patty, I've been lucky enough.

Speaker 16 (01:16:40):
I mean, there's various ways paths of recovery, and that's
what I've been doing with my work.

Speaker 8 (01:16:45):
For many years.

Speaker 16 (01:16:47):
But you know, I've been lucky enough to start a
therapeutic corta culture program in the downtown area in my work,
and that was started for people who want to to
learn about wellness and experience wellness.

Speaker 8 (01:17:03):
And it's been really successful. We've had it.

Speaker 16 (01:17:06):
Going on over ten years and it's soon going to
find a new home under the Bridges to Hope program
under the Food Bank, and we're going to partner there
and so it's going to you know, increase in numbers
and accessibility and everything.

Speaker 8 (01:17:22):
But the folk that at that program experience really good recovery.

Speaker 16 (01:17:29):
Not to say that there's not relapse and slips that happened,
because that's part of addiction. It's a chronic brain relapse disease.
So we have to treat it through the lens of health.
And I know that Minister Abbit is going to try
and get another meeting undergo, but like the stakeholders that
I just mentioned that they really need to be at
the table, So I think that he's probably has intention

(01:17:49):
to reach out to those foot We need to get
everybody together mobilized to see what, you know, how we
can help and how we can create struct for people's gays,
like meaningful activity.

Speaker 3 (01:18:02):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:18:03):
Yeah, because even in some of the shelters, emergency and
otherwise it's get up and get out and idle hands.
You know what people say about idle hands, and you know,
even things like receptacles for needles and those types of things. Look,
I know why they're important, But like I've said many
times on the show, if you are in the throes
of addiction, good decision making is not your forte. You know,

(01:18:25):
they will just drop the needles where they finished injecting themselves.
And you know, some of those needles that I've seen
on trailheads are literally steps away from a red plastic
needle receptacle. So there's a lot to this, but you
know the concept of it takes all hands representing all
these different organizations, different levels of levels of government to
be involved in this. There's no question about it. And

(01:18:47):
I don't know how bad we'll say use that word
how bad it is in other parts of the province,
but certainly in and around town. There's a reason why
we see so much of this and so many people
that move in and around the metro area for access
to services, access to supports, and we know even the
type of drugs on the street now are turning people
into zombies. You know, it's not your grandfather's drug du

(01:19:09):
jour anymore. It's a different world out there, and it's
a little bit more complicated too, And the population is
growing and the supports have not grown with it. So
there's a lot of work to be done. Bret. I'll
give you the final thoughts before I have to get going.

Speaker 16 (01:19:23):
Thanks Patty, some great comments. I just I wanted to
say one more time that.

Speaker 12 (01:19:27):
You know, the meeting the other day was very positive because.

Speaker 16 (01:19:29):
We've now mobilized and sometimes when we're really you know,
fear helps that mobilization. Right, So I think that getting
all the folks to the table and finding creative ways.
But what I'll leave you with this, Patty, and I've
experienced it in my own work life for over twenty years,
is the opposite of addiction is connection. When we create
a community and a structure for people in their day,

(01:19:52):
that will help.

Speaker 8 (01:19:53):
I promise that's one of the ways that helps.

Speaker 2 (01:19:56):
I appreciate your time. Bring a good luck out there.

Speaker 8 (01:19:58):
Thanks Patty.

Speaker 2 (01:19:59):
Welcome, bye bye. It's right and Holley he's going to
be running in War II the upcoming municipal elections in
Saint John's Let's take a break, we come back. We're
going to talk about the Labrador Air Access program. We
all know the cost head of nature for traveling in
and out of Labrador. That add to it the servicing
of the North coast. There was a devastating story in
the news earlier this week about someone who perished while

(01:20:21):
waiting for service Innane. Leila Evans is right after the break,
don't go away, welcome back. Let's go to a line
number one seing. He wants to the PC member for
Torgat Mountains. That's Leela Evans and good morning, Lela. You're
on the air.

Speaker 13 (01:20:32):
Hey, good morning, Patty.

Speaker 2 (01:20:33):
Welcome to the program. Where would you like to start?

Speaker 13 (01:20:37):
Where should I start now? Patty, I'm calling not to
complain about the I guess the services for Labrador and
especially for my district, but I'm in the talk again
about some facts. And this is really important because the
new premiere was up in Labrador for Labrador Expo, and
he notes this Labador air access program with very little details,

(01:21:01):
and when it's going to be put in place, it's
to provide a discounted a discount on the base airfares
for Labrador and residents subdy in Northern Peninsula. The Patty,
to be quite honest, we all know there's an election Lumen.
I think the deadline is October October this year, So

(01:21:22):
I mean, I just don't want Labradorians to sort of
fall for this again because I mean In May this discovernment,
his government announced the fifteen million dollar subsidy for the
interprovincial intra provincial travel loop between Dear Lake, Saint John's
and Gander. Nothing for Labrador, nothing in for a tourists,

(01:21:44):
because the Minister of Tourism came back in defense and
he said, oh, it's for tourists. When tourists gets to
the island, we've got to make sure they can travel
within the island. And I support that. I want tourists
to be able to travel. I want businesses on the
island to you know, be able to take advantage of
the tourism season. I fully support that. But the point

(01:22:06):
that I was making over and over again, and I
said this when I wrote letters to the Minister Transportation
to Minister of Tourism, is like our even our Labrador
tourists are discriminations right, So for me it was it
was it's something that we need to talk about, like,

(01:22:27):
wor's the details for this, this this subsidy And would
he have actually provided it for us if if if
the election wasn't pending.

Speaker 2 (01:22:39):
I have no idea. I can't answer that question. But
what exactly would a program look like in so far
as subsidies go. I'm I don't even know where you
start here, because there's been a bunch of issues. Even
if we look at things that were supposed to protect
the consumer in Labrador that has never worked. Nutrition North,
the air access program, or their air travel subsidy. None
of the things have made lives easier more accessible for

(01:23:02):
people in the Laborador. So how do you suggest this
program could work if it was going to be actually
beneficial as opposed to just money flying around and no
real benefits achieved.

Speaker 13 (01:23:12):
Well, Patty, I think at the root of the problem,
you know, the discovernment is the Liberals, even though they
they keep the revolving door of you know, premiers. Basically
we're on our third premier. It's the same Liberal party
and the ministers keep you know, they keep the revolving

(01:23:33):
door ministers, so there's no accountability. I think the biggest
problem with this, Patty, is the reactive So they throw
things at us, like you know, like you know, the
daycare system, you know what I mean, Like it was
just announced for a political ploy. Then when they started
to try to put the details in, we saw it
was lacking. You know, we look at healthcare now, the

(01:23:54):
you know, this big introduction of the Health Accord and
all this cherry picking, and then we see that's come out.
You know, the travel nurses that they relied on, you know,
costs what four hundred thousand dollars a year per nurse.
So for us, we don't want Labrador to suffer this
this reactive We wanted to have something that's planned out,

(01:24:16):
that looks at the problems and not for it to
be a subset. Right for for us is we want
something that's going to work for Labradorians. We want healthcare.
We want to be able to access health care for Laboratorians,
just the same as on island. We want to be
able to travel where it's cost effective to travel. And
then we look at our mane service, Patty, I mean

(01:24:36):
up in Labrador. You know that boat held up and
she's you know, she's she's supposed to be able to
travel in Nice, but they wouldn't, they wouldn't sell her.

Speaker 8 (01:24:43):
And why not?

Speaker 13 (01:24:44):
Up happened? Patty?

Speaker 3 (01:24:45):
It was?

Speaker 13 (01:24:45):
It was very very stressful for people because the.

Speaker 17 (01:24:48):
Stores were bare.

Speaker 13 (01:24:49):
We were run out of food people, they were the
stores I'll be nane, and was running out of the
toilet paper, so how do we get to the crisis
is like, basically won't do anything for laboratorians until they
get caught with a pending election and several seats in play,
and now they're trying to show money at it without

(01:25:09):
any details again, And for me is I think, I
just I just want labor labor orients to take a
note of what's happened. And Patty another the biggest problem
for me is the letters to the Minister of Transportation,
Minister Tourism.

Speaker 2 (01:25:33):
Yeah, Lila, the connection is totally gone. Are you still there, Leila?
I should put around Holliday if she wants to finish
your thoughts, because obviously that is totally gone. Let's go
to line number two. Good morning, Jeff, You're on the air. Hi, Jeff,

(01:25:54):
you're on the air. Jeff online number two on once,
going twice. Let's go quick one before the news. Line five,
barrier around the air.

Speaker 10 (01:26:09):
Morning, Patty, thanks to taking my call.

Speaker 2 (01:26:10):
No problem, Patty.

Speaker 10 (01:26:11):
You know I'm no longer with the light saying decided,
but I can't help myself. I've got to share some
safety tips. It's more. Beginning the opening day of the
food fishery, excuse me as a boat owner, you should
already have the you know pre maintenance checking your engine,
make sure everything's working properly. Insists your crew are wearing
a life jacket and set a good example of wearing
one yourself. Check the weather and continually manner while you're

(01:26:35):
out there. You see a difference or a change, head
back to court. Don't wait too late. A common reason
for breakdown, Patty is run out of gas. He is
a three third throw third for a trip, out, of
dirt for trip back, and third in reserve. If you're
going out on CD CDs, which are very popular these days,
should only be one rider per machine. Wear a wetter

(01:26:55):
drysuit and travel with at least two machines, and always
wear a LFE jacket. Of course, Patty, with the sharks
being so prevalent fee days, you should always use a
handgap take take a fish aboard instead of putting your
hand over the side, just in case some new tifts
this year, Patty. If you're fishing from a beach, you
should be careful to have a look behind before you
catch your line up because there's lots of people behind you.

(01:27:17):
Cause an accident, and if you're if you're processing your
fish on the beach, so aw, the fish tract is
out in the water. Uh, pay a lot of pep
please days starting to fish from the rocks, and you
want to be careful out there. You want to make
sure that you weren't like jacket travel with somebody else
and watch watch the rocks for slipperiness, especially on low tide. Patty, Uh,

(01:27:39):
let's wish everybody is safe and successful season turn food
fishery and Patty also know that the Minister Thompson is
in tourbado's more than making an announcement to safe harbors.
And I hope that she'd wear the rough seat conditions
because tomorrow it's going to be right off for a
lot of people, especially in smaller boats. And don't take
chance from folks. Be safety seen and make care a

(01:27:59):
trip of safe round trip.

Speaker 2 (01:28:02):
Absolutely. You know, people just sometimes take for granted some
of the risks that they might be entering into because
while I'm a seasoned boat or nothing can go wrong,
wouldn't you think like that is exactly when things can
go wrong. So those are good tips very and hopefully
they leave people to make some good decisions as they
head out on the water, because nothing better than being
out in boat right, whether you're fishing or otherwise. So

(01:28:22):
anything else quick, because I'm up against eleven o'clock Berry.

Speaker 10 (01:28:25):
Yeah, thank you, Patty, I absolutely Patty. Yeah, you know,
you know, it's not like a lot of us, say,
creating enjoyment in food, tissuring you smell salt sea while
no salt sea salt potter off your lips. It's a
great experience thing, you know. It's it's too bad that
we have delimits the way we are about that. We're
very hopeful at the time at the end of the
summer they had that consation talk and I hope to

(01:28:48):
you envited that table some minister consent. Next you're listening,
please you should have made the right decision in first
place by extending the season like we're asking. But please
make sure that we're going to be had that conversation
that comes solved.

Speaker 2 (01:28:59):
Appreciate the time. Thank you, Barry, take care, bye bye,
all right to take to break for the news. I'm
come back, lots of time for you. Don't go ahead,
welcome back to the show. Let's rejoin Leela Evans on
two to get our final thoughts. Leela, you're back on
the air.

Speaker 13 (01:29:14):
Yeah, so sorry, Patty, I might be in my district,
so I think we were having trouble with the phone
lines there. But you you did say, you know, there's
a problem with the programs. But Patty, the point I'm
making is with this government is they don't put a
lot of thought and planning into an issue or area
that needs support, and what ends up happening is we

(01:29:37):
see these reactive programs that's thrown together with their proper
planning consultation. Like we look at healthcare, same thing with
healthcare suffering, affordable daycare right, even pay equity, Patty, when
the Minister of Women in Gender Equality was caught briefly
not for ae tip, then it said that it showed
that they didn't support pay equity and then they had

(01:29:59):
to throw something together. So for us is we're we're
dealing with a government that's been in power for ten years.
They don't do any real work, you know, until it
becomes a crisis, and then what happens is there's a
need to look good, so they basically throw something together
that looks and sounds good on the surface, and then
when it finally starts to roll out, there's problems with it.

(01:30:22):
But I just want to draw the attention back to
Labrador and the you know, the intra provincial travel loop
to a cost of fifteen million dollars for the island,
and we up in Labrador, you know, struggling with affordable travel,
affordable patient travel. And the minister came back and said, well,
it's a short tourism season. And then when we look

(01:30:45):
at the costs, overall cost of the program, Patty worked
out for this intra provincial island loop was one million
dollars a week. And so now with the looming election
coming up in October, what is the premium in the
new premier the revolving door of premiers, you know, we
were on our third premier comes up and says, oh,

(01:31:07):
we're going to announce this this travel for laboratory you
know what I mean, laborator air access program. But there's
no details on it right And so for me is like,
I think the government really needs to be held to account.
You can't just go making these big announcements when you've

(01:31:27):
got a looming election throwing things together that really doesn't
address the needs of the region, the needs of the people,
and Patty, that's just not for Labator it's for all
of the islands. So I mean for us, like I said,
we want plans, we want consultation with the people because
out there in every region that needs the service, that's

(01:31:50):
being failed right now, the people who are being failed
by the system, the you know, the people who are
in the programs are failing. They're the one that knows
what the problems are. But you see over and over again,
and I see it in the House as an MHA.
I see legislation being introduced, Patty, and then you say, Okay,

(01:32:13):
who did you consult with or we're going to consult
after after the legislation is put into place. And it's
the same thing with these programs. So for us, and
I mean, just just look at the news announcement that
came out, not announcement, but while I was in the news,
four hundred thousand dollars per year a cost of one travelers.

Speaker 2 (01:32:34):
Yes, I know, we've talked about extensively. I will try
to get details on the Labrador Air Access program because
when I heard the announced it was just like okay,
now what and there was nothing.

Speaker 13 (01:32:43):
There's another thing being thrown at the wall. It's like
when you're in a university and you're boiling. You're builing
your pasta.

Speaker 3 (01:32:49):
You know.

Speaker 13 (01:32:49):
The thing is the trick is see if it's done,
Throw that the wall, see if it sticks. Well, let's
know how the liberals have been doing their government, Patty,
And for us it has to stop. And let orians
are the ones, says really suffering right now with the
way we're being treated. And we just got to look
at the Marine service, you know, being told, oh, what's
ice when all the aliel cocks. When we look at

(01:33:11):
the satellite footage, Patty, we see it's not alice. So
why are we getting the service? Why do we have
the Barterer toilet paper for catsup up in our northern
labor communities. It's a real failure, Patty. And I don't
want people to be fooled by this, I really don't.
I think they need to take a hard look at
the last ten years what we've been dealing with.

Speaker 2 (01:33:31):
I understand your point, Leader, and I appreciate your time.

Speaker 6 (01:33:34):
Thank you, thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (01:33:35):
You're welcome. Bye bye. Clean Evans, the PC member for
torn Gap Mountains. Well Memorial University has launched Canada's first
university house student managed social impact fund. The manager at
the Center for Social Enterprise at Memorial Universities doctor Jillian
Morrisey and joins US online number one. Good morning, doctor Morrissey,
you're on the air.

Speaker 14 (01:33:54):
Good morning Patty.

Speaker 2 (01:33:55):
How are you excellent today? How about you?

Speaker 14 (01:33:57):
I'm good.

Speaker 8 (01:33:58):
Thanks.

Speaker 14 (01:33:58):
I was so excited to come on and say I'm
a longtime listener, first.

Speaker 11 (01:34:01):
Time caller, and I love that.

Speaker 2 (01:34:03):
And welcome to the show. Thanks for making time.

Speaker 14 (01:34:06):
Thank you. Yea great to be here with.

Speaker 2 (01:34:08):
So to start at the very beginning here when people
here social enterprise or social impact fund, I'm going to
hazard a guess that a lot of people listen to
the program this morning do not even know what that means.
What does it mean?

Speaker 14 (01:34:20):
Well, to start with social enterprise from the name of
our center. Social enterprise is a sort of a way
of organizing in business that puts the mission or the
purpose of the organization at the forefront and profit.

Speaker 8 (01:34:32):
Comes after that.

Speaker 14 (01:34:34):
So we see that kind of in many forms. The
social enterprise in new Foundland and Labrador could be a
technically legally registered as a for profit company, a not
for profit or a charity, which are the most common
here in this province, but also a cooperative in other
provinces like BC and Nova Scotia. There are legal forms
for hybrid organizing like this, but the most important piece

(01:34:55):
is that it's mission or purpose driven. So we're typically
trying to create some kind of positive change in society,
and we always use the phrase the three p's, so
we're doing people, plant and profit.

Speaker 2 (01:35:07):
So doctor Morrison, how is how or why is it
important to have this house in the university setting.

Speaker 14 (01:35:13):
Well, that's an interesting question. So fair Lead Social Impact
Fund is part of another program we run here now
called the Impact Investing Fellowship, and that's in partnership with
Propel Impact, which is a national nonprofit that does this
across the country. So our Impact Investing Fellowship is a
student team. There's about fifteen of them now on the team,

(01:35:36):
and they work together to basically assess local organizations that
are interested in having impact investment. I'll speak to what
that is in a second. So the students work through
a due diligence process.

Speaker 13 (01:35:49):
They look at.

Speaker 14 (01:35:50):
Impact measurement and investment portfolio development, and ultimately their goal
is to identify and make recommendations around which organizations in
the profums are ready for investment. And then fair Lead
the Impact Fund, which is housed in the university, will
make an investment up to seventy five thousand dollars in
that organization. So the reason why it's unique and exciting

(01:36:13):
that fair Lead is actually housed in the university is
because no other university in Canada has done this propel
Impact does have fellowships at other universities, so programs in
other universities for students, but the money that they are
investing is through other entities, so funds held by other entities.

(01:36:33):
The closest case is out in Calgary. Their fund again
it's separate from the university, but the students have access
to a portion of that money. So here at fair
Lead at the Center for Social Enterprise, our fund is
actually in the university, and when our student fellowship team
makes the recommendation and the investment committee that they report
to agrees with them, it is actually Memorial putting that

(01:36:57):
investment out into community. And Patty, I really see this.
I've been talking a lot about this with our collaborators
and our friends. We'll say of the center, you know,
Memorial has a special obligation to build a better future
for the province, the country, and the world, and to
kind of pick up on what Ms Evans was just saying,
fair lead and the Impact Investment Fellowship. This is a

(01:37:17):
proactive solution to challenges based in our province. So we're
getting necessary capital, catalytic capital into the hands of organizations
in our community that are really creating positive change. So
it's very exciting initiative. The fact that it's Memorial doing
this and not another fund that our team provides the
due diligence and the recommendation too, is very exciting and

(01:37:38):
I believe it really speaks to Memorials special obligation and
our desire and commitment to being creative and innovative to
ensure a better future for our province and the students
and young people who are the next generation of leaders.

Speaker 2 (01:37:51):
And you've identified your first recipient, who is it and
why is it a good fit?

Speaker 14 (01:37:56):
Yeah, So we were very excited yesterday to do our
first check presentation at the fund launch and so we
wrote a seventy five thousand dollars investment to Home Again
Furniture Bank, which is an incredible organization. Home Again is
a social enterprise that provides essential furniture to individuals and
families across the province while creating environmental and employment benefits

(01:38:20):
through the resale store again and again thrift and decoor furniture,
thrift and Dacre, I should say. So that store is
located up on White Rose Drive and it's a really
cool furniture and day course thrift shop, and they have
been able to use that venture and their Home Again

(01:38:42):
Furniture Bank to make sure that more than I think
Amy said yesterday, forty six or forty seven hundred homes
have furniture, and they're supported by more than seven hundred volunteers,
and their investment from fair Leads Social Impact Fund is
going to help scale their operations. I think Amy mentioned
we're specifically working on their new upholstery business, so that's

(01:39:03):
again employment. Through that program and through this furniture upcycling
and the resale and the donations to furnishing homes, we
are keeping a lot of tonnage of garbage furniture out
of the landfill. So they have really impressive social and
environmental impact and that's only going to grow more with
this investment from fair Lead.

Speaker 2 (01:39:25):
Congratulations to them, a good company doing good work. This
might be a silly question, but I'm going to ask
it anyway. So we talked about collaboration and partnerships, so
there's lessons to be learned in other organizations at Memorial University.
Is there a dovetail or some collaboration between say, for instance,
your group and say the Genesis Center or the Center
for Innovation and Teaching and Learning, because they have done

(01:39:47):
a lot of this as incubators in the past as well.

Speaker 14 (01:39:50):
Yeah, absolutely so. The Memorial entrepreneurship ecosystem is very collaborative
and well integrated. So there's I guess you could say
five centers, although we don't all use that name, but
we have the Center for Social Enterprise, the Memorial Center
for Entrepreneurship, which is traditional entrepreneurship. You have the Genesis
well they're not Genesis Center anymore, but Genesis up on

(01:40:12):
Single Hill campus and they do technology entrepreneurship. We have
the Research Innovation Office as well and they do technology
transfer and commercialization of research into entrepreneurship. And then the
fifth one is the Entrepreneurship Training Program, which is out
of the School.

Speaker 18 (01:40:27):
Of Graduate Studies.

Speaker 14 (01:40:29):
We are all very well connected to each other. We
work incredibly well together, but that's not the only collaboration
we're known for. And the Center for Social Enterprise has
numerous partners, and I would shout out to Propel Impact,
which is our impact investing partner, but also the Community
Sector Council of Newflin and Labrador. In fact, those two

(01:40:50):
groups are actually out in another room here doing a
workshop on getting board buy in for impact investment. So
we've got those. We also work closely with community foundations
newflann And Laboratory or the Ufland Library, Federation of Cooperatives
and many others, so there's a kind of a group
of capacity builders and then we are all working to
support this what we call the community sector or the
social purpose sector.

Speaker 2 (01:41:11):
I really appreciate it in and outside of your no question,
So anything Oulseide we might be missing that you'd like
to speak to this morning, Doctor.

Speaker 14 (01:41:18):
Morrisey, Well, just to I guess highlight that you know,
this is a student led team, so we're really proud
and excited to be supporting the development of student leadership
in this space. Social finance and impact investing is a
growing field and we're we're at the forefront of it
here and you know, the fund is very new, very exciting.

(01:41:39):
We will be starting now in the fall to look
at other organizations we can invest in. So I encourage
if you're running or involved with a social enterprise or
a community organization and you're interested, feel free to reach out.
Social Enterprise at mon dot ca A is our email.
We will be doing some workshops and training events again
when the academic year starts in September. We're looking, our

(01:42:01):
team is looking to talk to community groups who are
interested in impact investment. And so I guess Patty, one
finally thing fair lead is where finance the purpose and
we're learning becomes leadership. And we are just so very
excited at the Center and at Memorial to be part
of that leading that change here in the province. And
we really look forward to collaborating with the sector and

(01:42:23):
to scale impact all over New for Landon Labor.

Speaker 2 (01:42:26):
Really appreciate your time and let us know about this
particular program. And just on a personal note, you know
you talk about working with the Genesis. The president and
CEO at Genesis, Ed Martin is my brother in law.

Speaker 7 (01:42:37):
Oh, very cool.

Speaker 2 (01:42:40):
It's perfect nice to meet you this morning.

Speaker 18 (01:42:42):
Doctor, Thank you, Thank you, Patty, have a great day.

Speaker 2 (01:42:45):
The same too. Bye bye, doctor. Jillian Morrisey, the manager
of the Center for Social Enterprise, Applemoral University. Let's take
a break, don't go away.

Speaker 1 (01:42:53):
The Tim Power Show showing the conversation weekday afternoons at
four pm on your VOCM.

Speaker 2 (01:43:00):
Welcome back to the show. Let's go to line number two.
Takeing more to the executive director at Thrive. That's Angela Crockwell.
Good morning, Angela, you're on the air.

Speaker 17 (01:43:08):
Good morning, Patty.

Speaker 2 (01:43:08):
How are you great today? How about you?

Speaker 17 (01:43:11):
I'm doing well.

Speaker 2 (01:43:12):
I mentioned you and the issue of additional security at
the public parks off the top of the show this morning.
You know, the outcry of public safety based on the
recent surveys is very real. Whether or not it's exaggerating
some people's minds or not is a conversation for another day.
But you're in the news worried about how it might
impact the most vulnerable people in society. People are already marginalized. Specifically,

(01:43:33):
what are you worried about?

Speaker 8 (01:43:35):
Yes, So.

Speaker 17 (01:43:38):
My point is always that we really don't want to
conflate issues such as homelessness and poverty and mental health
with making people or society unsafe.

Speaker 3 (01:43:51):
I mean, the.

Speaker 17 (01:43:54):
Data is very clear that there has been an increase
in crime. I think Joe Public's concerns about public safety
is very valid, and you know, I want to acknowledge
that obviously, But I'm also sometimes when people see folks
who might be sleeping outside or might be panhandling because

(01:44:18):
their experience and poverty, that doesn't necessarily make society or
people unsafe. What they're witnessing is often issues of poverty,
issues of homelessness, issues of mental illness. So I'm always concerned.
I really want to challenge all of us as a

(01:44:39):
society to frame those issues for and not as criminal
or making people unsafe.

Speaker 2 (01:44:49):
Yeah, a criminal is someone who committed a crime, not
someone who's simply homeless. Let's take into this a little further, Angel,
because you know, being a security guard can be very
difficult work, but not every area of security guard, as president,
is the same. It's one thing to be a security
guard at the liquor store or the grocery store, or
at the mall or what have you. And I'm not
dismissing their important work, But for this type of work

(01:45:11):
in the parks, you talk about training required to identify
how to handle different issues and the nuances involved. What
does that look like, because that's maybe a little bit easier,
said than done. When we're talking about private security, what.

Speaker 17 (01:45:23):
Do you think, Yeah, one hundred percent. I mean, I
think it's important obviously for people to have training to
be able to respond appropriately for people who may be
experiencing in a mental health crisis, to make sure that
those interactions are helpful and respectful and not othering people.

(01:45:45):
But I also think in terms of the investments, if
we really want to shift the needle on addressing issues
of public safety, crime, marginalization, it takes investments in supports
and services. So why well the city will be invested
in security for our parks and public spaces that doesn't

(01:46:08):
provide long term solutions to be able to shift the
needle on those issues. And so I think that's part
of the strategy. And I will acknowledge the City of
Saint John's funded Thrive to be able to have permanent
five day outreach workers on the streets. And it's those
kinds of investments that are able to really help people

(01:46:29):
get them connected to services, help find them housing, help
connect them too, detac services. All of those things will
make the long term, lasting impact. And so I think,
you know, we need to be thinking about those bigger
investments and that can create real change not only for
people who are really struggling, and there are way too

(01:46:50):
many people right now who are really struggling, but also
for public feeling of safety and hopefully obviously a reduction
in crime. That's happening in profit.

Speaker 2 (01:47:02):
Yeah, investments are spending in different areas of support obviously
is a big part of this. But I would also
suggest that there's a lack of understanding amongst in general
public about the issues root causes that lead to things
that people living in poverty, people who are homeless or
precariously close to being homeless. I think there's you know,
people gets all swathed with one brush and that it's

(01:47:26):
one size fits all, it's all the same thing. Everybody
in that position is living the same life. It's just
not it. So we can spend on supports, but some
of that comes with political will. Political will is generally
fueled by the electorate's understanding and the electorate pushing governments
in one direction or another. I think there's a lot
of real broken misunderstanding out there.

Speaker 17 (01:47:45):
Yes, absolutely, And I mean I think often when when
you know us as citizens are confronted with here and
arising crime, a feeling of unsafety when we're visiting public
bases or the downtown core, most people's natural reaction might
be we need increase security and police presence. And while

(01:48:09):
that is at times maybe part of the issue obviously
if there's criminal activity happening, but the real shift will
be in those long term supports. So you know, if
we see people sleeping in a park, the answer is
not security, say and move. The answer is how do
we help you find affordable safe housing? And that will

(01:48:31):
be what will be helpful in the long run. As
I said, both to the general public but also obviously
the people who are struggling.

Speaker 2 (01:48:41):
Yeah, it's much like the whole Ten City conversations, right,
people say, well, we need people to be out of
the park in this circumstance, but that doesn't really solve
or change anything. When we move the tents from the
Confederation Building to Batterman Park to wherever else, that's all
we did. We move them around. Same thing. If someone
is ushered out of a park, who's sleeping in the
park in the middle of the night, that just means

(01:49:02):
it's going to go somewhere else's sleep. So we haven't
actually solved anything. We've just shuffled the deck.

Speaker 17 (01:49:06):
Chairs, absolutely, and I mean I will often raise the
concern of asking people, particularly in public spaces, who have
set up a tent or who are sleeping outside when
they are told you have to move, where are they
going If I'm if I'm homeless tonight and I literally

(01:49:27):
have nowhere to sleep. You know, most most privately owned
spaces don't want me there. And if publicly owned spaces
don't want me there, like I don't have the luxury
of becoming invisible or vanishing. I have to sleep somewhere,
And so it is those those are the investments and

(01:49:48):
solutions that we need to find. And just saying to
people you have to move because we don't want to
have to look at people who are homeless, or we
don't want to have to look at people who are
struggling with poverty. It a pushes people to the mergeons
and often can then they're sleeping places that maybe nobody

(01:50:11):
can see them, and it does nothing to solve the issues,
so it can actually exacerbate the issue. At least when
people are in more visible spaces are outreach workers first
of all, they can find them and have those interactions
where if people are in the backwoods somewhere. All it
means is less of Joe. Public is actually looking at

(01:50:33):
what's happening, but there's no solution being found.

Speaker 2 (01:50:37):
No exactly, Angela. I appreciate your time as usual. Thank you.

Speaker 17 (01:50:41):
Thanks, Patty, have a great day you too.

Speaker 2 (01:50:43):
Bye bye. SrAl Crockwell, the executive director at Thrive. Let's
take a break for the news and we go back
jeps in the queue to react to Brenda scall. I
believe that's Brenda Halle, who's running for the War II
councilor position in the upcoming municipal election. And then we're
speaking with you. Don't go away, Welcome back to the show.
A bit more Amory University conversation here. So the Eastern

(01:51:03):
Edge Robotics team won the Underwater Robotics World Championship, just
competed at now Pina. I think that's Michigan, is it.
Let's got a line number six Sigamores of the mechanical
team lead with Eastern Edge Robotics. That's Mark Johnson. Good morning, Mark,
you're on the air.

Speaker 4 (01:51:16):
Hi there.

Speaker 2 (01:51:17):
How's it going, Patty excellent? How about you?

Speaker 18 (01:51:20):
Oh I'm doing fantastic. Yeah, I just got back from Yes,
you're right, Alpina, Michigan, and we're we got third place
there in the World Championship at Eastern Edge, so we're
feeling feeling pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:51:29):
I'd say, congratulations, that's quite a performance.

Speaker 18 (01:51:35):
Yeah, I mean it's honestly, I think everyone's super excited.
It was a lot of other statements say it's a
lot of hard work that went into it, and I
think we're just happy to have that result after so
much work put in throughout the.

Speaker 3 (01:51:47):
Year, for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:51:48):
So tell us about the competition. How does it work?

Speaker 18 (01:51:52):
Yeah, that's a interesting topic because I don't think some
people may not know how underwater robotics competitions work. We
basically spend the year designing a vehicle that's gonna submerges
underwater a couple of meters. It's kind of like a
mini submarine, if you want to call it that way,
And basically it's designed to perform kind of stimulated tasks

(01:52:13):
that an ROV would normally perform, whether it's analyzing, you know,
a shipwreck, moving valves, plugging in cables, and various other
tasks that a normal RV would do, but we kind
of simulate it at a competition and compete against other teams. Worldwide.

Speaker 2 (01:52:31):
So is it based on accuracy of analysis? Is based
on time to complete tasks? How does that scorecard look?

Speaker 18 (01:52:38):
Yeah, so you got fifteen minutes when you're in the pool,
you've got to complete as many tasks as possible. The
more tasks you complete, the more points you get. And
there are some tasks where the better you know, the
more accurate you are, or you do it a certain way,
maybe you incorporate like an autonomous component, you might get
more points. And along with that in the pool, there's
also other components of the competition such as presentation, a

(01:53:01):
technical document, safety, marketing display that all add up to
a total score.

Speaker 2 (01:53:05):
So yeah, it's not lost on me that I mean,
for instance, you guys congratulations, But when you have five
teams from the Problems competing on the international stage, that
really speaks volumes.

Speaker 18 (01:53:16):
Yeah, it really does. It's quite amazing. So there are
different classes in the competition. We're in the University Explorer
class and so there's one team there that's us. There's
we had three teams actually in the High School World Championship,
which was Holyhearted, Mary Clarenville and Labrador Straits who all
competed and did great also and we had one other

(01:53:37):
team from Cornerbrook Center for Research and Innovation that competed
in the class, kind of in between high school and university.
So it's quite amazing.

Speaker 3 (01:53:47):
It's awesome.

Speaker 18 (01:53:47):
It's a great experience going up there with everybody cheering,
everybody on, supporting each other. It's it's quite awesome. It's
quite awesome.

Speaker 2 (01:53:53):
Where are you in your school progress?

Speaker 18 (01:53:57):
Me, I'm going to my last year of Mechanical Engineer.
It's been quite the ride. I've been on the team now,
actually Eastern Edge for four years, which is quite quite
something to think about. But yeah, I'm going to my
last year now.

Speaker 2 (01:54:08):
Congratulations. Let's just dig into what the future hold is,
not necessarily for you on a professional front or what
have you. But some of the reason that I think
we're having some of these successes, both at the high
school level and for Western Wave Robotics and for Eastern Edge,
it's some of the facilities we have and some of
the instructors and professors we have. Like I know, the
twenty twenty six World Championships are coming to this province
for the first time, and we hear from the teams

(01:54:31):
elsewhere that they cannot wait to get here. Why because
of our facilities, whether it be the flume tank or
the simulators or things that we have at the Marine Institute,
which is a real gem that doesn't get enough attention.

Speaker 18 (01:54:43):
I completely agree. It's quite I think the Marine Institute,
and even like I mentioned the Cornerbrook Sander for Research
Innovation Western Wave, there are some really undervalue facilities here
in the province. Like like you mentioned the flume tank
Vere Institute, it is one of the most amazing facilities
in the world. There's even at the Ice Tank over

(01:55:04):
at CNRS Canadian Research CNRA A I'm gonna say that wrong, sorry,
but there's some really amazing facilities. Money even has wave
tanks and stuff and people I don't know. There's again
even at marie Is too. Again like said, big ship
simulators and other other different facilities like that, which you
can't really find that you know, one place. You know,

(01:55:25):
it's all in one place. It's quite an amazing spot,
especially if you love marine technology. They're quite great spots.
And again that new place, the corner Brook Research Center
for Research Innovation all brand new and everything too. So
I think it's undervalue the province and I'm really happy
that people are gonna come. We're gonna have like you know,
there's probably eighty eighty teams there the World Championship in Alpina,

(01:55:48):
and we might see similar numbers and say John, So
everyone will get to kind of experience that and appreciate
what we have over here, which is really cool.

Speaker 2 (01:55:55):
Yeah, the World Topics I have been here before I
think twenty seven and then they're coming back next year.
So that's great stuff. And I think the wavetank you're
referring to is is that the one at NRC the
National Research Council.

Speaker 18 (01:56:07):
Yeah, n r C T I think I said that wrong. Yeah,
NRC is, and they have an ice tank too, which
is pretty impressive.

Speaker 2 (01:56:13):
Also, right on on an I personal note, what's next
for you Mark?

Speaker 18 (01:56:17):
What's next for me? Well, I'm of course going to
my last year of mechanical engineering. I have all that
and the go, but I thinking just thinking about the
team and stuff too. I you know, I guess I'm
in more of a leadership role on the team I
really want to contribute to. Hopefully the plan I guess
is to bring home World Championship next year at home
for Eastern Edge. So my I guess my part be

(01:56:40):
trying to lead us next year in whatever way I
can to that championship. Well also, you know, finishing my degree,
maybe finding a job, so that's kind of next for me.
But yeah, just just exciting times, you know, getting towards
the end of I guess my engineering journey, you know,
in studying, studying at least.

Speaker 2 (01:57:02):
Mark, I really appreciate making time for the show once more, Herti,
congratulations to you and the team. Thanks for doing this.

Speaker 18 (01:57:08):
Yeah, thanks so much, really appreciate the time. Patty, thank
you for listening to us. If anybody's ever interested, we
do open meetings throughout the year and stuff too, so
come on by check out Eastern Edge. It's my only
recommendation we have any interest at all.

Speaker 2 (01:57:20):
So yeah, sound was good to stay in touch. Mark,
good luck, all right, thank you. Let you welcome. Bye bye.
It's Mark Johnson, mechanical team lead from Eastern Edge Robotics
on the podium at the World Championships Underwater Robotics. How
about that. Let's take our final break of the morning
and the week. Don't go away, welcome back to the show.
Let's go to line number one. Jeff, you're on the air.
How you doing okay? How about you not too bad.

Speaker 6 (01:57:43):
I'm just calling about the lady to phone to boat
these needles to your fun down on Bishop Field and
the gathering place themselves. Yeah, it was saying that, like
the addache, they have too much oddle time in today. Yeah,
I totally agree. And she said they were group of
people the council are going to be getting together and

(01:58:04):
trying to come up with some solutions.

Speaker 2 (01:58:07):
Yeah, that's pretty much what she had say. And your
thoughts on that.

Speaker 6 (01:58:15):
Why not have an addict deer at that meeting, a
couple addicts at that meeting to ask them? But you
how would somebody know that's not an attict but it's
going to help. Why can't they send somebody down to
the OPI clinic just to ask some questions down there?
Go to an NA meeting, ask some attic steer what
would help some people that don't know the situation only

(01:58:36):
what they see. But they they're not the actual addict.
They can't help as far as armcerned, only what they're
reading from a book. Why didn'natic go through right, Jeff?

Speaker 2 (01:58:47):
In fairness, I think Brenda was clear and saying you no,
as part of this committee needs to be people with
lived experience. So I guess that means folks who are
either current addicts or recovering addicts, or whatever the case
we'd be. So she did indeed include that those people,
that group of people.

Speaker 6 (01:59:00):
I've never caught that part of it. If that's the
parrot of it, that that's fantastic. But you know, if
you're not going to as the correct people, why will
help them is not going to work?

Speaker 2 (01:59:11):
You know, yeah, because we need to know what works.
And that's not just statistical analysis, it's not just reading data.
It actually has to come from people who have sought
the help, got the help, and got better as a result,
or at least or in recovery.

Speaker 6 (01:59:25):
Bingo, I agree with you totally. But that's pretty much
that's all I had to say, Patty. You know, if
and it is a problem, is getting worse and worse
every day, Like I'm recovering adding myself. I get a
couple of years clean, but it is a battle every day.
It's just like cancer, any other disease. Like I didn't
ask for this. I was born. I was born in

(01:59:47):
addicts and a lot of people don't understand that. People
just think is a choice. Absolutely, it's not a choice.

Speaker 2 (01:59:53):
There's a bunch of reasons how people find themselves addicted
to one thing or another. So what helped you, Jeff?

Speaker 6 (02:00:00):
I wanted, I was ready. I was ready to change
my life. I had enough of loss and hurt and pain.

Speaker 2 (02:00:10):
And so what worked for you insofar as kicking the habit,
as I say, to get clean, to get sober.

Speaker 6 (02:00:17):
Well, actually I'm I went to a clinic actually and helped.
There's doctors out there that will help you, you know
what I mean, and counselors and reaching out to other people.
And but if you don't want to you're not just
like smoking, if you if you don't want to quit smoking,
you're not going to. If you don't want to do something,
you're not going to the biggest thing you got to

(02:00:38):
want to do it. And if you don't want to
do it, you're not going to do it. That's the
bottom line that makes.

Speaker 2 (02:00:42):
Sense to me. And so one more, this is a
personal question. Feel for you not to answer it. So
you go into the clinic, you enter into recovery. Did
you rebound back to your old habits more than once
before you got clean?

Speaker 8 (02:00:55):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (02:00:56):
Several times, yeah, several several times. But I was never
ready you know what I mean. I did it for
the wrong reasons before, like I did it to please
other people. But when when I was ready to please
myself and know that I had no other choice and
I wanted to, I really wanted to know what a
sober like life was, like, I did it. You know

(02:01:16):
what I mean. I got two and a half years
clean and it was the best two and a half
years of my life.

Speaker 2 (02:01:22):
So this will be it'll sound like a silly question,
but I don't think it is. You know, other than
being free of the addiction, how has it changed your life.

Speaker 6 (02:01:30):
I'm not free of the addiction. I got the addiction
every day. Okay, don't understand that I do still have cravings.
You will never be free of it because addiction is
one of the worst diseases out there, you know what
I mean, Because like people see somebody with that have cancer,
that poor souls got cancer, and you don't have that

(02:01:53):
much time left. But if somebody see somebody on the
side of the road that's an addict, or you're an
alcoholic or whatever, which is an addiction, they say, oh,
that son of Agaune is your own faults. He don't
have to bend his elbow. He don't have to do this,
or he don't have to go and get the drugs,
but yes he do. He feel that he really does

(02:02:13):
have to do it. And they got one track line.
That's it. They're going to go for their alcohol or
they're going to go for their drug choice, and they're
going to do what they got to do to get us.

Speaker 2 (02:02:23):
Yeah, it's physiological. Uh and once it latches on, it's
really difficult obviously to deal with it. Jeff, appreciate you
making time. I hope you're doing okay, buddy.

Speaker 6 (02:02:34):
Thank you very much. I have a great weeknd you
two there.

Speaker 2 (02:02:36):
Bye bye bye.

Speaker 3 (02:02:37):
Here we go.

Speaker 2 (02:02:37):
It's a good story there. Let's go to light there
before second one to Miles Russell running in ward one
here in the city of Saint John's in the falls
when it's full elections in the morning.

Speaker 11 (02:02:44):
Miles, you're on the air morning, Patty Man, I don't
know if you buy sat a lightning I shot strike
very interesting every time it happens, but that's not what
I'm calling.

Speaker 2 (02:02:53):
Well I didn't, but I'm sitting here in the studio
and it went from relatively clear Scotts to pitch black.
Then I can hear the thunder and then I can
hear the hail patterned down on the roof of this building.
It was crazy, and now all of a sudden, it
looks like it's relatively clear again.

Speaker 11 (02:03:07):
Yeah, that's that's the supercells. That's you know, rare for
us to have, but are going to have more frequently. So, Patty,
what I'm calling about day, I just wanted to talk about,
very very briefly on at the time left in the
day or in the morning, talking about affordability, general affordability
and how the city can impact that. So I just
had a quick question for you. Do you know the
percentage of income that like, what's the biggest expense people

(02:03:30):
have in general? Shelter exactly, and you know the next
one after that. Food, It's it's between transportation and food,
depending on what source you look at, but generally those
are the three big pies. So that generally occupies about
over a half, sometimes up to two thirds of someone's income.

(02:03:50):
And you know what we see now in the city
is the largest pie, which is housing is the thing
that's exploding in cost as an expense for people relative
to our incomes. So these are things that you know,
when we look at municipal politics versus provincial and federal.
A lot of people don't realize how much of a
role municipal politics plays in our cost of living. And

(02:04:12):
we're simply in the fact that Saint John's isn't building.
We're not building, there's no cranes, we have no major
construction projects. We're only doing a little bit of suburban
development relative to the number of people moving to Saint John's.
And that's kind of something I think is critical for
people to really ponder.

Speaker 2 (02:04:29):
So let's get into it. Inside the world of shelter,
the municipalities, generally speaking, would a veil of other supports
from different levels of government to hit affordability targets for
guiding shelter or am I missing something?

Speaker 11 (02:04:42):
Yes and no, like there are targets, but if the
targets don't have a concrete goal with the city, if
the city doesn't say explicitly we need to build four
thousand homes, we need to build x number of you know,
non market housing, X number of high density. If we
don't have these goals and the plan, the city plan
and the municipal plan doesn't reflect that, it simply won't happen.

(02:05:03):
The number of projects I've been working on in the
last few years that have been canceled even before it
goes to council is staggering. We're talking hundreds of units
do not get built because of a regulation that prevents
them from getting funding. They lose CMAC funding, maybe they
lose a good rate with a bank, and these things
like really impact our housing. And you know, we're looking
at lots keep getting bigger. And you know, if you

(02:05:24):
were to look at something like in any other market,
if something were to happen to increase your like if
a store all of a sudden had ten times the customers,
they would go, oh man, we need more staff, we
need a bigger building. And the city has this they
were like, oh my, we need so many more houses.
But nothing's really accelerated. Again, like we're basically the only
city in Canada, the major one that doesn't have any

(02:05:45):
major construction projects. And it's really stark when you like
go to Halifax and go, wow, there's like seventy cranes
all over Halifax, Dartmouth crossing building things. And that's our
pure city and we're doing potentially nothing. We're going to
aren't seeing a couple of buildings now, but on top
of that, just filling in housing in general. And you
know that's only one part of that. Part of the

(02:06:06):
next part being transportation the city Saint John's is you
know they declared the climate emergency. Part of that, in
the general terms of municipal planning is working on public
transit and active transit. Metrobus hasn't really expanded in twenty
years in the number of actual rollings, like the number
of buses. They there's a few little changes we're slowly
rolling out of a cycling plan across the city. But

(02:06:28):
these are things that those two items can be half
of a family's income, just those two items, and the
city isn't really, I don't think doing enough effort to
help reduce that burden on people's affordability, like the core
the bills people have housing and transportation, And to me,
that's that's I think a huge missing point that a
lot of people don't realize how big of a role

(02:06:50):
municipal planning and municipal governance has on your cost of
living in affordability.

Speaker 2 (02:06:55):
Yeah, I'll just add this is not necessarily what we're
talking about, but like even when we talk about thirty
percent of your income to be spent on housing, whether
that be rent or your mortgage payment or what have you.
If you're a mortgage holder, that doesn't even reflect the
actual true cost of owning a home. So we use
that thirty percent. That's a purchase number. That's not a
day to day operational number either. So anyway, and I

(02:07:15):
know the municipalities don't have anything to do with how
much it costs for me to maintain my property, but
we don't. We never factor that into actual costs, and
there is a cost. Ask anyone who owns their own home. Miles.
We right up against the end of the program. I
appreciate your time as usual, Thanks so much. Chat next
week sounds good. You too small as a us running
a world one all right, good show today, good shows

(02:07:37):
all week big thanks to everyone's supporting the program, and
we will indeed pick up this conversation again on Monday
morning right here on VOCM and big landfm's Open Line
on behalf of the producer David Williams. I'm your host,
Patty Daily. Have yourself a safe, fun happy weekend talk Monday.
Come back

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