Rising costs, and dwindling funds are at the root of two motions put forward by Coun. Mike Behan, during Monday’s council meeting.
The first addresses the growing strain on public libraries, and aims to throw support behind a request for a funding increase.
“The combined impact of the pandemic, the pressure of inflation on public library and municipal budgets, and growing social and economic challenges in communities across the province have brought public libraries to a critical point,” said the motion. It went on to say that public libraries in Ontario have not received an increase in provincial funding (the Provincial Libraries Operating Grant, or PLOG) in more than 25 years; during that time, the value of the province’s investment in public libraries had decreased by more than 60 per cent.
Roughly 90 per cent of library funding is from municipalities, noted the motion.
The motion calls for the council and Town of Fort Frances to support a request by the Ontario Library Association (OLA) and the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries (FOPL) for an increase to the PLOG of an additional $25 million annually, on top of the existing $21 million grant, to restore the PLOG to a present-day value, addressing the impact of inflation, rising costs of living, and other pressures accumulated over more than 25 years;
Doctor recruitment
Behan’s second motion calls for the Town to call on the Ministry of Health to stabilize, increase and investigate funding for doctor recruitment, retention and renumeration across northern Ontario.
According to the motion, “many communities are falling short of providing the necessary incentives to recruit and retain physicians;” and current and newly-recruited family physicians are finding the workload excessive and are challenged to find a sustainable work/life balance. In addition, “existing incentive programs are slowly being reduced, with some consideration being given to eliminate these funding programs totally,” said the motion.
To help offset these hardships experienced by northern Ontario municipalities, Behan’s Motion calls on the Ministry of Health to:
- Ensure stable and predictable funding is maintained and enhanced under such programs as Income Stabilization, the Northern Rural Recruitment and Retention Initiative, the Northern Specialist Locum Program, the Emergency Department Locum Program, and the Summer Locum Funding Program; and the reimbursements be equivalent to the physician costs for hotel, travel, car rental, and stipend reflective of a missed day of work;
- Funding conditions of physicians be reviewed to ensure these conditions are more representative of an underserviced health care system in a small community setting in Northwestern Ontario;
- Designate rural family physicians as specialists and have their remuneration be reflective of that as an added incentive for physicians to relocate to rural areas; and
- Expand essential locum stipends and travel honorariums to recognize the true costs and time commitments for travel to and from communities.
