Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 No 21 | Page 11

November 1 - 15, 2018 BUSINESS NEWS PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY 11 Opioid Overdose Intervention Project update Surrey, BC – In an ongoing effort to stem the opioid overdose public health crisis, the City of Surrey has been a principal partner in the multi-faceted Opioid Project. The preliminary data released by Statistics Canada show that Surrey has proportionally the same characteristics for opioid overdoes as the rest of the province. The results generated by this work are fundamental to identifying the risk factors to help inform and implement precision policy and programs to combat this crisis. “As the first city to deploy real time overdose cluster reporting and one of the first fire departments in the province to be equippedwith lifesaving Naloxone, the City of Surrey has been proactive in battling the opioid crisis,” said Mayor Doug McCallum. “The preliminary information that has been released today on the Opioid Project is another example of the leading role Surrey is taking to develop meaningful strategies that will ultimately save more lives.” “The preliminary data is integral to the City of Surrey’s ongoing battle of this public health crisis,” said Chief Len Garis, Surrey Fire Service. “We will continue to be an active participant in this project as we continue to work together to gather more data in an effort to get an upper hand on the opioid overdose epidemic.” Launched in the autumn of 2017, the project brings together all levels of government with the goal of sharing data that will result in a better understanding of the factors that lead to opioid use and how better to develop effective interventions. The Opioid Project is a partnership between the City of Surrey, Statistics Canada, Surrey Fire Services, the Surrey RCMP, Fraser Health Authority,British Columbia Coroners Service, British Columbia Stats, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, British Columbia Ministry of Health and Public Safety Canada .The data generated by the project identifies the primary risk factors and create a better understanding of the characteristics of those individuals most at risk of opioid use or overdose – including those using and dying in their residence. PNT Foreign Exchange $1.00 Cdn = P 40.04 Php $1.00 US = P 53.03 Migrant Care Workers ... work in the home is the backbone of Canada’s labour market and social support systems. Without care work, the economy doesn’t work. Canada must create a national care strategy to ensure quality care for children, the elderly and people with disabilities. This is about a healthy population and human rights for all. Decent work and permanent landed status on entry for the workers providing that care labour must be the foundation. CARE WORKER PROPOSAL (1) Federal Care Worker Program To replace the Caregiver “pilot project”, the government should create a new Federal Workers Program for Care Workers that provides landed status upon entry for Care Workers and our families. Care Workers should be able to seek employment in Canada through the national job bank. Employers seeking Care Workers can use the job bank to find Care Workers employees. This would take away the need for third-party recruiters / job agencies and the thousands of dollars they charge us to get a job. (2) Immediate reforms Care Workers - like us - who are already in Canada and those workers that will continue to arrive until the new Federal Care Worker Program is put in place also need changes: Care Workers should able to apply for Permanent Residency (PR) after 1 year of work ( or 1,950 hours): Currently we have to work 2 years while 1 year is the standard for most other permanent immigration programs in Canada; All Care Workers must get open work permits and labour mobility: Care Workers currently can only work for the employer listed on our permits, which makes it extremely difficult to leave bad bosses or, in the case of elder care, when employers pass €1.00 EUR = P 59.95 away; The new educational requirements should be removed: Care Workers are required under the current pilot program to have completed 1-year of Canadian post- secondary equivalent education to apply for PR - but we are not allowed to or able to study while working; The English language test prior to permanent residency should be removed: New English language requirements were introduced in the pilot program, but no free English classes exist; The new caps that allow only 2,750 PR applications each year in each caregiving stream should be removed: There are over 5,500 Care Workers coming to Canada in the childcare stream each year, the discretionary caps on PR applications means that at least half of us will not be able to apply even after completing all the requirements; The permanent residency backlog should be resolved: Thousands of Care Workers have been waiting for up to 10 years to reunite with their families because no one’s looking at their application; Spouses and children should be allowed to join us with open work and study permits of their own: This is the norm for many other temporary immigration programs and it results in improved health and stronger families rather than years of forced separation; Remove the second medical that is required when applying for permanent residency. This change was sneaked in the pilot project and adds unnecessary financial barriers and delays; and Section 38(1)(c) of the IRPA (“Medical Inadmissibility” rules) should be repealed because it denies PR to an entire family if even one member of the family has a disability. D1.00 BHD= P 140.61 R1.00 SAR = P 14.13 ¥1.00 JPY= P 0.47 WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM