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Alberta government to expand continuing care facilities, services with $3.2B investment – Global News

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The Alberta government announced a $3.2-billion investment to expand continuing care for seniors and vulnerable citizens, especially those in rural areas and Indigenous communities.

The province announced Thursday that the money will be earmarked for operating funds to support professional health-care and support services across the continuing care system. Of that, $1.7 billion will go to community care while $1.2 billion and $750 million will go to continuing care and home care, respectively.

Premier Jason Kenney also said the government is investing capital funding to modernize and increase continuing care capacity across the province, contributing $204 million over three years.

Read more:

Alberta budget 2022: What’s in it for Calgary?

Funding will also be provided to complete the Bridgeland-Riverside Continuing Care Centre in Calgary and the Gene Zwozdesky Centre in Edmonton.

“Alberta seniors built this province and we’re standing by them every step of the way … We’re moving forward for Albertans on our path to recovery,” Kenney said at a press conference on Thursday.


Click to play video: 'New long-term care standards'



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New long-term care standards


New long-term care standards – Jan 28, 2022

Kenney also said the province will continue to protect seniors from COVID-19, pointing to preventative measures such as mask-wearing in continuing care facilities. However, Kenney previously confirmed the government has asked AHS for options to replace its vaccination mandate, saying the move will help solve shortages at rural continuing care facilities in the province.

Kenney previously estimated that 30 per cent of continuing care and nursing home staff in rural areas have not been vaccinated and are paying for rapid antigen tests out of pocket twice a week.

Read more:

Kenney wants to end vaccine mandate for health-care workers

“If you are in a rural continuing care centre where you don’t have enough workers to give the residents a bath, to feed them their meals, to give them proper care … That is an urgent situation we have to address,” Kenney said.

“The data is clear with the transmissibility of Omicron and the waning effectiveness of vaccines against infection and transmission. There is no measurable difference between the likelihood of a vaccinated or an unvaccinated health-care aide.”

When asked who gave him the advice to issue the directive and what advice was given, Kenney pointed to the province’s health data on COVID-19 transmissibility and infections.

“This is not confidential government data. It’s clearly data in the public domain… I think it’s just common sense.”


Click to play video: 'Alberta government wants to end COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health-care workers'



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Alberta government wants to end COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health-care workers


Alberta government wants to end COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health-care workers

Public Interest Alberta (PIA) criticized the government’s announcement, saying the $204 million being invested into modernizing continuing care facilities is furthering the UCP government’s privatization agenda.

It cited a Canadian Medical Association Journal article that found COVID-19 outcomes were worse in for-profit homes during the first year of the pandemic due to inferior care.

“The UCP have shown time after time that even during a pandemic they are willing to put critical services at risk. Now, with continuing care, Jason Kenney and the UCP are throwing good money after bad to further privatize the system, despite evidence that for-profit facilities degrade quality and affordability,” PIA executive director Bradley Lafortune said in a press release on Thursday.

Read more:

Alberta adding up to 50 ICU beds to health system this year

NDP critic for seniors and housing Lori Sigurdson echoed similar statements.

“The premier praised privately operated continuing care facilities but did not acknowledge how outcomes of private facilities performed worse than public facilities throughout the pandemic,” Sigurdson said.

“Albertans can’t trust the UCP with their health care.”

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

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NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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