Preville on Politics
Scarlem Scarlem nyah nyah nyah
Posted on January 17, 2008 by Philip Preville
I missed Tuesday’s meeting of the Scarborough Community Council, which means I also missed the tongue lashing they gave Toronto Life over this. Thankfully, the Star was there to cover it for me, though they neglected to mention that the article’s author, Don Gillmor, was in attendance to take his licks. Anyway, Norm Kelly can give me a shin-kicking ‘til my legs turn blue, for all the good it’ll do for his home town. The media is hardly his borough’s biggest problem.
Consider an issue I alluded to in a previous post: it turns out that Scarborough’s hospitals have some of the most horrendous death rates in the GTA. The easiest conclusion to draw from the numbers is that Scarborough’s hospitals are doing a poor job of sending their patients home alive. The fact that much of Scarborough’s population faces a lot of public-health challenges (obesity and diabetes, for example) doesn’t excuse the figures. In fact, it makes them worse, because it suggests that a disadvantaged population is essentially being left for dead, or is beyond saving—which is pretty galling.
And just so I’m not accused of singling out Scarborough, let me add that the hospital that fared worst in the death-rate survey was Humber River Regional, the hospital at Jane and Finch. Add it all together and here’s what you get: the city’s two most disadvantaged, health-challenged neighbourhoods are served by what appear to be the city’s two worst hospitals. It’s a different form of two-tier health care: publicly funded, crappy institutions for the poor. (Paging Dr. Florida and all other readers who think I’m too negative: please show me the silver lining here.) You’d think local politicians would want to get to the bottom of the whole matter, yet I have not heard a single city councillor publicly raise this issue with the provincial government. I guess they’re too busy working the media to get some better coverage.
The Scarborough curse: Source [Toronto Life]
Scarborough tackles its image: Source [Toronto Star]
How Toronto hospitals compare: Source [Toronto Star]
Philip Preville
Veteran freelance writer Philip Preville lived much of his life in Montreal and Edmonton before he was lured, like so many Torontonians before him, by the promise of more work and a better living. A National Magazine Award winner and former Canadian Journalism Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Massey College, Preville writes Toronto Life’s politics column. He lives with his wife and one-year-old son in Riverdale, just close enough to the Don Valley Parkway that he can hear it when he steps outside his house—but just far enough away that it doesn’t keep him awake at night. On his office wall hangs a 1938–39 press pass belonging to his grandfather, Elias Gannon, who wrote for the Montreal Star.
Latest blog entries:
- I have a new home
- Montreal to adopt vacuum waste collection
- Why U.S.-based magazines hit newsstands so late
- I salivate at the prospect of a Miller-Smitherman-Ford cage match
Topics:
Postings by date:
- May, 2008
- April, 2008
- March, 2008
- February, 2008
- January, 2008
- December, 2007
- November, 2007
- October, 2007
- September, 2007
- August, 2007
- July, 2007
- June, 2007
- May, 2007
- April, 2007
- March, 2007
Comments
Neither the author nor Toronto Life necessarily agree with the comments posted below. Editors will not correct spelling or grammar. Toronto Life reserves the right to edit or delete comments entirely. Read our full policy
Rex January 17, 2008 at 11:54 a.m.
Are you trying to draw Florida into some sort of profile-raising debate by mentioning him in EVERY post? Not trying to be a troll, that is seriously the first thing that came to mind when I read this! I for one would welcome some Florida-free posts.
Josh January 17, 2008 at 12:28 p.m.
Nah, Rex, I'm all for baiting Florida.
Discussion is good. Disagreement is good. A plucky exchange between these two guys would be great, but Florida's recent response to Preville was really upbeat - bordering on cheesy:
http://creativeclass.typepad.com/thecrea...
From Scarborough January 17, 2008 at 4:01 p.m.
So, there's no chance Gillmor got it wrong in his parachute in-and-out? The Scarborough most of us know, though completely different from his take, is not strong enough to make the case that Toronto Life's cover story was a wee bit sensational, designed for the enjoyment of those folks who read the pvt school ads?
Josh January 17, 2008 at 4:56 p.m.
Wow, that's misguided. From Scarborough, you appear to be making the same mistake as Gillmor: offering flip opinions on something without considering potential merits.
Oh, and a cover story is a story that appears on the cover. That was not the case here.