The Creemore
ECHO
Friday, January 13, 2023 Vol. 23 No. 02
www.creemore.com
INSIDE
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News and views in and around Creemore
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Staff speak out about guest home living conditions by Trina Berlo Facing food shortages, staff at Huronia Guest Home in Stayner went public last week with their concerns about the living and working conditions. In desperation, staff began posting to social media, saying 13 loaves of bread and four packages of bologna was all they had to feed the unlicensed, privately-owned assisted living facility’s 27 residents for the week. Members of the community began sharing the Facebook posts in an effort to raise awareness, with at least one person referring to it as “Stayner’s dirty little secret.” The home's cook, Candice Moncreiff, posted to Facebook, “I work at Huronia Guest Home. I have now, on and off for the last four years. I keep coming back because of the residents, they hold a special place in all of our hearts. But now the owners do not want to buy food nor do they want to pay us. The staff we have not been paid in over a month. And the only food they have bought is bread and bologna. They, and we, deserve better.” Staff said they have not been paid since mid-December. Moncreiff told The Echo she was expecting backlash but the working conditions have deteriorated further
Staff photo: Trina Berlo
After public outcry from staff facing food shortages, the owner of Huronia Guest Home says the facility will close and they are helping with the relocation of residents. since the staff went public with their concerns and she doesn’t know what to do. She said she is worried about being able to pay her own rent, and doesn’t want to walk away from her job out of concerns for the residents, and without receiving compensation. Mayor Doug Measures addressed the concerns during Monday’s council meeting, saying the municipality has limited authority. “I can confirm our fire services have
been very much engaged all through 2021 and 2022 with the facility,” he said, adding there have been inspections, noncompliance orders, and repairs ordered. Measures said the facility passed its 2022 fire code inspections but property standards violations are still outstanding. He said the province of Ontario is aware and the County of Simcoe is also engaged. Measures said the situation illustrates “a real hole in the legislation.”
“There are some really obvious areas of administrative and legislative responsibility that's missing between provincial legislation and municipal legislation and frankly, human dignity issues, so it’s a really frustrating thing,” he said. Measures commends the community response to support the residents, including the Stayner Lions Club for delivering food and the Busby Centre for providing staff. “There has been significant media coverage and I know that our staff is working diligently to deal with this crisis.” The social media campaign resulted in donations from the community, and exposed a bed bug infestation that goes back as far as 2017, or longer. Huronia Guest Home is for sale and has since announced it will close its doors, leaving residents with few options for housing, and unable to take their belongings with them due to the infestation. Representing the facility’s owner, lawyer Nadine Schweishelm said, ”I confirm that the facility will be shut down and that ownership is working with a number of different agencies to help with relocation.”
Police warn of potentially fatal strain of opioids in the region Police are alerting the public to a highly potent and potentially fatal strain of illicit opioids that may be circulating in the Simcoe/Muskoka after four people lost their lives from a suspected opioid overdose. On Jan. 3, Southern Georgian Bay OPP officers responded to a report of two females in their early 20s located deceased as a result of a suspected opioid overdose at a residence in Tay. Three days later, on Jan. 6, Bracebridge OPP officers responded to a report of a male in his mid-40s and a female in her mid-30s who also died as a result of a suspected opioid overdose inside
of a motel unit in Gravenhurst. Fentanyl is an extremely potent synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than morphine and up to 40-50 times more potent than heroin. Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than fentanyl. The prevalence of illicit opioids distributed through drug trafficking networks continues to increase. Trafficking in opioids is a very serious offence. Drug dealers are knowingly distributing products that cause harm and could kill. Fentanyl can be lethal in very small quantities. If someone’s drug of choice
is mixed with or contains fentanyl, it can potentially kill them. Opioid users have a higher risk of harm due to fentanyl potency, especially when the fentanyl is illicit and not sourced from a pharmaceutical company. It is impossible for a user to determine the quantity of fentanyl they may be using because you can’t see, smell or taste it. Symptoms of fentanyl/opioid exposure can include: Difficulty walking, talking or staying awake; blue lips or nails; very small pupils; cold and clammy skin; dizziness and confusion; extreme drowsiness; choking, gurgling or snoring sounds; the inability to wake
up, even when shaken or shouted at; and slow or weakened breath. Members of the public who may be at risk of experiencing an overdose, or know someone who is, are encouraged to acquire a naloxone kit available free of charge at the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, Community Health Centres, and many pharmacies across the region. Anyone with any information about drug trafficking in the community is asked to report it to the police by calling 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or ontariocrimestoppers.ca.
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