Beth Gordon

[W McLean @mclabradore]

Un/fortunately there were no social media or web sites as we know it on March 24, 1993, to look up and refer back to now, but there’s always Hansard. 1/14

[Vicki Ziegler @bookgaga]

Yes, we're that effing brilliant book club from TV (hee hee) - the latest report from our east end Toronto #SilentBookClub group: https://t.co/w9cbRZYPxM

[Josh Matlow @JoshMatlow]

If you find yourself at Yonge & Eglinton and are looking for a place to sit and enjoy the world around you, feel very welcome to ignore this sign on the table. In fact, it’s your right to….

[Glenn Sumi @glennsumi]

A sad day for world literature.

https://t.co/PaGnWmWXeA

[Beth Gordon @bethjgordon]

@RhiMacG Can’t argue with any of the other recommendations but The Love Hypothesis was fun.

[Glenn Sumi @glennsumi]

Ann Pornel in @TorontoStar on “Run the Burbs” cancellation and the sorry state of current Canadian tv. Didn’t realize that “Shelved” and “One More Time” were also axed. Sucks all round.

https://t.co/2nELfB3BNe

[Professor Olga Chyzh @olga_chyzh]

This is a story about falling victims to the most brazen bank fraud yet, proudly facilitated by #Rogers—Canada’s cellphone behemoth—and #CIBC—Canada’s major bank. @Rogers @CIBC @TorontoStar @globeandmail @rcmpgrcpolice

[Beth Gordon @bethjgordon]

@anne_theriault @therealbevin I used to give my kids fun socks to fill up the basket. Turns out they really liked them!

[Beth Gordon @bethjgordon]

@CraigBaird When I was a kid, the Heroine of Long Point was one of my favourite books.

[Beth Gordon @bethjgordon]

@valtha_nerf @SussexHenryVIII To bE fair, if I were a bored kid, I could do that with my fingers. Tried it out today!

[Beth Gordon @bethjgordon]

#Oscars Summary: boy movies > girl movies

[Beth Gordon @bethjgordon]

@CraigBaird Ooh! This one hurt! But I knew Constant Craving would win anyway, so I voted with my heart.

[Beth Gordon @bethjgordon]

@alienbrit353 Looks wonderful, thanks!

[Kathleen Wynne @Kathleen_Wynne]

That is categorically NOT what a Premier, any Premier, is elected to do. Intentionally tainting the judicial process is reprehensible but sadly not surprising for this man. #onpoli

[Beth Gordon @bethjgordon]

@brittlestar “Healthcare profiteering and general robber-baroning” will probably be their platform in the next election.

[Julia Malott @AlottaMalotta]

Please share this widely! I couldn't be more terrified of our country's healthcare crisis and @ONThealth can do better!

Ontario healthcare is broken and we've long known it. It's been like this my entire lifetime, and I'm not exactly young.

This is my daughter's IV line, which she's been connected to since 2:00am this morning. She's been awake for well over 24 hours, as have I, as we await care at @StMarysGenHosp in Kitchener, Ontario.

We arrived shortly after 10:00pm yesterday evening after my daughter complained of excruciating abdominal pain. As usual, care took hours to arrive. She was given a bed where she squirmed and sobbed until finally, shortly after 2:00am, the doctor paid her a visit and ordered pain meds to make things bearable.

It was evident by 4:00am that we were almost certainly looking at appendicitis, as the pain was centralizing in the lower right quadrant. We all suspected this, but we couldn't confirm until 8:00am because... apparently we don't have ultrasound technicians during the evening. No one has medical emergencies in the middle of the night, I suppose?

For those who haven't had the pleasure of an inflamed appendix, appendicitis often leads to a ruptured appendix after a period of increasing pain, and that rupture can be fatal. Fortunately for us that hasn't happened yet, but time matters. There's nothing this hospital can do for us as 'we need to confirm it's appendicitis'. We wait until 8:00am

By 5:00am we are told that my daughter needs to give up her emergency room bed. Someone else needs it. She is still in pain, but will now make due sitting in the waiting room, putting pressure on her abdomen in the process. There's no negotiation—there are no beds available.

We wait until 8:00am. We wait until 9:00am. Some guy walks in with a Tim Horton's cup during our tenure and gets the first ultrasound slot. I'm sure his condition was just as severe.

By 10:00am the doctor confirmed what had been evident for hours—we've got a case of appendicitis on our hands and we need to move forward with emergency surgery.

...Except... they can't do that in this particular hospital and @grhospitalkw doesn't have any beds available either. No one knows when they will have a bed for my daughter who is both sleep deprived and in critical medical condition.

I inquire. An hour? A bed by noon? Will we even get one today?

No one has an answer. No one wants to have the conversation. I can tell I am a burden to the overworked staff.

We return to the waiting room and my daughter keeps sitting. She's been awake now since yesterday morning. Her pain flares up every few hours and—after being brought almost to tears the edge is subdued with another dose of pain suppressants.

She's refused a bed because there are no beds available, and I can't take her home to her bed because she needs surgery—though there's none of that available either.

She hasn't eaten in more than 18 hours and she's been told that she's not allowed one bite because she might have surgery any moment... Or perhaps never... so we sit and wait—watching her IV machine go into upstream occlusion every 5 minutes. The nurses don't have time to do anything about it.

This is a simple problem to fix. Fund our healthcare system! @SylviaJonesMPP, @fordnation, our citizens deserve better.

Fix it!

[Craig Baird - Canadian History Ehx @CraigBaird]

On this day in 1862, Carrie Derick was born in Clarenceville, Canada East.

Let's learn more about this amazing and trailblazing Canadian woman!

Derick was educated at the Clarenceville Academy and began working as a teacher at the age of 15.
She later received formal teacher training at the McGill Normal School.

She went on to teach in Clarenceville and Montreal, and was the principal of Clarenceville Academy at the age of 19.

In 1890, she graduated with a degree in natural science from McGill University. She had the highest GPA, 94 per cent, that year and received the Logan Gold Medal.

With her education, she then became McGill’s first female botany demonstrator.
In 1901, Derick completed her PhD at the University of Bonn, having done all the research required, but she was denied her doctorate as the University of Bonn did not give women PhDs at the time.

Derick also studied at Harvard University for three summers, the Royal College of Science, London in 1898, and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts for seven summers.

She returned to McGill University and was made an assistant professor, earning one-third the salary of her male counterparts.

In 1909, she took over as the unofficial chair of the Botany Department at McGill after the illness and death of the previous chair. In 1912, McGill began to search for a new department chair and did not recruit Derick, despite her experience and support she received from students.

Instead of becoming chair, she was appointed as the professor of morphological botany at McGill, becoming the first woman in Canada to achieve a university professorship. She was not given a pay rise, nor a seat on the faculty. She was told her title was a courtesy title and she was not actually a professor.

Derick continued to work in her role and founded the McGill University genetics department. She also created Canada’s first Evolution and Genetics course, and published a number of papers on botany.

In 1929, due to poor health, she retired.

McGill was also an advocate for women’s rights throughout her life. She co-founded the National Council of Women of Canada, and was the first president of the Montreal Suffrage Association from 1913 to 1919.

She supported birth control in Canada, which was illegal during her life and even confronted the Quebec premier over the issue.

She also supported Annie Langstaff, the first female law graduate from McGill University after she was prevented from joining the Quebec bar.
Carrie died on Nov. 10, 1941.

A street is named for her in Montreal and in 2007, she was named a Person of Historic Significance.
In 2017, she was recognized with a Google Doodle on her birthday.

If you enjoy my Canadian history content, you can support my work with a donation at https://t.co/u12Dmz8vKv

📸McGill University

[Richard Southern @RichardCityNews]

Recap of my reporting:

- Ford government closing at least 11 ServiceOntario’s, most run as small businesses.

- Government hands sole-sourced deal to Staples.

- Government to give taxpayer $ to Staples for retrofit.

- Staples says it’s looking to “Monetize” the arrangement.