The Alex Pierson Show

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Alex Pierson: Have we forgotten how to treat those with dementia? Jan 11, 2018

Show notes

Have we forgotten how to treat those with dementia? Or did we ever really know at all?
Unless you have had a loved one inflicted with the cruel disease it’s hard to understand its devastating impact. Not just on the inflicted person who dies a little more each day but those around them who have to cope with this new normal. My Step dad just died after 12 agonizing years of this thief disease. He was vibrant, funny and LOVED to work. He loved a good party and if you didn’t invite him he’d invite himself and make your event even better. He was a rarity. A caricature. Then one day he came home with a strange tale that lobsters were crawling on his wall and he had been involved in a bank robbery. That was the day we had to admit Ted was being taken by Dementia.
From there, the Ted I knew. Who I got into mischief with. Who made everyone laugh was no longer the Ted I knew. It changed everything. And everyone around him. He continued to work- but eventually couldn’t make sense of his business. He continued to drive but then left the roof down in the middle of January and had his licence taken away. He wanted to go out but eventually no one asked him. Sadly, my wedding was one such occasion. To Ted he was the same man but he was slipping away and we didn’t know how to act around him and worse, we were scared of “what might happen”. I still laughed and joked with him but I didn’t know how to discuss the elephant in the room. The reality of his fate. And eventually family conversations mainly happened without Ted.
After all, how could he be part of a conversation he may not understand? Especially when it came to putting him in a home. A last resort, but a reality of this cruel disease. While Ted was very much alive he was a danger to himself getting lost and doing things like leaving the stove on.
Like so many afflicted by this disease, Ted didn’t want to be in a home. He tried to sneak out every time we visited. See you later he’d say to the nurse and he’d shuffle out the door. We’d take him back in riddled with guilt. Was he angry? Did he understand why he was there?
Dementia makes people uncomfortable. Mainly those who don’t have it. I wanted so badly to see Ted as the person he was, when maybe I should seen him for who he was In that moment. Which was, still a funny old man, who still loved his vodka, his Benny Hill and his chocolate.
With more than half a million Canadians living with the disease, and an aging population that will drive that number up, Alzheimer’s society of Canada, has launched a new awareness campaign. They say stigma is one of the biggest barriers facing those robbed by this disease. Once someone is diagnosed with dementia, and come to terms with it, it’s those around them who change the most. That instead of living in the here and now we tend to treat the Ted’s of this world like they are at the end of their life. We make them more disabled then they are.
It took 12 yrs for Dementia to finally take Ted from us, but right up until the end he knew who I was. His brain was foggy but he was very much alive. He was, after all, living in his here and now. It was the rest of us trying to figure things out.

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CounterPoint - Monday January 8, 2018 Jan 09, 2018

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Vince Gasparro and Jenni Byrne go head-to-head and discuss the stories making news today.

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The seeds of division are sewn and the blame belongs to the Premier Jan 09, 2018

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The seeds of division are sewn and the blame belongs to you Premier!
The minimum wage spike has been in effect just a few days and already the bad news, that was predicted, is making headlines. Businesses big and small are notifying customers of price hikes, employees are being let go or told no more freebies.
Yes-, everyone deserves a fair wage. Period. Most can’t keep up with our ever increasing costs of living. Especially when it’s the government that’s increasingly the cause. At every level, we are nickel and dimed of every dollar we earn with “fee’s, revenue tools, tolls. AKA—Taxes. Oddly, the governments never seem to stop taking, their remedy is always the same. Make someone else pay. And in this case it’s business owners across Ontario.
It’s easy to vilify giants like McDonalds and Tim Hortons for cutting costs and staff. They are, after all part of the evil 1 %, except that’s just not true. Individual franchisees own these businesses. Everyday people who live in our community’s. Moms and dads who take a lot of risk, use their own money and work every bit as hard as those they hire. That’s who these Franchisees are. But hey, don’t let facts get in the way of an “evil corporate bullies the little guy’. Narrative.
And she didn’. On hearing that some Tim Hortons locations were cutting costs, Kathleen Wynne jumped right in with accusations of bullying.
Make no mistake, this is her strategy. Vilify big bad business and paint yourself as the hero to the little guy. Wynne said Tim’s franchisees should have come to her with concerns. Problem for Wynne’s narrative? They did. Tim Hortons owners attended the almost non-existent consultations in the summer. They warned the Liberals this very thing would happen with a rushed minimum wage hike. They were ignored.
Wynne’s narrative doesn’t fly. And it shouldn’t. It’s a lie. In 2014, Wynne herself, along with both opposition parties, signed legislation agreeing that any rise to minimum would ONLY happen at the rate of inflation. But then a funny thing happened. Wynne’s polling #s tanked with hydro bankrupting everyday people. She needed to change the narrative, so a 15 dollar min wage it was!!
What is clear about Wynne’s “fair wages” is that it is anything but. It’s unfair to businesses now buckling under the sudden cost surge, and the folks it pretends to help. Both sides are being used. Both are being pitted against one another. Both are just pawns of Wynne’s political ambitions.
If the Premier is serious about fairness. She would stop attacking those who pay her bills and stop wasting billions of our hard earned money on scandal and failed policy. That money alone could go to things like affordable housing, long term care, mental-health care for the homeless now freezing on sewer grates. Or a guaranteed income.
Here’s what is fair. Stop asking us for more. Stop meddling in the markets. And stop with the divisive politics. Not everyone who disagrees with your “stretch goal” policy is a bully. They are every-day people simply trying to survive the disasterous policies your government has created

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Time's Up: Hollywood's New Anti-Harassment Initiative Jan 04, 2018

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Elissa Freeman joins Alex to discuss the newest initiative which is supposed to help victims of Hollywood sexual assault

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Toronto Maple Leafs legend Johnny Bower honoured by fans, peers Jan 04, 2018

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Scott Radley – Hamilton Spectator sports columnist and host of The Scott Radley Show on 900CHML joins ON Point and talks about the legacy of the late Johnny Bower.

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Canadians show loyalty to financial institutions despite less competitive deals Jan 04, 2018

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Personal finance expert Rubina Ahmed-Haq joins Global News Radio to discuss why Canadians continue to pay high bank fees, and what keeps them loyal to the big five.

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CounterPoint - Wednesday January 3, 2017 Jan 04, 2018

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We ask Andy Stinton and Michael Diamond to keep their pants on as they discuss Joshua Boyle's arrest, Defence Minister Sajjan and more.

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Lee Humphrey spoke with Joshua Boyle in Afghanistan Jan 04, 2018

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Lee Humphrey is a security expert. He spent some time in Afghanistan during which he had the chance meeting with Joshua Boyle. At the meeting Humphrey tried to disuade Boyle from going hiking into the mountains. We know now that hike would end when Boyle and his wife would be taken hostage by the Taliban.

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Businesses cutting benefits, cancelling perks after wage hike to $14 per hour Jan 03, 2018

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Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru discusses the legalities of some employers who have told employees that they will cut benefits, cancelling paid breaks and changing other employment terms in order to cope with the rise of minimum wage. This comes after employees at a Cobourg Tim Hortons say they have been told to sign a document acknowledging they are losing incentives as a result of the Ontario's minimum wage hike. The Tim Hortons in question is owned by the children of the chain's founders.

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CounterPoint - Tuesday January 2, 2018 Jan 03, 2018

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First counterpoint disussion of 2018 - Vincent Gasparro and Jenni Byrne discuss Justin Trudeau's silence on Iran and former terrorist hostage Joshua Boyle being arrested on 15 criminal charges

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