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* Rates subject to change without notice PAGE a THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, MARCH 28,2001 vows to be there for clients Executive reacts to comments by Red Cross Durham Access to Care (DATC) wants to assure its clients, contrary to allegations allegations by the union representing representing displaced Red Cross workers, the standard of home care the centre provides provides will remain of the highest highest quality. "The five health care providers (we have contracted contracted with) met and even exceeded exceeded our requirements," said DATC chief executive Janet Harris. 'The quality of care is what determines the successful bidder." Ms. Harris was responding responding to charges by officials of the Service Employees International International Union (SEIU) - Local 204, which represents the 135 Red Cross personal support workers, that the reason reason the contract with Red Cross was not renewed was to ensure wages and the level of care remain substandard. All of which is nonsense, said Ms. Harris. 'The cost of die new awards has increased considerably to ensure competitive competitive wages for personal support workers and homemaking homemaking staff," she noted. Also, all displaced workers workers will have re-employment opportunities with competi- Bill Botshka, president of the board of Durham Access Access to Care, makes a point during a board meeting Thursday. Union representatives also attended. live wages, she added. "We received a number of proposals which were rigorously rigorously evaluated against our ' standards of care and service delivery," said Maty Bazeley, chairman of DATC's client services committee and a board member. "As a result of die review, two new companies companies received an award in addition addition to three long-standing companies." The five companies that will be providing home care for DATC's 5,000 clients - from June 1,2001 through to May 31,2004 - are Comcare Health Services, Kawartha Quality Care, ParaMed Health Services, Saint Elizabeth Elizabeth Health Care and VHA Health Care. Only Saint Elizabeth Elizabeth and VHA are new, and contrary to union claims, both are non-profit companies. companies. VHA workers are also represented by SEIU. Thursday, representatives of the 135 Red Cross workers were turned away from DATC's board meeting when they attempted to make a presentation. presentation. "This refusal to discuss the issue is what we've been faced with all along," said Don Burshaw, union representative representative for Durham Region. "Our members were not even informed they would be losing losing their jobs. They had to find out from the newspaper. How much more despicable can Durham Access to Care be?" Ms. Harris insisted the union's fight is not with DATC, but rather with the Red Cross. "We're being scapegoated," she said, adding the union came to last Thursday's board meeting with the intention of disrupting disrupting the proceedings. "We invited invited them to stay ... It was their choice to walk out." Besides, Besides, she said, it was a "done deal. There was really no reason reason to hear them. What they're doing is trying to muddy the waters. "For our clients - elderly people needing help in their homes - what they're saying is alarming and unjustified," Ms. Harris said. "Our goal is to ensure uninterrupted service service to our clients as the new companies get up and running." running." BY SUSAN O'NEILL Stu ff Writer Tire role of the Greater Toronto Services Services Board (GTSB) should Ire as a planning authority to determine a longterm longterm vision for the Greater Toronto Area while moving forward with a co-ordinated co-ordinated transit and transportation plan. Regional Regional councillors have voted. "We have to move forward," said Uxbridge Mayor Gcrri Lynn O'Connor, who suggested the Region should support support the creation of a planning authority as the preferred alternative for the future of the board. Tire GTSB, formed by the Province in 1998 to oversee service delivery in the GTA, is currently seeking input from municipalities on the final report reviewing reviewing its structure and mandate. Tire 82-pagc report, entitled Getting Started, was prepared by Deloittc Consulting Consulting to meet a requirement of the GTSB Act that required the board to conduct a review of its size, composition and mandate before the end of 2000. The report, which will be submitted to the Province for consideration, outlines outlines four possible models for the future structure of the GTSB including the creation creation of a planning authority, a planning and services board, a GTA council and a GTA ministry of the provincial government. government. And, although Durham Region has never supported the need for the GTSB, councillors decided they would be better off to provide some input on the future role of die board radier than continuing to call for its dissolution. "If you just say, 'No, go away,' it won't work," said Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt, noting, "there are significant changes needed to make this thing work...it's not going to go away." The initial motion put forward by staff Wednesday recommended Durham not support any of the four options for the future of the board as outlined in the Getting Started report. Rather, it suggested-the suggested-the Province should resume "a policy leadership role" for the GTA and dial the GTSB should be renamed the Greater Toronto Area Coordinating Committee. However, councillors argued that recommendation recommendation didn't address the reality of the board's future. 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