Canada’s oldest weekly newspaper
© 2026 The Picton Gazette
Since 1830
May 18 is Personal Support Worker Day, and if you’ve ever needed one, you know how much they matter. PSWs don’t just “help out.” They get people out of bed, help them bathe, dress, eat, and move safely. They notice small changes like confusion, pain, and decline, many times before anyone else does. They sit with people who are scared, frustrated, or alone. They bring routine, dignity, and sometimes the only human connection someone has that day. They do this work in hospitals, long-term care, and in people’s homes, allowing people to maintain a semblance of normalcy during stressful times.
This year, it’s hard to ignore that across Ontario, including within Quinte Health, some PSWs are facing layoffs. These are people that patients rely on, and who contribute significantly to our health care system.
The need for care is only growing. In our small community, over 1,500 people receive home care by PSW’s. Waitlists for most long-term care homes in Quinte each surpass 600.
In communities like ours, PSWs aren’t just workers, they’re neighbours, caregivers, friends — and the reason people can stay at home. That matters every day, not just May 18.
Brianna Warr-Hunter, Consecon
No freedom; no information.
That’s the message Doug Ford and his PC Government sent the people of Ontario this past week, as they forced through their changes to Freedom of Information laws.
Local MPP Tyler Allsopp tried to defend the changes when he showed up at the “Fight Ford” protest in Belleville, saying the laws needed to be updated because they were written in the 1980s, “before email was even invented.”
While that might be true, I still have some questions.
How come the laws couldn’t be updated for modern technology without exempting all of Doug Ford’s cabinet (the largest in Ontario’s history) and their staff, which includes Mr. Allsopp as a Parliamentary Assistant? My understanding is this only leaves 3 members of the entire 79 person PC caucus who aren’t protected by these changes.
How come this couldn’t be a separate piece of legislation, subject to its own readings, committees, and vote? Why did it have to be included in the budget? Why did it have to bypass committees? Why was the final reading held late at night, in a sitting that encroached on midnight?
The Ford government has sat fewer days at Queen’s Park, year after year, than any past government, and yet these changes required a late night extra session from a government that doesn’t like to show up for regular sessions?
And, most importantly, what are they trying to hide by forcing these changes? Doug Ford has admitted they are designed to protect his cell phone records, after a court ordered him to turn them over. His recent debacle with the purchase and return of a private jet exposes his questionable judgment. What other poor decisions has he made, and why — and why did he just rob us of the freedom to find out?
A government that has been caught so often lying, misusing public funds, outright losing money, and in alleged corruption scandals like the Greenbelt and Skills Development Fund fiascos loses the right to say “just trust me,” but that is what these Freedom of Information law changes force on us.
No freedom; no information. Just trust them, even though they keep giving us reasons not to.
Don & Heather Ross, Milford
Steve Ferguson has decided to leave politics. He must be congratulated for giving 12 years of his life to serving on County council.
Twelve years allows counsellors to be more productive and effective at passing legislation and fully understand the complexities of policy making.
In politics, it’s amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.
I have never seen in print or heard Steve say “I” whether as a counsellor or as the Mayor.
Thank you, Steve for your long years of service. You deserve to enjoy some quiet times and County wine.
Paul Boyd, Rednersville
See it in the newspaper
