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8 minutes ago
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Why is Ontario seeing a spike in deadly drowning cases?
Why is Ontario seeing a spike in deadly drowning cases? Stephanie Bakalar with the Lifesaving Society of Ontario explains what could be behind a recent rise in deadly drownings.
CTV News
18 minutes ago
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N.S. given mixed review on overhaul of housing for people with disabilities
Vicky Levack, a spokeswoman for the Disability Rights Coalition who lives with cerebral palsy, poses outside her apartment building in Halifax on Thursday, July 31, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese An independent monitor says Nova Scotia is making gradual progress in some aspects of its five-year plan to move people with disabilities out of institutions and off wait-lists for community housing. However, Michael Prince also notes in his second annual report that the government is 'heading in the wrong direction' on other portions of its response to a legally binding human rights decision. In his conclusion to the 55-page report, Prince wrote the province is 'gaining traction,' and moving toward meeting the program's 2028 deadlines on 24 out of the 90 legally required steps, but added it is 'not yet advancing consistently and comprehensively toward the outcomes.' The province's five-year plan is the result of a 2021 Appeal Court decision that identified systemic discrimination against people with disabilities seeking housing and supports in the community. A human rights board of inquiry subsequently provided the list of reforms required to address the province's shortcomings. Prince, a professor of social policy at the University of Victoria, was appointed in 2023 to provide annual reports on the province's progress. Under the provincial plan, 400 people are expected to be moved into new housing and care programs in the communities of their choice by 2028, when all of the institutions would be closed. Last year, Prince's report found the province made only 'slight progress' — defined as 'minimal' and 'marginal in result' — on almost half of the 90 legally required steps to improve housing and support of people with disabilities. The latest report says the number of people living in institutions dropped by 189 — about three-quarters of the original plan's goal for this year. In addition, the number of people on a wait list to receive some form of service from the disability supports program has fallen by 293, exceeding the target for this year. In 2022, the list had about 1,800 people on it. However, Prince also notes that in some areas the figures are going in the opposite direction. One example is a program called 'homeshare' — where community members share their home and provide support to individuals with disabilities who choose to live with them. The monitor called this 'a case of inaction,' in that none of the planned 240 homeshare places planned for by now are yet in place. Prince said in his report this poses a risk to the successful transition of about 400 residents" in large facilities to community housing. In addition, the number of people with disabilities who are under 65 still living in nursing homes rose, and there was a sharp increase in people placed in emergency, temporary housing arrangements. 'The increase amounted to 52 more young people admitted to long-term care facilities or 12 per cent growth. It is hard to square these results with the province's assessment of this requirement as complete. This appears to be unnecessary institutionalization, imposing disadvantages on the individuals concerned,' wrote Prince. Prince also noted that only about a third of new staff — 26 of the 65 expected by Year 2 — slated to provide 'intensive' support to help people move were in place. In addition, only about half of the 50 staff slated to provide support in communities by Year 2 were in place. However, the monitor saw improvements in this area from the last year, and noted that by the spring of 2026, the province anticipates a 'targeted recruitment campaign,' over this summer will yield results. The province has pointed to labour shortages in the health care sector as being among the key reasons for the delays in hiring. The annual report emphasized the need for the province to heighten a focus on co-operation among various departments and programs to provide support for people moving from facilities into community. That co-operation will be key in setting up mental health support programs in the community, along with rapid response teams for issues that may arise for people who are living in new forms of housing, says the report. Prince wrote that he believes the premier's office and key cabinet ministers should be more involved in ensuring that various, multidisciplinary support teams start being set up. 'Making the remedy a major policy priority requires sustained strategic involvement by key cabinet minister and the premier's office,' he wrote. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2025. Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press
CTV News
38 minutes ago
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An Ohio couple welcomes a baby boy from a nearly 31-year-old frozen embryo
About two per cent of U.S. births are the result of in vitro fertilization, even less come from donated embryos. A baby boy born last week to an Ohio couple developed from an embryo that had been frozen for more than 30 years in what is believed to be a record length of storage time before a birth. In what's known as embryo adoption, Linda and Tim Pierce used a handful of embryos donated in 1994 in their pursuit of having a child after fighting infertility for years. Their son was born Saturday from an embryo that had been in storage for 11,148 days, which the Pierces' doctor says sets a record. It's a concept that has been around since the 1990s but is gaining attraction as some fertility clinics and advocates, often Christian-centered, oppose discarding leftover embryos because of their belief that life begins at or around conception and that all embryos deserve to be treated like children who need a home. 'I felt all along that these three little hopes, these little embryos, deserved to live just like my daughter did,' said Linda Archerd, 62, who donated her embryos to the Pierces. Just about two per cent of births in the U.S. are the result of in vitro fertilization, and an even smaller fraction involve donated embryos. However, medical experts estimate about 1.5 million frozen embryos are currently being stored throughout the country, with many of those in limbo as parents wrestle with what to do with their leftover embryos created in IVF labs. Further complicating the topic is a 2024 Alabama Supreme Court decision that said that frozen embryos have the legal status of children. State leaders have since devised a temporary solution shielding clinics from liability stemming from that ruling, though questions linger about remaining embryos. Archerd says she turned to IVF in 1994. Back then, the ability to freeze, thaw and transfer embryos was making key progress and opening the door for hopeful parents to create more embryos and increase their chances of a successful transfer. She wound up with four embryos and initially hoped to use them all. But after the birth of her daughter, Archerd and her husband divorced, disrupting her timeline for having more children. As the years turned into decades, Archerd said she was wracked with guilt about what to do with the embryos as storage fees continued to rise. Eventually, she found Snowflakes, a division of Nightlight Christian Adoptions, which offers open adoptions to donors. Archerd was also able to set preferences for what families would adopt her embryos. 'I wanted to be a part of this baby's life,' she said. 'And I wanted to know the adopting parents.' The process was tricky, requiring Archerd to contact her initial fertility doctor in Oregon and dig through paper records to get the proper documentation for the donation. The embryos then had to be shipped from Oregon to the Pierces' doctor in Tennessee. The clinic, Rejoice Fertility in Knoxville, refuses to discard frozen embryos and has become known for handling embryos stored in outdated and older containers. Of the three donated embryos the Pierces received from Archerd, one didn't make the thaw. Two were transferred to Lindsey Pierce's womb, but just one successfully implanted. According to Dr. John David Gordon, the transfer of the nearly 31-year-old embryo marks the longest-frozen embryo to result in a live birth. He would know, Gordon says his clinic assisted in the previous record, when Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway were born from embryos frozen for 30 years, or 10,905 days. 'I think that these stories catch the imagination,' Gordon said. 'But I think they also provide a little bit of a cautionary tale to say: Why are these embryos sitting in storage? You know, why do we have this problem?' In a statement, Lindsey and Tim Pierce said the clinic's support was just what they needed. 'We didn't go into this thinking about records — we just wanted to have a baby,' Lindsey Pierce said. For Archerd, the donation process has been an emotional roller coaster. Relief that her embryos finally found a home, sadness it couldn't be with her and a little anxiety about what the future holds next, with possibly meeting the Pierces and the baby in person. 'I'm hoping that they're going to send pictures,' she said, noting that the parents have already sent several after the birth. 'I'd love to meet them some day. That would be a dream come true to meet — meet them and the baby.' Kimberlee Kruesi, The Associated Press
