Joe McLeod with Alzheimer's ends up in jail rather than in a care home. How could this happen?

Three years ago when I was in Pine Creek, just north of Camperville, I had the opportunity to meet Joe and Rose McLeod. Joe and Rose had lived for many years in Transcona, and then had moved about 17 years before to Pine Creek to be in the country near Lake Winnipegosis. They had a beautiful spot. Joe and Rose were obviously caring people and had spent a lot of time looking after and caring for their home and the grounds just around it.

But Joe's health was deteriorating. Joe was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, and since there were not adequate facilities to look after him in Pine Creek, Joe and Rose moved back to Transcona two years ago. Sadly Joe's Alzheimer's Disease has continued to progress.

Then in early September, as a result of Joe's Alzheimer's and his confusion, he was not sure who Rose was. She tried to help his memory by showing him a photo of the two of them together. Sadly, his memory of her did not improve, he still did not recognize her, and in his frustration he pushed Rose. She fell hurting herself , falling on the frame containing the picture of the two of them together which she had tried to use to help him to know who she was.

Hurt and not knowing what to do, she called for help. Joe was taken to the hospital. But, instead of being kept in the hospital Joe was then taken to be put in jail at the Remand Centre and as I understand it he was charged with assault.

He has been in jail at the Remand Centre now for a month. In spite of pleas to Bill Blakie for help to address the situation, the family was told they would just have to let the justice system take its time.

From my point of view, the major problem here is that Joe should never have been taken to the Remand Centre in the first place. He had Alzheimer's Disease. He should have been looked after in a place where he could be cared for by people who are trained to look after people with Alzheimer's Disease. It was wrong, wrong, wrong for him to go to the Remand Centre at all.
That he ended up in jail is an indication that the system itself, as being run by the NDP, is not working, indeed is broken. And to have Bill Blakie accept the system which put Joe McLeod in jail is unbelievable. We must not, as politicians, tolerate the intolerable.

This morning, I held a press conference with the family. The system must be changed so that patients with Alzheimer's Disease can be looked after appropriately. This is a condition which is affecting all too many families. Joe could be my father or your father. He worked for many years with CN. He has contributed to the communities he has lived in - in Transcona and more recently in Pine Creek. He should be treated with the respect and care he deserves not put in jail. The system must change. Hopefully bringing this situation to light will help to bring that change.


[Note added Jan 3, 2011: Thanks to my efforts and those of others Joe McLeod was out of jail within 48 hours of this story becoming public and in a personal care home. Joe continues to do as well as can be hoped in the personal care home and is being visited regularly by his wife and family who are very thankful for the efforts of those who contributed to making this positive change. I called repeatedly for an investigation into how this could have happened in the first place, and to make sure it does not happen again that someone with Alzheimer's Disease is put in jail instead of a care home, and after several public calls for this, a review was finally put in place in December 2010. We are presently awaiting the results of the review. One final word - I heard from one of Joe McLeod's colleagues where he used to work who said Joe was one of the most kind and generous people he had ever met!!! He was very thankful that Joe was helped and is now in the care home.]

For more on this story see:

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/manitoba/2010/10/06/15603361.html

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/breakingnews/Family-wants-man-with--104423844.html

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101006/wpg_alzheimer_101006/20101006/?hub=WinnipegHome

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2010/10/06/15604381.html

Cole Choken - and his amazing run

Cole Choken arrived yesterday at the Manitoba Legislature after running thousands of kilometers from Mexico, all the way along the east coast of the U.S., and then through Quebec and Ontario home to Winnipeg. It was an incredible run - a run to raise money for Cancer. Cole has enough stories to write a book.

Along the way he was accompanied by a number of dedicated friends and family members who took turns helping Cole complete his run to Winnipeg. From New York to Winnipeg, his mother Brenda ran with him, keeping up with him as step by step the ran together day after day.

Friday evening, I met Cole and his mother Brenda and Cole's friend Jeremy (top photo). as he arrived at the outskirts of Winnipeg in Transcona. Adam Beach (second photo) also came to welcome Cole.

Saturday Cole from from Transcona arriving at the Manitoba Legislature just before 3:00 pm. Brenda Choken, Adam Beach and quite a number of others joined in this run (third photo). I joined in for the last few hundred meters down Memorial Boulevard.

Adam Beach made sure he caught the arrival on camera (fourth photo).

There was a warm welcome at the Legislature (photos five through eight), and a gift of a painting to Cole to commemorate his run. Congratulations Cole on an amazing run. Thank you for your effort to raise funds for cancer, and your setting an example to others in keeping fit.

Cole has decided he is going to continue his run on to Calgary to honour the fact that one of his previous runs was from Calgary to Winnipeg.

Diane Orihel - and a new approach to algal blooms on Killarney Lake - and the implications for Lake Winnipeg?

A new approach to algal blooms on Killarney Lake:  Diane Orihel will be talking 7:00 pm November 2 at the River Heights Community Centre 1370 Grosvenor Ave., in Winnipeg about her work on phosphorous and algal blooms in prairie lakes. Please come and listen and ask questions. Her work provides a different perspective on algal blooms on lakes like Killarney Lake and Lake Winnipeg, and how we might best address this pressing concern.

Last week, Sept 27, I was with Diane in Killarney as she presented her work to people on the Killarney Lake Action Committee. There was an excellent discussion of her work and the situation of Killarney Lake.

In brief summary, Diane talked about her work on Lake Nakamun in Alberta. It is about twice the size of Killarney Lake but has many similarities. Like Killarney Lake, Nakamun Lake has a problem with major algal blooms which have caused massive fish kills and high toxin levels in the water that are a concern for human health. These algal blooms are the results of elevated phosphorus levels in the water.

Diane conducted careful studies to look at the source of the phosphorus which was causing the problem on Lake Nakamun. She conducted experiments with lake sediments and found very high rates of phosphorous release from sediments. Previous studies determined that 95% of the phosphorous in the lake was coming from the sediments, with only 5% the result of new phosphorous inputs. This does not mean that phosphorus inputs are not important, because it was phosphorus inputs which were a major reason for the phosphorus in the sediments in the first place. It does mean that phosphorous release from the sediments needs to be well understood if we are to reduce phosphorous levels in the water which contribute to the algal blooms.

Diane found that much of the phosphorous in the sediments was weakly bound and could be readily moved into the water to produce the algal blooms. In other lakes, particularly Canadian Shield Lakes, the phosphorous is more tightly bound by iron so that it stays in the sediments. In this respect, iron is a natural substance which binds phosphorus and keeps it inactive in the sediments. Diane added iron to enclosures in Nakamun Lake and found that the iron lowered the phosphorus levels and decreased the algal blooms. She presented the concept that one of the problems with prairie lakes is essentially an iron deficiency, and that it can be corrected by adding iron. This approach has been applied to Lac Heney in Quebec with successful results to date in reducing the phosphorus in the water and in reducing the algal blooms.

Diane then took this a step further. She described work which shows that sulfur can compete with phosphorus in binding iron, and can dissolve iron-phosphorus minerals in sediments. Thus when there is a high level of sulfate in the water, this may displace the phosphorus from the iron and result in increased phosphorous concentrations in the water. It may be that sulfur pollution, mainly caused by burning fossil fuels, may be contributing to algal blooms in many lakes.

There are major implications of these studies for prairie lakes like Killarney Lake and perhaps for Lake Winnipeg. We need to better understand the cycling or phosphorus from the sediments into the water column and its contribution to algal blooms in lakes. Diane will provide much more information on this topic when she speaks at the River Heights Community Centre at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, November 2. In particular, she will address the relevance of her work to the algal problems in Lake Winnipeg. If you are interested, please come.

The top two photos show algae coming in on the green waves on Killarney Lake. In the other photos, Diane Orihel is studying the water and the algae, talking to Alan Chambers who came to the meeting and in the bottom photo presenting her work at the meeting of the Killarney Lake Action Committee.