Stephen Harper’s ‘tough-on-crime’ laws are more misguided than ever
Jan 29 2012
As more Canadians awake to declining crime rates, they will become less tolerant of senseless, ideologically driven justice policy and of bids to garner votes by fear-mongering. Provincial deficits and the prospects of cuts to health and education will reinforce that trend. Canadians might still rank crime as a big concern but it doesn’t top health care. Few will thank any government that closes a hospital to pay for a new prison.
Tags: budget, corrections, crime prevention, ideology
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Canadian bilingualism a blessing not a curse
Jan. 23, 2012
Canada, an officially bilingual country, is a leader in the promotion of second-language knowledge. Ottawa and the provinces together spend more than $2-billion a year offering government services in both French and English… learning a second language should be viewed as a gift society which confers significant global advantages, and bridges cultural divides… The ability to speak French, English – as well as Spanish or Mandarin – should be seen as a source of pride and as an investment in the future that will yield dividends over a person’s lifetime.
Tags: economy, immigration, multiculturalism, rights, standard of living, youth
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Innovative ideas for protecting dementia patients
Jan 23, 2012
… the Halifax Regional Police force… is launching a trial program to affix GPS tracking bracelets — which look similar to digital wrist watches — to dementia patients at risk of wandering off. Such a program, once implemented, will allow the police to rapidly locate, and one hopes rescue, any dementia patient who is able to slip off unattended. The technology has the potential, not only to save resources required by a traditional search operation, but also to save lives.
Tags: disabilities, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Premiers don’t need slush fund to innovate in health care
Jan. 17, 2012
Financial necessity is the best spur to innovation, not a slush fund labelled Innovation. But the premiers, even those who had seemed to welcome a unilateral federal funding plan, can’t seem to focus on the next steps to building a more innovative, agile, cost-effective health-care system. Not to mention one of higher quality… An Innovation Fund is not the mother of invention. Necessity is.
Tags: budget, Health, rights, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
The virtue of ‘at-risk’ in hospital executive pay
Jan. 10, 2012
During this critical time when hospitals are being merged and exceptional change agents are needed to take them to the next level, salary caps would be a mistake. But Ontario is wrong-headed in letting each hospital’s board determine compensation guidelines and standards for executives… A good framework would provide some consistency to compensation… (and a) significant portion of executive pay be dependent on attaining performance indicators
Tags: budget, Health
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Child poverty key issue
January 11, 2012
If governments want to put the economy at the top of their agendas, actions that focus on improving children’s’ well-being should be prioritized… The Canadian Pediatric Society said that child care, mental health and poverty are some of the key areas related to kids for which there are clear economic benefits to be had by taking action… Instead… the opposite has happened in recent years as youth issues have been pushed aside by governments in order to deal with the economy and Canada’s aging population.
Tags: ideology, poverty, rights, standard of living, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Roy Romanow’s one-note tune on health care
Jan 10, 2012
Mr. Romanow insisted that if the PM does not take an aggressive leadership role in talks about the future of medicare, public health care will weaken, private care will spread and the very fabric of our nation will be imperilled… But so what if the provinces don’t all offer identical services and delivery models? Let them devise blended public-private systems that work best for their residents or for their budgets — and let provincial governments live with the political consequences of those choices. How does that threaten “national unity”?
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
The case for tax reform
Jan 03 2012
… top-earning CEOs are sitting on $2 billion in stock options that are treated as dividend income, and taxed at half the value. That’s a tax break worth $475 million… It’s hard to make a compelling case that the affluent need tax breaks that ordinary workers will never see when Ottawa is short on cash. And when 3.5 million Canadians live in poverty… The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report… urges Ottawa to eliminate the tax break for executive stock options… the Conservatives do have options for dealing with the deficit beyond thinning out the public service and cutting transfers or services.
Tags: ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Rising inequality demands debate
Jan. 4, 2012
There are policy responses which would introduce market discipline without interfering with corporations’ ability to set compensation levels. Shareholder rights, both to detailed information on compensation plans and to a direct say, could be strengthened… Alternatively, government could use its redistributive powers to level the playing field… CEOs increasingly take their payment in stock options, taxed at half the rate of income… The trickle-down approach hasn’t worked, said OECD secretary-general Angel Gurría. “Without a comprehensive strategy for inclusive growth, inequality will continue to rise.”
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
The high cost of poverty
Jan 02 2012
In 2009, the first year of (Ontario’s poverty reduction) strategy, the minimum wage jumped up and, most importantly, the Ontario Child Benefit was increased by hundreds of dollars helping to raise low-income families out of poverty The government has also started a process to reform social assistance… But (it) is still a long way off its goal to lift 90,000 children out of poverty… it’s troubling that the third progress report on Ontario’s poverty reduction strategy spends most of its 26 pages rehashing earlier successes and is light on new measures.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, poverty, youth
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Recent Posts