Archive for the ‘Child & Family Policy Context’ Category
There really is food poverty in Canada
May 19, 2012
… when our governments leave the feeding of the hungry poor to the indignity and frequent inefficiencies of charitable food banks, our federal leaders should not complain when the inadequacies of our food, nutrition and social policies are pointed out by the UN Special Rapporteur… Regrettably food poverty in Canada since the early 1980s has become socially constructed as a matter for charity. Thirty years later the food bank model (imported from the United States) has failed. Food poverty is a political question requiring the priority attention of our governments.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, poverty, rights, standard of living
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Ontario’s Youth Leaving Care hearings call for fundamental change to child welfare system
May 14 2012
The goal is to make Ontario a better parent to roughly 8,300 children and youth in its care and make their transition to adulthood more secure. The report being released Monday at Queen’s Park, says the government should act immediately to raise the age of financial and emotional support from 21 to 25; allow youth to stay in foster care beyond age 18; and declare a “Youth in Care Day” to raise awareness and reduce stigma.
Tags: rights, standard of living, youth
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Ontario openly defies Vic Toews over gun registry despite new RCMP warning
May 11, 2012
“We’re not going to adopt a long-gun registry here in Ontario,” McGuinty said… “But we will maintain a practice that’s been in place since 1978… if your intention was to not only eliminate the long-gun registry but a pre-existing practice, I think you need to make that clear.”… the chief firearms officer of the Ontario Provincial Police interprets section 58 of the Firearms Act as giving him the power to impose that requirement.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, rights
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From one battlefield to another
May 12 2012
Every generation updates and renews the values that make us who we are. I once found it hard to truly understand what those in my grandfather’s generation meant when they spoke of making the ultimate sacrifice in wartime to allow their loved ones back home to live in a democracy… The Canada I went overseas to fight for was a tolerant and open society, always striving to do the right thing, and to bring to the world a sense that tomorrow can be better than today. Today, though, the government in Ottawa seems to want to throw all that out the window.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
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Ottawa to cut health care for some refugees
Apr 25 2012
Currently, all refugees are covered by the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), which provides basic health coverage, sometimes with supplementary services such as pharmaceutical care, dentistry, vision care and devices such as walkers and wheelchairs, if required… The plan announced Wednesday stipulates that rejected claimants and refugees from designated countries won’t be eligible for health care unless their conditions put the public at risk. All refugees will also be stripped of supplemental health coverage.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, immigration, rights, standard of living
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Tories to double, make mandatory $100-200 surcharge for convicted criminals
Apr 24, 2012
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson introduced legislation Tuesday that, if passed, would require convicts to pay an additional 30% on any fine imposed by the courts. If no fine is imposed, they will automatically be charged $100 for a summary conviction or $200 for an indictable offence. The fines are generally collected and retained by provincial and territorial governments to help cover the cost of programs and services for victims of crime. Sentencing judges are currently able to waive the surcharge should an offender demonstrate it would cause undue hardship — the new bill will also put an end to that.
Tags: corrections, ideology
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Key decisions involving the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Apr 21 2012
Among the highlights: … • If you’re charged with a crime, you have a right to see all relevant evidence in your case; police and prosecution cannot withhold information that could potentially work in your favour. • Police can’t search your home without a warrant, but they’re free to go through your garbage if it’s on your property line. If you’ve thrown a tissue in a garbage can, police can take it for DNA testing. • Elementary or high-school officials can search student backpacks or lockers for illegal drugs, without a warrant. • You cannot help another person commit suicide…
Tags: rights, standard of living
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People, not prisons
March 14, 2012
Investing in people, not prisons, would be a good start in addressing the problems that so often contribute to society’s ills… Inmates return to Canadian streets without counselling, without rehabilitation, without mental health care, without addiction treatment and without the supports necessary to be successfully reintegrated into communities. Interest in rehabilitation has been lost in favour of punishment. This crime legislation will make us less safe as a country. Instead of prisons, use the money to lift people out of poverty, improve health care, addictions and mental health care, end child poverty and homelessness…
Tags: budget, crime prevention, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Quebec measures to soften effects of federal crime bill
March 14, 2012
Fournier repeatedly reminded reporters that while the federal government could adopt laws, the administration of justice was a provincial jurisdiction, and Quebec possessed 40 years of experience in dealing with youth crime, experience based on the ideal that rehabilitation is preferable to imprisonment… “The legal power we have (as a province) is to add nuance to the manner C-10 is written … to conserve the idea of long-term protection for the public and to conserve the concept of rehabilitation.”
Tags: budget, crime prevention, ideology, rights
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Tories use majority to pass omnibus crime bill
Mar 12, 2012
Comprised of nine bills, many of which failed to pass in previous Parliaments when the Conservatives had a minority, C-10 also cracks down on pot producers, young offenders, Canadians imprisoned abroad who are seeking a transfer to a Canadian institution and ex-cons seeking a pardon. It also provides for victims of terrorism who are seeking to sue the perpetrator and eliminates house arrest for a number of different crimes, something Canada’s budget watchdog estimated will cost the provinces $145 million a year.
Tags: budget, corrections, crime prevention, ideology, participation
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