Archive for the ‘Equality’ Category
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Taxing the rich akin to ‘ethnic cleansing’ – seriously?
Apr. 15, 2012
The top 1 per cent of Canadians pocketed nearly 14 per cent of all income in 2007, compared with 8 per cent in 1982… The most commonly heard argument against taxing the rich is that it’s an attack on wealth-creators; the rich will simply move to lower tax jurisdictions or work less… The middle class is being squeezed by stagnant incomes, pension clawbacks and the steady erosion of government entitlements, such as Old Age Security. Basic fairness suggests all segments of society should share the burden.
Tags: ideology, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
The increasing inequality gap
Apr 14 2012
We know for a fact that there is a direct correlation between levels of income and the rate of poverty, chronic disease, addiction, mental illness and incarceration… The fastest way to close the inequality gap is by making our taxation system fairer. A slight increase on the wealthiest, as suggested by NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, is a step in the right direction. – / – I don’t begrudge Ontario’s millionaires their millions. But I also don’t think it’s too much to ask them to pay a little more when so many in the province have been asked to sacrifice so much. To me it’s a question of fairness.
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
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Health and wealth [income & taxation]
Apr. 14, 2012
Hospitals would voluntarily adopt an evidence-based framework to guide boards’ decisions about CEO base compensation… An arbitrary policy that would damage the leadership of these important public institutions is in nobody’s interest. – vs – Ontario’s highest personal income tax bracket (46 per cent) has not been this low since the Great Depression. This rate starts at $132,000, so it’s a flat tax for the rich. Billionaires pay the same rate as doctors. Conversely, the budget freezes social assistance rates – despite these payments’ buying 60 per cent less than in 1995… It’s time for high-earning Canadians to pay our fair share. Tax us. Canada is worth it.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, tax
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At 30, the Charter of Rights has reshaped our society, for the better
Apr 14 2012
[It] transformed us from being a parliamentary democracy to a constitutional one… At root, the Charter empowers the people… That is its great, enduring value… Under a series of vigilant judges who did not hesitate to strike down bad laws, or to “read in” rights when justice required, the Charter has come to affect most aspects of our lives. As Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé once put it, memorably, the Charter “stretched the cords of liberty” and enfranchised us all.
Tags: featured, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Harper’s disregard for aboriginal health
Apr. 09, 2012
The abysmal health status of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples is Canada’s greatest shame… There’s a disturbing pattern here. The government has also cut funding to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. And the First Nations and Inuit Health branch at Health Canada oversees what is without question the worst health system in Canada, making every effort to slough the responsibility off onto the provinces and territories… “The Conservatives want out of the aboriginal business.”
Tags: budget, Health, Native, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
Punishing the rich with extra taxes not an answer to inequity
Apr. 12, 2012
… the day may come when it’s necessary to pay more tax – for everyone, not just $500,000-plus earners, who already pay at the highest marginal rate, making for high individual contributions. An extra two per cent is a form of punishment for success… Public hospital or university boards do need to show restraint and due diligence at the top – the top needs to be a model for the entire organization. The logic of restraint, applied fairly to all, is the most sensible policy, before any talk of raising taxes.
Tags: budget, ideology, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
A new Canadian survey on the rich/poor gap and taxes should spark debate
Apr 10 2012
“The option of raising taxes to protect the social programs we cherish and to address income inequality has been absent from public debate for too long,” says… Ed Broadbent. “Our research shows Canadians are prepared to do their part and they expect the wealthy, corporate Canada, and their own governments to be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.”… Fully 89 per cent think addressing income inequality should be a government priority and 77 per cent think it’s a serious problem… As Broadbent argues, “gross inequality isn’t inevitable, it’s a political choice.” One that has distorted the public agenda for too long.
Tags: ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
The wrong answer to aboriginal overincarceration
Apr. 05, 2012
Handing young aboriginal men and women a stay-out-of-jail card in cases of serious violence is a mistaken answer to the problem of overincarceration of aboriginal people in Canada. It puts one wrong in place of another… There is no doubt that the overrepresentation of aboriginal people in provincial and federal jails is a calamity for the country, for aboriginals and for the individuals behind bars… In the Louie case, having an aboriginal mother protected him from being held fully accountable for committing a violent crime.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, Native
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
Doctors say tax us! Ontario is worth it
Apr 02 2012
Almost all the economic gains of the past three decades have gone to Canada’s top 1 per cent but our taxes haven’t gone up accordingly. Controlled for inflation, during the last 30 years, the highest earning fifth of Canadians increased their pay by 40 per cent while the earnings of the lowest fifth fell by 11 per cent… As physicians, we see the impact of this growing inequality on our patients and communities. Diabetes rates are skyrocketing in poor neighbourhoods. And economic inequality is bad for everyone. For example, less equal societies have much higher rates of violence…. After several years of discussion, five of us launched Doctors for Fair Taxation < http://doctorsforfairtaxation.ca/ >.
Tags: ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | 2 Comments »
It still comes down to fixing the reserves
Mar. 14, 2012
Systems and structures are fine and necessary, as is proper funding. But… results from formal education have more to do with parental attitudes, cultural assumptions about the importance of education and community norms than anything else. Which means that aboriginal education can’t be divorced from its core contextual problem – the reserves themselves that the panel correctly notes display socio-economic and health inequities, poverty, suicides, youth incarceration and abuse, high teen pregnancy rates, lower life expectancy and chronic disease.
Tags: budget, Native, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Education Delivery System, Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
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