Archive for the ‘Inclusion’ Category
Liberals must commit to protect vulnerable
Jan. 30, 2012
Protecting the vulnerable is what liberalism is all about. In today’s terms, it means improving the level of support to those who must rely on social assistance. It means increasing the inventory of affordable housing for low-income tenants. It means assisting those who face a future perplexed by dementia. It means generating meaningful employment opportunities for the unemployed and under-employed. It means helping those criminal offenders who are candidates for rehabilitation to find a productive and law-abiding future. It means a health-care system that provides quality care to all our citizens…
Tags: disabilities, homelessness, ideology, Native, poverty, standard of living, women, youth
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Disabled children get left out
Jan 24 2012
… preschool children are generally well-served by community agencies and elementary schools do their best to include children with disabilities in classroom activities. But around Grade 5 or 6, these kids fall by wayside… Those who manage to finish high school have enormous difficulty getting the training they need to qualify for a job… smaller communities don’t have resources for these children with disabilities. But even in major cities parents don’t know what services exist… There are solutions to these problems, but they require money and leadership.
Tags: disabilities
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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
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Mike Del Grande’s candid chat about social programs
Jan 12 2012
Councillor Mike Del Grande, Mayor Rob Ford’s budget chief… described in blunt terms his “tough love” opposition to some city-funded social programs, including school meals for low-income kids… if you have children you’re responsible for children”… “why is it the state’s responsibility to look after your children?” … “I want to be responsible, I want to be fair, I want to be civic-minded. Yes, there are poor people in the world, okay, but poor people will be with us forever, like it’s been from the moment of time.”
Tags: budget, homelessness, housing, ideology, poverty, privatization, standard of living
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New relationship needed with Crown or risk widespread unrest: chiefs
Jan.11, 2012
Native chiefs say Prime Minister Stephen Harper must come out of this month’s First Nations summit willing to forge a new relationship with aboriginals or risk widespread unrest… Many have concerns about the lack of housing, clean running water and education in their communities, but virtually all say they don’t expect to solve those issues in a day. They want the prime minister to commit to holding at least one first ministers meeting on aboriginal issues and to appoint a commissioner to ensure that treaties signed more than 100 years ago are being followed.
Tags: ideology, Native, rights, standard of living
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Religious-freedom office is a blessing, non-believers
Jan. 09, 2012
… Canada is a secular state, meaning that, as a state, it is of no religion and enforces none. The first point underscores the ongoing need for the promotion of religious freedom. The second confirms the appropriateness of a country such as Canada undertaking it… There’s a lot of careless invocation these days of “separation of church and state.” This isn’t a Canadian doctrine, and is only very dubiously an American one… [but that] doesn’t preclude a public stand on behalf of religious freedom. On the contrary, it implies one.
Tags: ideology, multiculturalism, rights
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Police learn how to deal with the mentally ill in crisis
Jan. 09, 2012
A shortage of mental-health resources in Canada has put police and the mentally ill on a collision course, with officers increasingly becoming the first point of contact for people in crisis… in… Belleville… each front-line officer attends about 40 such calls a year… those first few moments of interaction… are crucial: “If you don’t respond properly, the results can be catastrophic.”
Tags: crime prevention, Health, mental Health
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Top 10 reasons why Office of Religious Freedom is a bad idea
Jan. 7, 2012
“Freedom of religion is one of the first things in the Charter, it’s one of the first things in the Bill of Rights, it’s front and centre in the UN Declaration of Human Rights – it’s an essential human right,” Baird told The Canadian Press… I can’t recall Baird or his government being particularly enthusiastic about the Charter before – his boss, Stephen Harper, once called it “seriously flawed” because it promotes equality… this initiative – which the Opposition has largely been silent about — is a very bad idea. Here’s 10 reasons why:
Tags: ideology, multiculturalism, rights
Posted in Equality Debates, Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Parliament fails native women
Jan 03 2012
Three days before the House of Commons rose for its Christmas recess, a parliamentary committee quietly tabled a shocking report. It was called Ending Violence Against Aboriginal Women and Girls. But it wasn’t a plan of action. It wasn’t even a commitment to do better. It was a self-congratulatory compendium of existing programs… The Conservative government, which controls Parliament, can do as it wishes. It is clear it does not consider the disproportionately high rate of violence against aboriginal women a priority.
Tags: Native, rights, standard of living, women
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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
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