Austerity isn’t for everyone
Feb. 17, 2012
… the austerity refrain is the same: protect the rich, hit the middle class and leave the poor for later. This is not an argument against frugality, or in defence of sacred cows. The sacred cows are able to defend themselves. But it is an illustration of what can happen when political leaders, and their advisers, live in a sheltered world where seniors golf in Florida all winter… They forget — or don’t care — that most Canadians don’t live there.
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Government faces Aboriginal challenge
Feb. 14, 2012
Facts that could prove the federal government is discriminating against aboriginal children by underfunding child-welfare services on reserves need to be heard in court, said lawyers for the Canadian Human Rights Commission… The complaint argued the underfunding of child-welfare services on reserves leads to poverty, poor housing, substance abuse and a vast overrepresentation of aboriginal children in state care. However, the federal government argues that because it sends funds to band managers – who administer the services – the government cannot be held responsible for the services delivered.
Tags: Native, participation, rights, standard of living, youth
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
Harper wins when voters snooze
Jan. 27, 2012
Many [voters] have given up – in cynicism or despair. They turn their back on politics, don’t bother to vote, even imagine it is fashionable to remain aloof. They claim all politicians are the same, but they aren’t. They claim it doesn’t matter which party holds power, but it does… Nothing seems to penetrate public indifference – to Harper’s benefit… waiting four more years for Conservatives to self-destruct – isn’t a strategy. It’s a confession of impotence.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Policy, not technology is killing Canadian manufacturing
Jan. 24, 2012
… technology can explain some of the job loss, but not most of it. It certainly cannot explain the disproportionate carnage in Canadian manufacturing… The loss of 500,000 manufacturing jobs in Canada over the last decade was far more dramatic than most jurisdictions. Many factors contributed to this miserable record… [but] Caterpillar’s demand to cut Canadian wages in half has nothing to do with technology. It reflects power: a global company’s ability to isolate and threaten workers, one factory at a time. And it reflects policy: an active decision by governments (like Canada’s) to let them do it.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Employment Policy Context | 1 Comment »
$100-billion in expenditures that no one notices
Jan. 23, 2012
Tax expenditures serve a public policy purpose without the need of an army of bureaucrats in administration. They can be implemented virtually overnight, and can be easily tweaked. [but]… they are very difficult to take away. Canada is a leader in the use of tax expenditures in the sense that our uptake is more than 50 per cent above the OECD average… In the past five years the value of tax expenditures has risen 2.3 per cent, far less than the increase in the size of government… [however] Tax expenditures represent a major claim on the federal treasury and their economic and social benefits need to be put to the test.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Canadians want federal health-care role
Jan. 16, 2012
The national survey by Ipsos Reid was commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association, which represents the nation’s doctors… – 97 per cent of Canadians think the federal government’s responsibility for the Canada Health Act is important. In return for receiving federal money, provinces must adhere to the principles of medicare as outlined in the Act. Those principles include accessibility to services, universal availability, and portability from province to province…
Tags: budget, Health, mental Health, rights, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Should Ontario keep funding separate Catholic schools? No.
Jan. 3, 2012
Ontario is in the anachronistic position of being the only province that publicly funds one type of religious school (Catholic) to the exclusion of all others. Massive, wasteful duplication and the religious segregation of students are some of the results of this system. Recent events have also shown Catholic doctrine is incompatible with the equality rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms while other religious groups, now seeking access to public schools and public funding, have pointed out the blatant hypocrisy of Ontario’s education policy.
Tags: budget, ideology, multiculturalism, rights, tax
Posted in Education Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Canada has never had shared values
Dec. 22, 2011
Canada is a liberal democracy, and like similar societies, it is designed to allow us to get along despite widespread and non-negotiable disagreements over values – that is, over how people should live their lives. Our political institutions, underwritten by constitutional declarations such as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, don’t assume that citizens have shared values. Instead, they work by providing a framework that is neutral with respect to controversial questions of value. This neutrality is what underwrites our freedoms of expression, of religion, and of association.
Tags: ideology, multiculturalism
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Oh, those lucky poor people
Dec. 16, 2011
A little historical perspective can be an excellent way to show people that progress is possible – which is the first step in getting them up and working toward a better world… Consider Attawapiskat. The issue is living conditions and what we can or should do about them. The distant past isn’t relevant to that question. What’s relevant are living conditions elsewhere around the country. They’re far superior – which shows we can easily do better for the people of Attawapiskat. And that’s the only perspective we need.
Tags: ideology, Native, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Ottawa and provinces should be thinking big
Dec. 14, 2011
… social determinants of health, predictors of the outcomes around illness and the related stresses, help fill our hospitals and increase the strains on health care. A majority of those who live beneath the poverty line do have jobs, often more than one, but still do not earn enough to make ends meet. If our health-care system is to be one where flexibility, access, appropriate care and financial sustainability are real assets in the service of Canadians, it is vital that any new formula for health-care financing take the social determinants of health into account.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
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