The audacity of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream
Ending poverty… will be much harder than ending segregation, he correctly predicted. After all, “it didn’t cost the nation anything to integrate lunch counters,” but “it will cost the nation billions of dollars to get rid of poverty.” … King appealed for a national policy of full employment, a guaranteed income and a massive investment in affordable housing… Indeed, America has never shown a commitment to “genuine equality,” he said.
Child & Family
It’s time to rethink long-term care for seniors
To change the status quo requires a reimagined vision transforming “long-term care” into “networks of caring” that support seniors in living meaningful lives… the following ingredients are essential… Maximize each person’s capacities and compensate for deficits, fostering a sense of success and self-respect… emphasize flexible resources tailored for the person… help individuals and small groups develop supports for their LTC needs where they already live… if congregate LTC-type housing is needed, small and dispersed is good.
A blueprint for action on long-term care
… commit to vaccinating all long-term-care residents, staff and caregivers by Feb. 15… Ontario and Ottawa each to provide $100 million in emergency funds to hire additional long-term care staff and increase their wages… mandatory weekly inspections of long-term-care facilities and a rapid response task force of specialized health-care workers to respond to emergencies in homes… [and] dedicated provincial and federal ombuds to review all complaints from residents, their families and staff and to oversee strict new long-term-care standards that will ensure humane care for residents.
Education
OCUFA condemns the Ford government for granting McVety’s Canada Christian College university-status
“Granting Canada Christian College university status and the ability to offer Bachelor of Arts and Science degrees sends Ontarians exactly the wrong message about education, religious diversity, and multiculturalism,” said David Seljak. “It tells the people of Ontario that it is perfectly acceptable to publicly promote extremist views that target minority populations.”
Universities shouldn’t abandon online learning after the pandemic
The immediate value in terms of containing disease spread is obvious, but in normal times, the potential benefits can be immense also. Students can have more flexibility over how and where they learn. Online learning can reduce or eliminate the need to travel or live close to campus, saving students time and money. For universities, it offers the prospects of lower operational and maintenance costs, allowing them to invest more in high-value interactions that tend to occur in more intimate groups.
Employment
How a Basic Income Plan Could Save Lives in a Pandemic
“Basic income doesn’t require empathy so much as recognition that we’re all interdependent.” “It matters what my neighbours are doing and what they can afford to do,” said Forget. “In some ways that’s very obvious when we talk about health. But somehow we don’t think that’s the case when we talk about economics.” … “it’s inevitable that we will end in a basic income in Canada.”
Ottawa urged to ban CEO bonuses if company received wage subsidy
[The CCPA] believes that Canada should follow other developed countries like Spain and the Netherlands that explicitly prohibit bonuses and dividends if they receive wage subsidies. It also wants to exclude companies from substantially increasing executive salaries to prevent them from bypassing restrictions on bonuses… The CCPA also thinks Ottawa should introduce a top marginal tax bracket to help pay for the large deficit caused by its response to COVID-19.
Equality
… patients who must engage in such unequal bargaining with their physicians… are disproportionately BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and other People of Colour] including immigrants and refugees, who are massively overrepresented in the lower income classes. The OMA’s billing guide is a classic example of structural racism precisely because its effects are felt most by BIPOC communities.
Indigenous rights bill weak, but necessary
Bill C-15 does not have any tools to help operationalize consent or create new ways for Indigenous title to be implemented. Its slow, incrementalist approach is frustrating. Nevertheless, it has merit. Despite shortcomings, the bill will provide new avenues and contestation sites for Indigenous rights movements to advance. Most importantly, it binds any future government, no matter its political stripe, to the high standard of consent and the inevitability of Indigenous self-determination.
Health
‘Total rethink’ of long-term-care home design needed in the wake of COVID-19, experts urge
… alternatives that don’t involve retrofits or new buildings also need to be explored… “Money can go to home health care … and with telemedicine, more and more people can be safely and appropriately supported at home… “much less expensive options like assisted living, or independent living with some support services. They are cheaper, yet not generally supported with public funds. “It’s finding the right mix of options, most of which are less expensive than well-done, skilled nursing facilities”
Bare-knuckle capitalism has no place in nursing homes
Over the past decade, Chartwell has distributed $798 million to shareholders and paid its executives $47.3 million, including an annual salary of $229,500 for the former premier’s part-time chairmanship, which he still holds. Mike Harris’ involvement in the dubious rise of privatization — and financialization — in the long-term care industry makes it all the more outrageous that the Ford government recently awarded him the Order of Ontario, even as the pandemic continues…
Inclusion
The audacity of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream
Ending poverty… will be much harder than ending segregation, he correctly predicted. After all, “it didn’t cost the nation anything to integrate lunch counters,” but “it will cost the nation billions of dollars to get rid of poverty.” … King appealed for a national policy of full employment, a guaranteed income and a massive investment in affordable housing… Indeed, America has never shown a commitment to “genuine equality,” he said.
Let’s make 2021 the year we eliminate online hate in Canada
the Canadian Coalition to End Online Hate, a broad-based alliance of close to 40 (and growing) organizations representing a diverse array of communities, are calling for the following concrete actions… Increasing resources for law enforcement, Crown attorneys, and judges to ensure they receive sufficient training on how to apply existing laws to deal with online hate… Creating a civil remedy to address online hate and… Establishing strong and clear regulations for online platforms and Internet service providers
Social Security
CERB controversy should spur basic income development
Political leaders have the opportunity of a lifetime in 2021, and Canada has the brains, capacity, and experience it takes, to create a legacy of income security for all that is comparable to universal health care. Basic income will get us a faster, more inclusive recovery and lasting progress toward a healthier, happier society for everyone.
The Ford government says it’s committed to poverty reduction. That’s hard to believe
… this is the government that killed the planned rise to $15 in the minimum wage as soon as it was elected. It also rolled back two-paid sick days for all workers, equal pay for exploited temporary agency workers and other measures to protect precarious workers from being misclassified and stripped of their labour rights… The government cut funding for specialized school programs that provided after-school jobs for needy teens, classroom tutors and supports for racialized youth, calling it “wasteful spending.” … Soon after coming to power in 2018, the government also cut in half a planned 3-per-cent increase to social assistance.
Governance
Doug Ford doesn’t believe in government — and that explains a lot
… the premier has been trying to bargain with the COVID-19 virus from day one. Do we really need more staff in long-term care? Do we really need to legislate paid sick days so contagious workers can stay home? Do we really need smaller class sizes so students and educators are safer? The answer to these questions is yes, but Ford hasn’t used the full legislative and financial powers of government to fight the virus. At every turn, he’s held back, seemingly always hoping for a better, cheaper deal… In other areas, the government has acted without hesitation…
From sunny ways to icy reception: How the Liberals are handling issues involving Big Tech firms
“… we’ve come to the realization that this great, wonderful promise of the free internet… came at a pretty steep cost”… Ottawa’s more aggressive push also comes at a time of rising public distrust of the tech giants worldwide… they appear to have public opinion on their side… polls… showed broad support for policies such as more social-media regulation and requiring digital platforms to charge sales tax.
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