Ottawa hit interim target for poverty reduction ahead of schedule, statistics reveal
The Trudeau government has already met its interim target of cutting poverty by 20 per cent by 2020, and is working to reach its goal of slashing poverty in half by 2030, according to an update on Canada’s first national poverty reduction strategy. Some 850,000 Canadians have been pulled out of poverty since the Liberals were elected in 2015… Having met its 2020 goal, the government now must “aspire” to lift more than 2 million Canadians out of poverty by 2030, according to the legislation.
Child & Family
Family law cuts affect more than the poor
… many middle-class Ontarians who used to qualify for free legal help are now faced with the intimidating challenge of appearing in court without advice or paying hefty private legal fees… When people come to court unprepared, it also places an additional burden on court resources… Wasted court time is also a waste of public funds… Ford’s Legal Aid cuts hurt everyone, regardless of income. To view it otherwise is simply wrong.
Doug Ford announces that cuts to municipal public health and childcare programs will go ahead
Under his revised plan, local municipalities will be forced to cover 30 per cent of all their public-health costs, starting next year. The province currently covers 100 per cent of the cost of certain public-health programs, and 75 per cent of others… the Premier is going ahead with a move to renege on the previous Liberal government’s pledge to fund 100 per cent of the costs of new daycare spots, instead offering municipalities 80 per cent.
Education
New sex-ed curriculum builds on previous Liberal version
The new curriculum modernizes and builds on the one introduced by the Liberals in 2015 and even retains much of the material that originally caused all the controversy. That should allay concerns among educators that social conservatives were going to force changes that could put students — especially LGBT youth — at risk.
Universities, colleges should be tuition free in Ontario
If Ontario aspires to close its wealth gap… its universities and colleges should scrap their tuitions… Many leading world economies charge none, like Germany, France, and Sweden… University should be free, above all because it is an important component of the social safety net, like health care… a no-tuition policy would be more flexible than government bursaries and loans…
Employment
Canada should have a federal minimum wage
Last year the federal government passed legislation that… will improve job security for federally regulated workers through scheduling rights, equal pay for temporary employment agency workers and protections against contract flipping that lower wages. Now it’s time for the next step: a decent minimum wage.
Premier Ford cries poor but subsidizes $700 million for fossil fuel consumption
In the last year alone, Ontario provided nearly $700 million in subsidies for fossil fuel consumption… No one wants to see public dollars wasted, least of all the Government of Ontario. If it takes the opportunity to buckle down on fossil fuel subsidies and reinvest those millions wisely, not only will it set the province on a path to a more sustainable future, it will also prove itself to be Canada’s vanguard for smart, fiscal efficiency.
Equality
this country once recognized that the telephone was an essential service and made sure it was affordable. And the CRTC has even mandated that companies provide so-called “skinny,” affordable cable packages for low-income families. Now it’s time to make sure all Canadians are able to connect to the internet.
How does the Canadian government spend your tax dollars?
“Elections are dangerous time for taxpayers because the politicians will promise to spend, and the danger is they don’t explain how they’re going to pay for it,” Wudrick said. Those promises that require extra revenue would often lead to debt, which means future taxes or cuts in services for Canadians. A good question for the candidates, Wudrick suggested, would be: “how are you going to pay?”
Health
New framework aims to improve police-to-hospital transitions of individuals in crisis
… co-ordination and collaboration among police and hospital partners can speed up transitions between police officers and hospital workers, improve the care experience for the individual, protect health care worker and emergency department safety, and allow police to return to providing public safety services in the community.
House calls to non-housebound patients, outdated fertility testing and unnecessary earwax removal are among 11 health services being delisted or restricted from OHIP coverage, a committee tasked with modernizing Ontario’s taxpayer-funded insurance plan has announced. Coverage for the services will be affected as part of a major update to the OHIP Schedule of Benefits aimed at freeing up money for higher-value physician services, increasing access to those services and cutting wait-lists
Inclusion
CRA program to help poor file taxes yields noticeable bump in people helped
… the CRA says more than 835,000 returns were filed by people who are homeless, Indigenous, newcomers, seniors or disabled. The boost is double those seen in previous years, before the Liberals increased annual spending on the “community volunteer income-tax program” to $13 million in the 2018 budget… “It’s a different program and we get to see the direct impact that we have on lifting people out of poverty.”
How Finland slashed homelessness by 40 per cent
… about 15 per cent of the population are paid an allowance to help pay for rent… Such policies are more effective… than rent controls popular in many countries… because they push up housing supply, while rent controls tend to discourage investment in rental properties… “It’s more expensive not to provide the homes and have people on the streets. And when they’re off the streets, there’s more social harmony.”
Social Security
Ottawa hit interim target for poverty reduction ahead of schedule, statistics reveal
The Trudeau government has already met its interim target of cutting poverty by 20 per cent by 2020, and is working to reach its goal of slashing poverty in half by 2030, according to an update on Canada’s first national poverty reduction strategy. Some 850,000 Canadians have been pulled out of poverty since the Liberals were elected in 2015… Having met its 2020 goal, the government now must “aspire” to lift more than 2 million Canadians out of poverty by 2030, according to the legislation.
Needed: A New Pension Paradigm For Canadians
… the pension industry must go beyond the tired defined-benefit versus defined-contribution pension debate and focus on the model pension of the future… the authors explain a new pension paradigm that lies between the Classic DB and Classic DC… The common ground would include: Pooling: across multiple employers to reduce risk… Target Benefits: to share risks between sponsors and members… Scale: The optimum asset size would be $1 billion and up… Independent Management Boards
Governance
Ford said some of this year’s planned cuts — to public health, child care and land ambulance funding — will take effect Jan. 1… The new plan will see all municipalities — including Toronto — pay 30 per cent of public health care costs… municipalities will also have to pay 20 per cent of the cost of creating new child-care spaces, which the province previously fully funded.
Ford’s fake news machine should be closed
Instead of recognizing that distributing fake news reports on social media in an attempt to fool the public is an affront to democracy, the Progressive Conservative government is apparently reconsidering ONN’s usefulness because it is, ahem, a failure… if ONN is shut down it shouldn’t be because the PC party’s communications specialists now deem it a liability. It should be because it’s an affront to the citizens the government was elected to represent and a misuse of their tax dollars.
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