Social Policy in Ontario

Governance Debates
The culture war has been won, so now we fight about words

posted November 11, 2018 / No Comments

The long-running fight over language – in which the words and phrases of the ideologically earnest are rejected as “politically correct” – is being mistaken for some larger and more irreconcilable battle over underlying ideas and beliefs. Those who are truly intolerant and opposed to pluralism – those who think social justice is not just an awkward phrase but a bad idea – are a small and declining group. But that group is manipulating language conflicts to their political advantage.
On safe injection sites, why can’t conservatives just let people not die?

posted November 10, 2018 / No Comments
CMHA Ontario welcomes implementation of Police Records Check Reform Act

posted November 9, 2018 / No Comments
OCUFA submits recommendations on Bill 47, calls for reinstatement of fair labour laws

posted November 8, 2018 / No Comments
New federal law creates official definition of poverty line

posted November 7, 2018 / No Comments

Child & Family Policy Context
CMHA Ontario welcomes implementation of Police Records Check Reform Act

posted November 9, 2018 / No Comments

… police are not permitted to disclose non-conviction mental health records, including those that stem from apprehensions under the Mental Health Act… non-conviction mental health records will no longer appear on police record checks… People have been turned down for volunteer work, jobs, school placements and cross-border travel because authorities shared non-conviction records and personal mental health information showed up on police record checks.
Fixing solitary isn’t enough. Canada’s prisons need to be reformed top to bottom

posted November 7, 2018 / No Comments
Liberals unveil bill to end solitary confinement in federal prisons

posted October 17, 2018 / No Comments
How Canada became an international surrogacy destination

posted October 7, 2018 / No Comments

Education Debates
‘As permanent as you can get’: Ford addresses funding cut for post-secondary campuses

posted October 31, 2018 / No Comments

The funding cuts for three university satellite campuses announced by the province last week are “as permanent as you can get,” according to Premier Doug Ford, who spoke about the projects for the first time since they were cancelled… The premier, however, seemed to leave the door open to future funding, once the government has grappled with its deficit and debt.
Doug Ford was right to cancel funding for new Ontario university campuses

posted October 27, 2018 / No Comments
Doug Ford government cancels funding for three new GTA university campuses

posted October 24, 2018 / No Comments
Sex-ed is crucial to the rights of children

posted October 1, 2018 / No Comments

Policy Context
OCUFA submits recommendations on Bill 47, calls for reinstatement of fair labour laws

posted November 8, 2018 / No Comments

Rolling back equal pay, options for consolidating bargaining units, fairer rules for joining unions, and other basic rights represent a major step backwards in efforts to address precarious work across the province… Workers on university campuses and in communities across the province are counting on these modest but important labour law improvements to support themselves and their families
University and college faculty, students, and staff call on Ontario government to protect workers’ rights and withdraw Bill 47

posted November 6, 2018 / No Comments
Loan program makes dreams possible for newcomers aiming to upgrade their skills

posted November 5, 2018 / No Comments
Doug Ford’s fight against carbon pricing puts us on the wrong side of history

posted November 3, 2018 / No Comments
Labour leader says Pay Equity Act should also address income disparity in minorities, disabled

posted November 2, 2018 / No Comments

Equality Debates
The problem with #MeToo? The backlash

posted November 6, 2018 / 1 Comment

There is something disconcerting about the #MeToo movement… It’s the backlash. More specifically, it’s the assumption that women raising their voices are undermining the integrity of the justice system. In fact, it often is the opposite… The #MeToo movement isn’t about abandoning justice. It is about saying: Pay attention. We are here. It’s time to take sexual assault and harassment seriously. The legal system must be about more than just law: It must be about justice for all.
The Trudeau government’s pay equity bill is just a start

posted November 4, 2018 / No Comments
What happened to Trudeau’s plan to fight income inequality?

posted October 25, 2018 / No Comments
How Labour’s new policy minds the U.K.’s inequality gap

posted October 20, 2018 / No Comments
Should Canada have an inheritance tax?

posted August 31, 2018 / 1 Comment

Health Debates
On safe injection sites, why can’t conservatives just let people not die?

posted November 10, 2018 / No Comments

Once conservatives get past the ideological hurdle of harm reduction, they ought to be impressed by its simplicity: Two volunteers in a tent with a bunch of naloxone kits and $200 in supplies from any pharmacy can provide the most basic service, which is ensuring that people do not die
Ontario should stop stalling on making payments to doctors public

posted November 6, 2018 / No Comments
How do we balance rights in cases of medically assisted dying?

posted November 6, 2018 / No Comments
Bureaucracy should not stand in the way of a dignified death

posted November 6, 2018 / No Comments
Minimum wage of $14 per hour bad for public health

posted October 28, 2018 / No Comments

Inclusion Debates
Don’t ignore Steve Bannon, Trump’s political philosopher

posted November 7, 2018 / No Comments

The moral capitalism that rebuilt the world after the Second World War has been replaced by new forms unlinked to the foundations of Judeo-Christian belief. These new forms include state capitalism, where rewards are siphoned off by a small elite. They also include a strain of brutal libertarian capitalism that treats people as mere commodities. The new right populism is a reaction to this. It is a revolt of the middle and working classes against what Bannon calls the “administrative state.”
How to pull voters back from the far-right brink? Look to Germany

posted November 3, 2018 / No Comments
The health system in Canada’s North is failing — but not by accident. ‘It is designed to do what it is doing’

posted October 20, 2018 / No Comments
How poverty and precarious work killed a healthy Toronto man

posted September 28, 2018 / 2 Comments
Non-profit workers offered chance to join Ontario public sector pension plan

posted September 24, 2018 / No Comments

Social Security Policy Context
New federal law creates official definition of poverty line

posted November 7, 2018 / No Comments

The six-page bill sets targets of reducing poverty to 20 per cent below 2015 levels by 2020 and 50 per cent below 2015 levels by 2030. The target is based on a measure that lists 4.2 million Canadians as low income in 2015. Until now, discussions of poverty reduction have focused on three different ways of measuring poverty. Tuesday’s bill selects one of those – the market-basket measure – as Canada’s official poverty line… A third element of the legislation creates a national advisory council on poverty.
New report Welfare in Canada, 2017 looks at latest welfare rates and how they compare to poverty measures

posted November 6, 2018 / No Comments
Job programs for 450,000 Ontarians on social assistance show mixed results

posted November 1, 2018 / No Comments
What Ontario can learn from the UK on reforming social assistance

posted October 31, 2018 / No Comments
Open Letter to Minister MacLeod: Five Principles for the 100-day Review

posted October 29, 2018 / No Comments

Governance Debates
The culture war has been won, so now we fight about words

posted November 11, 2018 / No Comments

The long-running fight over language – in which the words and phrases of the ideologically earnest are rejected as “politically correct” – is being mistaken for some larger and more irreconcilable battle over underlying ideas and beliefs. Those who are truly intolerant and opposed to pluralism – those who think social justice is not just an awkward phrase but a bad idea – are a small and declining group. But that group is manipulating language conflicts to their political advantage.
The left has yielded language to the right

posted November 5, 2018 / No Comments
Doug Ford’s Government for the (Old) People

posted October 25, 2018 / No Comments
Ontario city rushes in where first-past-the-post adherents fear to tread [Ranked Ballots]

posted October 19, 2018 / No Comments
Federal spending tops $332 billion as revenue gets a $20 billion boost

posted October 19, 2018 / No Comments

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