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Centralized wait-lists work. So why isn’t Canada using them in health care across the country?
Friday, February 10th, 2023
Of course wait-list management isn’t all we need. At its best, it simply taps the potential of underutilized capacity in hospitals. We also need to stanch the hemorrhage of doctors and nurses out of publicly-funded care, and need a better spectrum of care to get people into and out of hospital more quickly. And we need more focus on keeping people out of hospital in the first place… It means better primary care through more interdisciplinary teams.
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Four ways the fall economic statement could help prepare all of us for the coming recession
Thursday, November 3rd, 2022
People are anxious. The world is talking about recession… What can the government do about any of it? Help those struggling to choose between heating or eating, or even between food or shelter, by asking a bit more from those who saw a windfall in corporate profits and shareholder dividends. Here are four ways to do just that…
Tags: budget, economy, housing, ideology, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
The new villain? Workers fighting for better wages. Don’t fall for it
Wednesday, October 5th, 2022
This is an important chapter in the history of workers’ struggles for decent work, a moment of fighting not only inflation but long-standing systemic inequalities. It has the potential to pit unionized worker against non-unionized worker, and private sector worker against public sector worker. Or it has the potential to pave the path toward decent work, through fairness and equity
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
One in six households in Ontario is now struggling with food insecurity. Here’s why it’s going to get worse
Wednesday, September 21st, 2022
The chattering classes have embraced a new economic theme: government efforts to fight inflation will trigger more inflation. They’re wrong… Ontario was the only province where more people were food insecure in 2021 than in 2020… Last week the Trudeau government introduced $4.6 billion in federal aid to be spent on inflation relief until the end of 2023, almost every penny for those with low incomes.
Tags: economy, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Provinces need to have a plan for health-care funding — or they shouldn’t get the money
Monday, August 15th, 2022
Provinces want $28 billion more from the feds for health care… Yes, health care needs more funding. But negotiations need to focus on producing better results. Our premiers need to do more than just acquire more money — they need to govern our public resources, and show us their plans for using an infusion of federal dollars so we can buy change. No plan? No money.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, jurisdiction, mental Health
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
If I were a car, I’d vote Conservative. But I’m not a car
Sunday, May 22nd, 2022
Do we want a car society, or a caring society? … Yes, we need more hospitals and facilities to care for one another, but a bed without nursing staff is just a mattress. Yes, we need more child-care facilities and smaller class sizes, but more spaces without trained caregivers is just a warehouse. We can deliver a strong recovery, for everyone.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, housing, ideology, participation, standard of living, women
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
CERB is done, and it’s not coming back. Staring down the barrel of a recession gun, how are we going to fix this?
Wednesday, May 4th, 2022
… why not just bring back CERB when recession hits next time? Because it was too generous to be fiscally sustainable over the long run and not politically sustainable due to sectoral labour shortages. But today’s EI is not fit for purpose either. With less than four in 10 jobless workers able to access it, it’s too stingy. However, there is a lot of consensus on how to fix EI…
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Too many dangers in promised privatization of care economy
Tuesday, April 26th, 2022
People with complications are too costly… They’ll end up in an underfunded public not-for-profit system. More access to care through for-profit providers does nothing to address the shortage of health care and eldercare workers and early childhood educators. Cheaper, more equitable, high-quality care that creates good jobs won’t happen by expanding for-profit care. Here are 10 advantages of investing more in public and not-for-profit care.
Tags: budget, disabilities, economy, featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Inflation is back to 1991 levels, but that doesn’t mean the federal budget should be a ’90s remix
Friday, April 22nd, 2022
The focus on boosting innovation and investment is a waste of time and money. Since the 1990s, evidence shows governments don’t know how to goose productivity or growth. But we know governments maximize potential when they invest in the foundations for everyone (affordable and accessible high-quality health, education, housing and communication, as a bare minimum).
Tags: budget, economy, housing, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Amid spiralling costs for Canadians and atrocities abroad, deficit is not a dirty word
Wednesday, April 6th, 2022
… business pages are full of opinions that say there’s already too much spending, deficits are dangerously high, and so any new spending must focus on supporting — surprise! — business, the self-proclaimed source of wealth creation… It’s very likely we are under-taxing some of the most profitable businesses, so yes, apart from borrowing, there’s a fix for the “how ya gonna pay for it?” crowd… Those urging governments to trim spending look only at the costs of programs, and not the fiscal dividends of acting.
Tags: budget, child care, economy, featured, Health, housing, ideology, pharmaceutical, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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