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Tories not doing enough to fix EI program
Monday, September 27th, 2010
Sep 27 2010
… what’s wrong with EI: – Approximately 40 per cent of the jobless don’t qualify for unemployment benefits… People who don’t qualify for EI benefits are shut out of Ottawa’s job training and skills upgrading programs… All workers pay identical premiums, but EI claimants receive starkly different benefits, depending on their regional unemployment rate… Employment insurance is no longer an economic stabilizer.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Recession exposes fallacies behind EI funding
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010
Sep 22 2010
The government has until Nov. 30 to decide whether to go ahead with the proposed 15-cent-per-hour increase on Jan. 1, 2011, or override the EI financing board… If they stick to their fiscal plan, they risk upsetting voters in every part of the country. If they delay the premium increase, they’ll have trouble reaching their goal of balancing the federal budget within five years… the Caledon Institute… urges the government to forgo next’s year’s rate increase. But its bigger message is an appeal to Parliament to rethink the financing of jobless benefits.
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Economic warning signs are flashing
Friday, September 17th, 2010
Sep 17 2010
The once-robust housing market has sagged. The trade surplus has vanished. And economists across the spectrum have slashed their growth forecasts… Thanks in part to Harper’s willingness to set aside his low-tax, small-government philosophy, Canada came out of the 2008-09 the recession faster, with more impetus, than any of its western peers. But now the pace is slowing and caution signs are flashing. The last thing this nation needs is an abrupt dose of federal restraint
Tags: economy, ideology
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
Canadian economy saunters when it could lope
Friday, September 10th, 2010
Sep. 09 2010
Although Canada doesn’t need an extension of the short-term infrastructure stimulus announced in 2009, it does need to provide unemployed and underemployed workers with continued access to the training they need to earn a decent income. For Ontario, that means extending the Second Career program for as long as necessary to accommodate the backlog of unemployed workers who have applied for the financial help — a task made more onerous and more urgent by the federal government’s impending cut-off of the additional five weeks of jobless benefits it offered long-tenured workers last year.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Elderly caregivers desperately need help
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
Sep 08 2010
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) issued a report in late August called Supporting Informal Caregivers: The Heart of Home Care. It showed that one in six people caring for ailing seniors at home is in distress. The number shoots up to one in three if the senior has cognitive problems such as Alzheimer’s disease, one in two if the senior is aggressive or abusive. These are the first authoritative figures on the problem. Up to now, advocates have relied on estimates or anecdotal evidence… At a time when Ontario is encouraging seniors to stay in their homes for as a long as possible, it is important to know who is providing the support they need.
Tags: disabilities, Health, pensions, poverty, standard of living, women
Posted in Child & Family Debates | 1 Comment »
Mega-donations pose deep questions
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
Aug 11 2010
American multi-billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett announced that 40 of the richest people in the U.S. had joined them in pledging to give away at least half of their wealth… Their campaign to enlist the wealthiest people in the United States began in June… Within two months, the founders had approached 80 billionaires and signed up half. They still have 320 American billionaires to contact… the kind of altruism they’re promoting bears a strong resemblance to the rank-based benevolence of a bygone era… their munificence will exacerbate three troubling trends
Tags: ideology, philanthropy, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Separating fact from myth in the census saga
Friday, August 6th, 2010
August 6, 2010
… his ministers have been pigheaded, dismissing the damage this policy will do and rejecting constructive proposals for reform. If Harper proceeds, Canada’s 2011 census — except its basic head count — will be little more than an unscientific poll. But he didn’t carve the path he’s on. That was done by four prime ministers, two chief statisticians, a bevy of bureaucrats and a public that didn’t stir until it was too late.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Former residents of mental asylum seek justice
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Aug 04 2010
No words can right the wrongs the Huronia Regional Centre did to its residents. No expression of regret can change their blighted lives. No profession of contrition will excuse the five provincial governments that knew what was going on behind its doors and did little. Last week an Ontario Superior Court judge authorized a $1 billion class action suit against the provincial government by former residents of the Huronia Centre, originally known as the Orillia Asylum for Idiots.
Tags: disabilities, mental Health, participation, rights
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Charities forced to turn away clients
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
Jul 16 2010
A survey of 311 charities and voluntary organizations conducted this spring by the Social Planning Network of Ontario showed that demand for services — everything from food assistance to suicide counselling — is still rising while donations dwindle… Government funding to non-profit agencies started to fall this year. The social planning network expects sharper declines as political leaders shift from stimulus to austerity. Half the agencies in the survey expect to emerge from the economic downturn irreversibly damaged.
Tags: economy, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Where’s the ‘net benefit’ to Canada?
Friday, July 9th, 2010
Jul 09 2010
One by one they’ve toppled: Stelco, Dofasco, Inco, Falconbridge, Noranda, Domtar. Since Stephen Harper took power, more than 600 Canadian companies have fallen into foreign hands. Business leaders say these takeovers have been good for Canada. They have accelerated the pace of technological change, brought badly needed capital into the country and encouraged Canadian companies to become aggressive global hunters. Community leaders say they have hollowed out Canada, stripping the nation of its industrial icons and destroying livelihoods.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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