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Health-care advice from south of the border

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Fri May 21 2010
• Look for ways to reduce health-care costs. The survival of the system is more important than the preservation of every existing program. • Listen to the people. Americans and Canadians have said for years they’d rather be cared for at home than in a hospital or long-term care institution. It makes sense to move in this direction, politically and economically. • Use every available tool. A national drug purchasing program would be an obvious one. • Look at the big picture. Don’t focus solely on your own interests.

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Kids learn power and pleasure of giving

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

May 18 2010
The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) is now it in sixth year. It has touched the lives of 35,000 teenagers. Here is how it works. The Toskan Casale Foundation offers to provide a school with a $5,000 grant, to be awarded by a Grade 9 or 10 class to the charity of its choice. But the students have to earn the money. They have to learn about the charity, meet the people who run it and talk to its clients. Then the class has to make a presentation, explaining why it deserves the grant. Meanwhile, other classes are doing the same thing. The presentations are judged by a panel of students, parents, public officials and community activists. The winning class gets to present the cheque to the charity it championed… So far, the foundation has given away $4 million.

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Slow down and get retirement homes law right

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

May 17 2010
…legislation would create an arm’s-length regulatory authority to license and inspect retirement homes, investigate complaints and impose penalties on operators who neglected or mistreated residents. This non-government agency would be governed by a board of directors made up of people with a background in the retirement home business or a competency in the field…. “…the model as drafted is more similar to enhanced self-regulation,” Wahl said. “We urge the committee to use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get it right and provide proper protections to individuals living in retirement homes.”

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This is ‘what women want’? Highly unlikely

Friday, May 14th, 2010

May 14 2010
• How could a government that is using every device at its disposal to abolish the gun control registry that women fought for, claim to be improving their safety?
• How could a government that ignores the disappearance of 580 aboriginal women claim to care about their safety?
• How could a government that stokes fears of violence when the crime rate is dropping, claim to be making women safer?

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Housing shortage tiptoes onto political agenda

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

May 12 2010
It would take a minor miracle for Parliament to pass a private member’s bill calling for “secure, adequate and affordable housing for Canadians.” But faith, hope and the prospect of a miracle are what sustain the churches, unions, municipalities, community groups, social agencies and anti-poverty activists who have been fighting for a national housing strategy for 20 years… It’s a long shot, but anything can happen in a minority Parliament.

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A land of well-paid workers and willing taxpayers

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Apr 30 2010
The most memorable scene in Poor No More, a documentary that premiered this week in Toronto, takes place on the shop floor of a large truck manufacturer in Sweden. A female employee, talking while she works, says it’s “okay to pay taxes because our system takes care of all the people.” She explains that if she became sick or had an accident, she would get 80 per cent of her wages. Like all Swedes, she is entitled to subsidized child care, elder care, high-quality health care and 10 days of parental leave a year.

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Posted in Inclusion Debates | 2 Comments »

Medicare needs to get better, not bigger

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Apr 28 2010
The health-care system is still rigidly compartmentalized and riven by competing interests. Politicians see little electoral advantage in targeting resources at disadvantaged groups. Doctors don’t regard poverty or hunger as medical problems. And taxpayers are fiercely protective of what they have.

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Police get it right but province lags

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Apr 23 2010
Toronto isn’t the only city in Ontario with teams of police officers and mental health professionals. Mississauga and Hamilton now have similar programs. “This is a success story,” Federico says. “There’s no downside to expanding it across the province. “I’m curious to know where mental health is on the ministry’s priority list.”

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An economist analyses health costs

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Apr 19 2010
Troubled by the rising level of panic over Ontario’s burgeoning health-care bill, economist Dale Orr is trying to get a few facts on the table… His analysis is far from exhaustive. But it puts Ontario’s health budget in perspective; shows how federal transfers create, rather than correct, inequities in provincial health spending; and suggests that policy-makers need to look beyond doctors, hospitals and pharmacies for answers.

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Weak case for corporate tax cuts

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Apr 16 2010
If competitiveness is so important, why aren’t businesses investing their earnings in innovation?…
If tax cuts allow companies to pay higher wages, why are they moving in the opposite direction?…
If a balanced budget is the key to long-term growth, as Flaherty contends, why should business be exempt from the deficit-cutting effort?

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