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Need help? Don’t look to Ottawa
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
Mar 15 2011
They call her Diane the Dinosaur. They remember every judgmental remark the human resources minister has made about the poor, the unemployed and parents desperate for child care. But community workers still harboured a slim hope that Diane Finley would show some humanity in her response to the poverty reduction plan produced by Parliament’s all-party committee on human resources. She quickly snuffed that out, rejecting all 58 of its recommendations… it was another setback in the increasingly forlorn battle against hunger, homelessness and deprivation.
Tags: homelessness, ideology, poverty
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Harper’s shadow public service
Monday, March 14th, 2011
Mar 14 2011
Economist David Macdonald decided to find out how many consultants, contractors and temporary workers the federal government was hiring and how much Canadians were paying for them. It took him about a year. What he discovered was a burgeoning “shadow public service.” Last year it cost taxpayers $1.2 billion. That was 79 per cent higher than when Prime Minister Stephen Harper took power in 2006. Despite a spending freeze in the federal bureaucracy, it is still growing by leaps and bounds… the government is building a parallel hiring system to replace workers who leave or retire.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, privatization, rights
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
Where the Tory axe will fall
Friday, March 11th, 2011
Mar 11 2011
Most of the savings will come from the expiry of the government’s fiscal stimulus program… a reduction in debt charges… [and] an anticipated drop in employment insurance payouts… Two sectors — prisons and border security — will get a substantial increase in funding. Five sectors will face cuts… Environment Canada… cultural programs… regional economic development agencies… Funding for scientific research and technological support… What is emerging is not trim, muscular government; it is tough, punitive government.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Why do Ontarians have to beg for food?
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
Mar 09 2011
… the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition… includes Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Evangelical Christians, Mennonites, Quakers, Roman Catholics, [Anglicans], Lutherans, Presbyterians and the United Church. Its central message is: “When anyone is hungry while others have too much to eat, when anyone has no shelter while others enjoy affluence, the quality of all our lives and communities disappears.”… If Duncan disregards its call to conscience, the church will mobilize its members in more communities and enlist other Ontarians who care about hunger but haven’t spoken out.
Tags: featured, ideology, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Law Commission goes to bat for vulnerable workers
Friday, February 25th, 2011
Feb 25 2011
The federal government has ignored the emergence of a large underclass of vulnerable workers (roughly 2.2 million Canadians). The province has plugged the worst holes in the Employment Standards Act, but only to mollify anti-poverty activists. Unions have watched helplessly as the rights they fought for have been rolled back. Businesses have been largely silent, not wanting to jeopardize a good bargain… The Law Commission’s… objective is to come up with a set of legal reforms and policy changes that would ameliorate the plight of vulnerable workers and bring the province’s employment law into the 21st century.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Harper is cutting off ‘lifeblood of democracy’
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011
Feb 23 2011
Here are a few of the things Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn’t want you to know: • How much his crime crackdown will cost… • How much his latest corporate tax cut will cost the national treasury… • Who was in charge of security at last year’s G20 summit… • What a North American security perimeter will actually mean… • What criteria the government uses to cut off a non-profit organization’s funding… This isn’t just an issue affecting journalists, civil libertarians and opposition MPs. You’re being kept in the dark about what’s happening to your tax dollars and your country.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Summit participants face a painful truth [CivicAction Alliance]
Friday, February 18th, 2011
Feb 17 2011
For the past 20 years, social activists have clung to an idealized image of Toronto as a city that cares for the vulnerable. They have churned out policy proposals and issued demands as if politicians and business leaders were listening. Last week, they acknowledged reality: They aren’t… But the smallest session of the summit had one big benefit: A badly needed conversation began.
Tags: Health, housing, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Five questions for promoters of corporate tax cuts
Friday, February 4th, 2011
Feb 03 2011
• What evidence does the government have that reducing corporate taxes stimulates job creation?… • How does Flaherty know corporations will use their tax cuts to hire workers rather than invest in labour-saving equipment, give their executives big bonuses, increase their shareholders’ dividends, facilitate mergers and acquisitions or simply sock the money away?… • Why is it good economic policy to shift an ever-growing portion of the tax burden from businesses (many of which are highly profitable) to individuals (many of whom are struggling to get back on their feet after the recession)?
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
Calculating tax breaks isn’t easy
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
Jan 25 2011
Every year, the government forgoes billions of dollars of revenue in tax credits, deductions, exemptions, rebates, deferrals and concessions. These special measures range from the universal child-care benefit to the accelerated deduction allowance for capital equipment. There are 235 of them… Members of Parliament would like to know how much money is going out the door. But the finance department won’t provide a tally…
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »
Slim bridge between Toronto’s two solitudes [housing the poor]
Monday, January 17th, 2011
Jan 17 2011
The recommendations in Vertical Poverty echo the proposals of anti-poverty activists and social agencies. The report calls for a national housing strategy; an Ontario Housing Benefit to help low-income tenants stave off eviction; an increase in funding for non-profit housing; a zoning amendment requiring developers to include affordable housing in residential highrises; a public investment in retrofitting aging apartments and an industry-government task force to tackle the problem of chronic elevator breakdown. In an era of retrenchment, this is going to be a hard sell.
Tags: budget, economy, housing, ideology, poverty
Posted in Inclusion Debates | 4 Comments »
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