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Enrolment to soar, in spite of demographic shift
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
May 10, 2011
The Ontario government has set a goal of seeing 70 per cent of its population earning a postsecondary credential, be it a trade certificate, a college diploma, or a university degree. The current rate is 64 per cent… if that goal is achieved, the number of full-time students at Ontario universities will rise to 485,000 by 2020, despite an expected decline in the 18-24 population. Full-time enrolment in 2010 was 398,000.
Tags: economy, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
Better economically to spend $6 billion on infrastructure than on corporate tax cuts, says new study
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011
April 19, 2011
“As a means of stimulating growth, employment and even private business spending, the historical evidence suggests the business tax cuts are both economically ineffective and distributionally regressive,” the [CCPA] report reads… The Conservatives’ proposed tax cuts will cost the federal treasury $6 billion a year… But, says Stanford, “We’d be much better off spending the $6 billion on public investment, which would ‘crowd in’ (via GDP effects) almost as much new private investment as would be stimulated by $6 billion in tax cuts.”
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Drug coverage by province/territory
Monday, April 4th, 2011
Apr. 03, 2011
If a Canadian had a $20,000 annual drug bill, earned the average Canadian household income of $76,400 and had no private drug insurance, the out-of-pocket costs would vary widely from province to province, from $0 to $20,000. If there were a catastrophic drug plan – one in which patients spend no more than 3 per cent of family income – the results would be much different. No patient would pay more than $2,292
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Ethical Consumption [citizen participation]
Friday, February 4th, 2011
January 26, 2011
Martin Turcotte of Statistics Canada explores consumers’ propensity to choose or boycott products based on ethical criteria. The study compares the evolution of citizens’ ethical consumption to other types of political participation and provides information on the persons most likely to base their purchases on ethical considerations…
Tags: economy, ideology, participation
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Reversal of Fortunes or Continued Success? [children of immigrants]
Friday, February 4th, 2011
January 26, 2011
Aneta Bonikowska and Feng Hou of Statistics Canada have released a report examining the earnings and educational attainment among children of immigrants. The study shows that successive cohorts of childhood immigrants who arrived in Canada during the 1960s through the 1980s had increasingly higher educational attainment than their Canadian-born peers by age 25 to 34…
Tags: immigration, multiculturalism, participation, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Low literacy levels affect everyone
Friday, January 28th, 2011
January 27, 2011
Many people can read, but do not feel confident in filling out forms like income-tax returns or applications for government benefits, cannot manage a chequing account or understand how much a credit-card debt is costing them… Many people can read, but do not understand medical terminology used by their physicians or pharmacists, or are unable to find the right place in a hospital, fill out medical and insurance forms and communicate with health-care providers. Lacking health literacy costs both the individual and the health-care system.
Tags: disabilities, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | 1 Comment »
Poverty costs PEI over $240 million a year
Friday, January 28th, 2011
January 26, 2011
It is estimated that the total cost of poverty in Prince Edward Island is at minimum between $240 and $320 million per year, which corresponds to about $1,720 and $2,265 per person, per year. These costs are calculated in The Cost of Poverty in PEI, published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia (CCPA-NS)… “in terms of the PEI economy, the cost of poverty is between 5%-7% of GDP, which is significant though similar to the estimated costs in other Canadian provinces.”
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates, Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Jim Flaherty, the reluctant surgeon
Friday, January 21st, 2011
January 21, 2011
Budgets typically provide the outlines of government policy; the implementation and detail come later… Yet the federal government already outlined its broad deficit-reduction strategy… a year ago… despite its rhetoric, a large share of the government’s deficit reduction is based on a gamble: that economic growth will replenish our coffers. But if growth is slower than hoped, that means lingering deficits, higher interest-on-debt payments – and more pain later on. The coming budget, therefore, cannot merely promise, again, that the cuts are coming. It must say what the cuts are.
Tags: budget, economy, participation
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »
Study tracks impact of social enterprises
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
January 11, 2011
Social enterprises are businesses operated by non-profit organizations for the dual purpose of generating income and creating social, environmental, and cultural value. Those participating in the study are engaged in a wide variety of social, cultural, environmental and revenue raising market activities. Of the 4,500 employees involved in the study, 60 percent were members of a designated target group such as persons with a mental or physical handicap or a member of a marginalized population… These social enterprises were responsible for training 11,670 people and providing services to an additional 678,000 people.
Tags: disabilities, economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
Hunger Inquiry Expert Panel’s Top Ten Recommendations…
Tuesday, December 21st, 2010
December 21, 2010
Top 10 Recommendations to address the dire situation illuminated through the the Recession Relief Coalition’s Hunger Inquiry, held… on November 23, 2010… These recommendations address themes that emerged from witness’ presentations… and are directed at all Canadian governments, communities and businesses in recognition that all have a part to play in ensuring that people in Canada do not have to struggle to meet a basic human need: the need for food.
Tags: budget, disabilities, economy, Health, homelessness, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
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