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Enforce our labour laws
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
May 16 2011
… the extent to which vulnerable workers in Ontario are being ripped off by some employers, as outlined in a new study, is startling. One in three low-wage workers has had wages unfairly withheld or outright stolen by employers, according to the Workers’ Action Centre report. For some, it’s paycheques that are short hours, for others it’s being denied vacation pay or forced to work copious overtime hours for no pay at all. This amounts to “wage theft” and an indictment of the government’s ability to enforce its labour laws and regulations on behalf of those who need the protections the most.
Tags: crime prevention, globalization, immigration, standard of living
Posted in Delivery System | No Comments »
Spine surgery can become much more efficient
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
May. 15, 2011
About 90 per cent of back- and neck-pain patients sent to spine surgeons don’t have a medical condition that can be corrected through an operation… The waste manifested in hospitals across Canada illustrates a central flaw in how health services are organized: around those who provide treatment, not those who require it. Patient-centred care is just a slogan, not a reality… Under the proposal… Physiotherapists, chiropractors and other health-care providers working in 15 spine-assessment centres would weed out those patients who are surgical candidates…
Tags: budget, Health
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Adoption subsidies help children find a family
Saturday, May 14th, 2011
May 14 2011
Most children removed from their families for their own protection… are shuffled through various foster homes or, worse still, placed in institutional group homes… It’s also a bad deal for taxpayers who fund this expensive, ineffective system. Adoption was never the likely outcome for four siblings all with severe health and emotional problems. But… it happened because of the willingness of the local children’s aid society to pay an ongoing subsidy… less than half what the government was paying to keep these children in foster care
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada must abandon its health-care monopoly
Saturday, May 14th, 2011
May 14, 2011
The non-partisan Conference Board of Canada has released a new study enumerating the weaknesses in Canada’s public health-care system. In short, the report says that while Canada spends a lot on public health care, our health outcomes are middling compared to other developed nations… Looking beyond lifestyle factors, creating better health outcomes for Canadians will mean finding the right balance between private and public care… Every country above us on the Conference Board’s list permits a better mixture of public and private spending on health.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Abused as Tory props [victims of crime]
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
Apr 27 2011
When the Conservative government created the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime four years ago, it said the watchdog would promote access to programs, explore systemic issues and make sure Ottawa met its commitments to victims. None of that can happen if the justice minister keeps the office’s annual reports under wraps. Sullivan says he filed his 2008 and 2009 reports before his three-year term ended last April but they have yet to be made public by the government.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, mental Health, rights, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Canada’s rich are not the enemy
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
Apr 26, 2011
BMO Harris Private Banking recently conducted an online survey of 459 Canadian millionaires. Of these, a scant 6% report that they inherited the bulk of their wealth. Ninety-four percent state that they are largely self-made, either as businesspersons or professionals. Eighty percent affirm that they enjoy greater wealth than their parents. And 76% believe it is important to give back to their communities… This is something we should remember as we endure the catcalls of class warfare during this election campaign and beyond.
Tags: ideology, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Insite’s proven benefits ignored in political fray
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
April 25, 2011
Insite has been hamstrung by legal challenges… The Conservative government has insisted the people of Vancouver and British Columbia shouldn’t have a say in this aspect of their health care, because the use of contraband narcotics is a federal criminal matter. So far the courts have all favoured B.C., citing the medical evidence of prior studies… But the argument over the whether health-care dollars should be squandered to support a law-and-order agenda that is a proven failure, or be used to actually improve the health of citizens is one for the politicians, not the courts.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, Health, ideology
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Crack down on illegal smokes
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011
Apr 23 2011
… smoking rates have declined — tobacco still remains the leading cause of preventable death in Ontario. The government’s new bill tackling contraband tobacco offers more modest change. It would set fines of $100 to more than $500 for people possessing contraband cigarettes; let the police more easily seize illegal products; and tighten some tobacco industry regulations…. Illegal cigarettes account for more than 40 per cent of those smoked by high schoolers…
Tags: Health, rights, youth
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Hold the line on EI premiums
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011
Apr. 17, 2011
Corporate tax cuts do not create as many jobs, and hikes do not yield as much revenue, as the parties claim… But taxes – payroll taxes, that is – are going up, by 15 cents per $100 of insurable earnings… a like increase is planned for every future year. Add that across the entire economy, and it’s a significant bite into incomes and pocketbooks… The parties should commit to holding the line on EI premium increases across the board. It can be done without bankrupting the EI system, and it’s the best way to help workers, and businesses of all sizes.
Tags: budget, ideology, tax
Posted in Delivery System | No Comments »
Harper’s big election bets are budget and crime
Sunday, April 10th, 2011
Apr 10 2011
Give the Conservatives credit for clarifying the election debate… frustrated by pesky opposition questions about the cost and purpose of its crime bills, the government would bundle all the measures into one comprehensive bill and make it law in the first 100 days of the new Parliament… Then there’s the cost. The government has used every excuse imaginable to avoid detailing the price tag of putting many more people behind bars… We wish the Conservatives could work up as much moral and financial enthusiasm for an education agenda or an innovation agenda.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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