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The autism problem
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Aug 31 2010
is the province doing enough to address the problem of autism as the reported incidence grows exponentially and parents become more and more desperate? Under the Liberal government at Queen’s Park, annual funding for basic therapy for autism has increased fourfold, from $44 million to $165 million. And funding for “complex special needs” cases, like Fentie-Pearce’s son, has increased from $29 million to $74 million. But it is clearly not enough, as parents are becoming increasingly frustrated over long waiting lists for therapy or for placement in group homes.
Tags: child care, disabilities, mental Health
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
The right to refuse wellness
Monday, August 30th, 2010
Aug 30 2010
Ontario rightly abandoned the routine practice of institutionalizing those with a mental illness and forcing invasive treatments on them decades ago. Now, we watch people deteriorate and harm themselves without being legally able to intervene at all. Ontario must broaden its criteria for when people can be involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric facility and limit the right of patients to refuse treatment once they are there, the report states. “The right to autonomy must be balanced with the right to be well.”
Tags: Health, mental Health, rights
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Doctors and medicare
Saturday, August 28th, 2010
Aug 27 2010
Canadians love the idea of medicare, but they know it falls short of its ideals. The quick fixes that have been proposed in the past — big cuts, massive funding increases or widespread privatization — won’t work magic. Changing the way the system works is the way to go… Doctors have traditionally been reluctant to give up authority and to share leadership with other health-care workers, such as nurse practitioners. By putting the accent on innovation and cooperation, Turnbull has signalled Canada’s doctors are open to new ways of restoring medicare to good health.
Tags: Health, ideology
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Don’t slash foodassistance
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
Aug 22 2010
Ontario’s special diet allowance currently provides $10 to $250 a month to some 165,000 welfare and disability support recipients, enabling them to buy specialized foods to better manage medical conditions, such as multiple sclerosis and diabetes. Restricting their access to those extra funds by tightening the rules will only make them poorer and, consequently, sicker. All that does is transfer the costs, plus additional ones, from the welfare budget to the health-care budget.
Tags: Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
A quick way to ease poverty
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
Aug 17 2010
Urging people to get jobs and then stripping them of the financial benefits that come with work makes little sense. But that is just what Ontario’s welfare system does… It’s no less cruel and senseless to force people into destitution before they can apply for benefits; to restrict their access to education opportunities once they are receiving assistance; and to penalize them for emergency loans. Ontario’s punitive rule-bound social assistance system not only humiliates and demoralizes recipients, it impedes their transition to the workforce — ultimately costing taxpayers more, not less.
Tags: featured, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
The premiers vs. drug costs
Monday, August 16th, 2010
Aug 15 2010
The provinces collectively spend $10 billion a year on prescription drugs, so the stakes are high… the premiers announced plans to set up a national agency that would be responsible for purchasing prescription drugs and, ultimately, medical equipment, as well as for jointly evaluating and approving new drugs for all the provinces and territories… But any savings achieved through coordinated drug approvals and purchasing should be reinvested in necessary health-care services rather than be used as an excuse for cutbacks in federal funding.
Tags: budget, Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
The trouble with LHINs
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
Aug 12 2010
The Hamilton-area LHIN’s “sneaky” (Marin’s word) actions have undermined public confidence not only in itself but also, by extension, in the 13 other LHINs across the province that have adopted the same bylaw. Marin argues the Hamilton-area LHIN may also have left itself vulnerable to court action over its decisions. “These meetings were plainly illegal,” he says… The province, belatedly, stepped in to ensure that private meetings for “educational” purposes can’t be used in the future to hold closed-door discussions about consolidating health services.
Tags: Health, mental Health, participation
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Keep the prison farms running
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
Aug. 11, 2010
The government’s main arguments in favour of closing the farms are lack of benefits and costs to taxpayers. Neither justification holds up to scrutiny… The government has not said what will replace the prison farms. Will these programs cost more, or less? Will they be more effective in reintegrating prisoners into society? What skills will be taught? In addition, replacing the foodstuffs produced on the farms may end up costing the taxpayer more than the cost of running the farms themselves.
Tags: budget, corrections
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
International Day of the World’s Indigenous People
Monday, August 9th, 2010
August 9, 2010
CASW draws attention to the inequitable treatment of First Nations children in our own country, demanding that the Government of Canada relent on its resistance and sign the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. “Only two countries have not signed the declaration,” stated CASW President Darlene MacDonald. “The Harper government’s refusal to sign is in itself appalling, especially given that its own Progress Report on Aboriginal Initiatives (2009-10) boasts about developing and implementing a practical and results-driven vision for Aboriginal policy.”
Tags: Indigenous, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Step backward in labour laws
Monday, August 9th, 2010
Aug 06 2010
… the government proposes to “modernize” the Employment Standards Act. Under new rules, workers would be required to confront their boss about unpaid wages, overtime or other breaches of the law before filing a claim with the labor ministry… “This is like asking someone who’s had their purse stolen to go and confront the thief before they’re allowed to make a complaint with the police,” said Sonia Singh, an organizer at the Workers’ Action Centre… B.C. passed similar legislation eight years ago. Thousands of exploited workers simply stopped filing claims.
Tags: globalization, immigration, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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