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Fresh thinking on native policy
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Jul. 22, 2010
Shawn Atleo… the charismatic young entrepreneur, who is National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), told his organization’s annual meeting in Winnipeg this week that it was time for Canada’s aboriginals to agree to a dismantling of the Indian Act and the federal Indian bureaucracy created in the Act’s image. It was time for greater independence. But then in the next breath, he called for new federal agencies that would ensure the provision of land, health care, education and other items promised in treaties.
Tags: Indigenous, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Federal statistical folly in full view
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Jul. 22, 2010
The federal government’s attempts to justify the elimination of the long-form census questionnaire fail to achieve the standard of what Canadians should expect of their elected officials… Good government is about leadership – focusing the population on the important challenges of the future, not distracting them with sideshows – and management: inspiring an organization to do the best work of which it is capable. On this matter, the government is failing the tests of both strong leadership and good management.
Tags: budget, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Crime figures belie policies
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Jul 22 2010
… crime-fighting is at the top of the Conservative government’s agenda. And why not? Preying on people’s fears is an easy sell for politicians seeking votes. But the hard sell isn’t based on hard facts. As the latest Statistics Canada analysis released this week shows, crime rates are going in the opposite direction… There is no reliable evidence that longer jail terms act as a deterrent to crime. There is every reason to believe more time in prison makes for more hardened criminals.
Tags: budget, corrections, crime prevention, ideology
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Taking family law beyond the courts
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
July 21, 2010
The BC government’s wide-ranging white paper on proposed changes to family law is promising, particularly on settlement of disputes and on the definition of parenthood… It says that the commencement of a lawsuit should no longer be the “presumptive” or “implied” starting point for sorting out the consequences of a separation of spouses. The principal device proposed to displace that default mode is to require lawyers to certify that they have presented to their clients the full spectrum of other ways to settle their differences, before they resort to… litigation.
Tags: featured
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Echo of Bob Rae’s social contract
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Jul 20 2010
Given that the economic recovery is fragile, the unions are right in arguing that now is not the right time to begin slashing public sector spending. But surely it is time to plan for future restraint, which is what the government is doing… As for “taxing the rich,” that is not a realistic option for a sub-national government. It would simply drive businesses and high-income individuals out of the province. Should the deficit be fought entirely on the backs of public sector workers? Of course not. But they should be part of the solution.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
How to reform Children’s Aid
Monday, July 12th, 2010
Jul 11 2010
Ontario’s child welfare system is so rule-bound it regulates the bath temperature and the size of a bedroom window in foster homes. Yet there is no tangible evidence that these regulations, the hundreds of other rules and all the accompanying paperwork achieve the one goal that really matters: ensuring children are happy, healthy and getting the care they need…. A commission set up by Children’s Minister Laurel Broten to provide advice on making CASs more financially sustainable has recommended a new way of doing business. It deserves attention.
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Poverty should not stand in the way of education
Friday, July 9th, 2010
July 8, 2010
The problem is current education funding virtually ignores all factors except student population (there are some concessions made to smaller, rural areas). Thus any efforts to overcome socio-economic issues within school boards comes at the expense of other schools, assuming boards even have the ability to tackle anything related to socio-economic issues… If education is truly the key to helping people escape poverty, then we need to do everything possible to ensure poverty doesn’t then stand in the way to our children getting that education.
Tags: participation, poverty
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Welfare Must Change!
Monday, July 5th, 2010
July 5, 2010
While ISARC supports the federal and provincial governments creating an income security system for people caught in unemployment or recession, ISARC asks the Ontario government to work as quickly as possible to eliminate the “stupid rules” in the welfare system, increase income of recipients, and appoint the commissioners and the social assistance advisory committee to conduct the Social Assistance Review. To do a thorough job, 18 months might be necessary, but people with low income should not suffer further because transformation takes a long time.
Tags: poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | 1 Comment »
Where’s housing plan?
Sunday, July 4th, 2010
Jul 04 2010
… the government continues to dither on the one policy that could make a real difference: an affordable housing strategy. Just one week before announcing the rent increase guideline, the government again postponed its long-awaited strategy… The landlords say they won’t be able to maintain buildings because the guideline is too low to recoup the increased costs related to the harmonized sales tax (HST), which came into effect July 1… But the rent guideline is not the cause of all these problems any more than it is the solution to Ontario’s affordable housing crisis.
Tags: housing, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Wrong move on census
Saturday, July 3rd, 2010
Jul 03 2010
Government policy-makers, academic researchers, journalists and businesses all relied on the unbiased data — unbiased in the sense that people were selected by a random process for the questions so as to weed out any survey bias. Henceforth, StatsCan will have to rely on volunteers to answer its more detailed questions… The government’s latest move to curtail the census is just another example of ideology trumping common sense.
Tags: ideology, participation
Posted in Governance Debates | 3 Comments »
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