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For happier patients, go electronic
Saturday, July 3rd, 2010
Jul. 02, 2010
So Canada’s waiting list problem is, in part, a resource allocation problem exacerbated by poor records. A lack of electronic records comes at a real, hidden cost. With decentralization of care and advances in genetics, the case for electronic records will get stronger. Robert Bell, CEO of Toronto’s University Health Network, says that “in the next 10 years, complexity is going to change health care so that it is fundamentally a practice of information management.”
Tags: Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Loyola’s good fight
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Jun. 28, 2010
In 2008, the Quebec government introduced a grade-school course titled “Ethics and Religious Culture” (ECR), to replace the religion courses previously offered by the province’s schools. Compulsory in all public and private institutions, ECR presents all religions on a morally relativistic footing, and devotes considerable weight to the history of liberal social movements. The introduction of ECR generated opposition among parents who saw it as an exercise in social engineering.
Tags: ideology, rights
Posted in Education Debates | 2 Comments »
War on drugs a costly failure
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
June 29, 2010
After 40 years of failure in dealing with drug abuse as a criminal problem, it’s time to listen to the experts and recognize it as a health issue… Using a scientific approach, determine what works to reduce the damage done to individuals and societies, and what doesn’t. Then do those things that are effective and quit doing those that are ineffective — or worse, destructive. The fact that this proposal is controversial shows how completely illogical the drug policy debate has become.
Tags: crime prevention, featured, Health, ideology
Posted in Health Debates | 1 Comment »
Late fees for legal aid
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
Jun 23 2010
To its credit, Ontario has recently moved to make legal aid more financially sustainable through increased funding and rule changes. But as Attorney General Chris Bentley pursues his commitment to “renew” legal aid, he can’t let the existing system — which low-income Ontarians rely on — fall to pieces while the transformation takes place… The poor and criminals may not be the most popular of clients but our justice system must treat them equally. For that to happen, they need access to legal representation.
Tags: rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Human contact key to reform
Monday, June 21st, 2010
Jun 21 2010
There are systems in place to protect vulnerable people, like 82-year-old Al Gosling, from being wrongly kicked out of city-subsidized housing. But those systems aren’t well-understood by many tenants or even by Toronto Community Housing Corp. staff… Gosling was forced to pay a heavy price for that information gap: he lost his home and, eventually, his life… former chief justice Patrick LeSage makes detailed recommendations for preventing such tragedies. Foremost among them is an insistence on better staff training and on face-to-face contact with tenants before any evictions are carried out.
Tags: disabilities, housing, mental Health, poverty, rights
Posted in Inclusion | No Comments »
Messages of equality and justice
Monday, June 21st, 2010
Jun 21 2010
“… a few propositions that have emerged loud and clear from my working life and to which I am deeply committed. That all people are born free and equal in rights and dignity, and that most of them have to spend the rest of their lives fighting to remain so. That fundamental rights don’t have to be earned. But that the exercise of power does. That we are only as safe and as free as everybody else is.” (Louise Arbour, former Supreme Court justice and current president of the International Crisis Group)
Tags: ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Put poverty on agenda
Saturday, June 19th, 2010
Jun 19 2010
Tony Martin’s bill would require the government to set out targets to reduce poverty… and to appoint an independent “poverty elimination commissioner” to hold it accountable…
What makes the initiative of the Sault Ste. Marie MP stand out is that he has drawn support across party lines. Liberal and Bloc Québécois MPs seconded the bill in the Commons this week, and a Conservative senator, Hugh Segal, said he supports Martin’s “intent and purpose.” Many business leaders have also begun to recognize that poverty not just bad for the poor; it also holds back the country by dragging down productivity and keeping us from reaching our full potential.
Tags: featured, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Welfare reform roadmap
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
Jun 15 2010
As for the scope of the review, the panel says it should be comprehensive and not focused exclusively on welfare, per se, which accounts for just 23 per cent of all income support programs. Other relevant programs include child tax benefits, employment insurance, and CPP disability payments. Of course, all these fall under federal jurisdiction, and the Harper government has no apparent interest in the file.
Tags: poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Breakthrough on pensions?
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
Jun 16 2010
the politicians did a dramatic about-face and emerged with a consensus for a beefed-up Canada Pension Plan. Ontario’s Dwight Duncan took the lead by calling for an expanded, mandatory CPP — rather than taking the path of least resistance with merely voluntary schemes that would benefit only workers with the means to pay more.
Tags: pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
More health care isn’t always better care
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
Jun. 14, 2010
More health care doesn’t necessarily mean better care, a point made powerfully in a new study from the United States that estimates 30 per cent or more of health-care spending, or perhaps $700-billion a year, is wasted… The institute followed 255,000 people. Those who moved to regions with “high-intensity” medical practices featuring lots of tests and services had a whopping 63-per-cent increase in diagnoses, compared with those who moved within low-intensity regions. But it doesn’t follow that finding and treating all that sickness was helpful.
Tags: budget, Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
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