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Bed blockers still there
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Jun 08 2010
… one in every six beds in the province’s acute-care hospitals is occupied by patients just waiting to be transferred to a nursing home. These “bed blockers” create logjams in emergency wards and delays in surgery… the problem is getting worse, not better, despite the expenditure of hundreds of millions by successive Conservative and Liberal governments to create more nursing home spaces. The wait time for entry to a nursing home today is three times longer than it was five years ago.
Tags: Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Aides lose their tongues
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Jun 07 2010
There is a long tradition of committees summoning government bureaucrats to lend their expertise to hearings. And MPs have every right to insist that a ministerial aide be accountable for matters about which they have direct knowledge. There is plenty of precedent for political staff being called to testify… it is for elected parliamentarians to decide Parliament’s business, not a matter for ministerial fiat…
Tags: participation, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Unmuzzle the critics [lawsuits against public participation]
Friday, June 4th, 2010
Jun 04 2010
Residents who fight developments increasingly fear they’ll be bankrupted if the proponent retaliates by suing them for legal costs. That’s why the province appointed an expert panel last week to outline legislation to stop “lawsuits from being used to silence critics by imposing long and costly court processes on them.” This is a welcome departure from the government’s previous position that SLAPP suits — an acronym for Strategic Lawsuits Against Pubic Participation — were not a problem.
Tags: participation, rights
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Repurposing schools
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Jun 03 2010
At a time of declining enrollments, converting some of Toronto’s half-empty schools into community hubs — offering services that go well beyond education — is an obvious way to repurpose valuable resources…. Without co-ordinated action, underutilized schools will never be repurposed for the neighbourhoods that need them most. And unused properties will simply be sold off to private developers. It’s not too late to act.
Tags: participation
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Health budget unsustainable
Friday, May 28th, 2010
May 28 2010
We’d all benefit from a health-care system that, through its funding structure, encouraged doctors and hospitals to avoid ordering batteries of tests or prescribing a potpourri of pills for patients. Key to this is getting the computerization of health records back on track. Without an electronic health record, patients will continue to undergo needless tests or get unnecessary medications that can send them to emergency rooms with complications… other ideas will be politically difficult to implement, including putting doctors on salary (as opposed to fee for service) and making usage of the health-care system a taxable benefit.
Tags: budget, Health
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
A better idea for foster kids
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
May 23 2010
… a report by the Laidlaw Foundation urged Ottawa to establish registered education savings plans (RESPs) for children in foster care, similar to those that parents set up for their own children. The report rightly identifies the transforming effect that making college financially possible could have on Crown wards. While such a change would be helpful for the minority with the academic credentials to attend a post-secondary institution, the province needs to take further steps to give these youths a better chance of just getting through high school.
Tags: participation, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Reading and writing: the golden ticket
Saturday, May 15th, 2010
May 15, 2010
Pull the struggling readers out of their regular program, as early as Grade 7, when students in much of Canada are beginning the rotary system (moving from class to class), and teach them to read and write. Don’t just give a student an “intervention” that might or might not succeed. Intervene in any shape or form necessary until the student can read and write acceptably well. And don’t just try to reach the most promising of the struggling readers. Do it for all of them.
Tags: multiculturalism, participation
Posted in Education Debates | 1 Comment »
Why diversity matters
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
May 12 2010
“Saying yes to diversity is saying yes to modernity, to opportunity, and to the very future of our country,” said (Governor General Michaëlle) Jean. “But saying no carries a huge price. For each time social exclusion closes a door, another door is opened to desolation, frustration, and despair.”
Tags: globalization, multiculturalism
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Unkind cut for disabled
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
May 06 2010
Ontario cut $22 million that had been expected by some 380 organizations supporting people with developmental disabilities. The sector was not specifically targeted, but it fell victim to the broad austerity program introduced by the provincial government to reduce the provincial deficit. …it makes little sense to fund planning for a fairer and more sustainable system in the future while throwing the same organizations into a budgetary crisis today.
Tags: disabilities, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
The ongoing corporate welfare scandal
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
May 03, 2010.
…the report cites several examples from 2009 where ministers obfuscated when announcing these loans by publicly employing the term “repayable investment” (which makes it appear as though the company will have to repay the money)… the recipient may or may not have to pay it back… And taxpayers are none the wiser.
Tags: economy
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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