The dark heart of England
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
Aug 09 2011
If you have a job or one day dream of having a job, you cling to a respectability that might pay off eventually. But there will never be jobs for these people. You cannot scare them… Try living there on welfare benefits. Imagine losing them and spending your days in a state of semi-controlled desperation. How do you feed your last grain of self-esteem? You riot… Nobody cares about the poor, especially when they turn thuggish and ungrateful… It’s easier to report on the flames and who lit the fire. But why did they light the fire in the first place?
Tags: crime prevention, economy, featured, ideology, poverty
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | 1 Comment »
User fees are badges of dishonesty
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Jun 14 2011
Of course we howl about taxes spelled out for us on credit card receipts and tax forms. User fees are stealthy in that no one’s interested when you complain about them… But raising user fees and cutting taxes add up to the same thing… Canadians are unable to see the big picture… Witness spending cuts for the National Research Council, Environment Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development but higher spending on jails, immigration oversight, refugee appeals and courts.
Tags: ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Tax is not a dirty word
Saturday, April 16th, 2011
Apr 15 2011
Thanks to the current demonizing of taxes, three levels of Canadian government — municipal, provincial and federal — fight not to be openly saddled with levying the things… Do we realize what a great deal we’re losing as we parrot the American Tea Party and demand lower taxes and the same level of services? Peace, order and good government doesn’t come cheap… The hard-right would have us believe you can just stop paying taxes, just as you can quit drinking coffee and have better sleeps and a more restful life… Taxes pay for good things that we don’t think about until they vanish.
Tags: featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
For parents, a pittance and sneers
Monday, February 7th, 2011
Feb 07 2011
How I wish Stephen Harper hadn’t killed the Liberal daycare plan. The Conservative approach — $100 a month whether you need it or not — shows both disdain and cluelessness. That money wouldn’t buy me a roll of TTC tokens and a snow shovel to get the stroller out of the driveway. Ottawa offers a pittance and a series of sneers. Then it frets about the aging population and how there won’t be enough young people working to pay for their hip replacements and dementia therapy. Do we really wonder why people don’t have more children?
Tags: child care, economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, women
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Helping autistic kids requires certain daring
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Aug 30 2010
The disorder is genetic, heritable and incurable. Parents get extremist in their love, politicians fail to wave a magic wand and then ugly words are hurled, often unjustly… It’s the same hellish path trod by parents of schizophrenics. There aren’t enough group homes for violent autistic teenagers in the same way that there are not enough teachers of $60,000 a year Intensive Behavioural Therapy for pre-school kids with autism.
Tags: child care, disabilities, mental Health
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
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