Martin Regg Cohn « Authors « Social Policy in Ontario

Mike Harris expanded the privatization of long-term care. Doug Ford is discovering that wasn’t a magic cure

Tuesday, May 5th, 2020

There is a contradiction in the criticisms of long-term care: We want to have it all for nothing — better beds but more of them; more quantity and more quality; single rooms with private bathrooms but without the wait lists; more for less… Today, in a pandemic cycle, beware the panaceas.

Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | 12 Comments »

Doug Ford didn’t protect long-term-care facilities from COVID-19. Neither did the rest of us

Thursday, April 16th, 2020

We could and should hold the current government to account — for falling behind the rest of Canada on testing, for lagging on nursing-home care, for fobbing off responsibility on to public health officials. But there is enough blame to go around — for politicians past and present, public servants and the public… Our premier has put his best face forward in recent weeks, but he still has much to answer for.

Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical, poverty
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »

Gig-economy workers already knew what coronavirus is teaching the rest of us now

Saturday, March 21st, 2020

… we already have the antidote to precarity: security — income security. And not just in an emergency. Income security sounds like something abstract or complicated, but nothing could be more tangible and understandable: If you lose income, you make it up with a guaranteed minimum; if you gain or regain income, you give up your supplement (it’s taxed back).

Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »

Doug Ford wants his Mike Harris moment. Teachers won’t give it to him. Taxpayers will pay for it

Wednesday, December 18th, 2019

Under the pretext of an inflated deficit, Ford’s Tories pre-emptively imposed a legislated salary cap of one per cent on the public sector, just in time, coincidentally, for teacher negotiations. They did this knowing that the courts overruled such overreach when a Liberal government abrogated collective bargaining rights in 2012 (during a real fiscal emergency, unlike today’s imaginary crisis)

Tags: budget, ideology, rights, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »

Mental health reform in Ontario is no easy matter

Friday, July 26th, 2019

Without innovative new approaches to treatment, the rising cost curve will place unprecedented pressure on already soaring health budgets… Experience shows that CBT yields impressive results with far shorter treatments, and can be delivered by other regulated health care practitioners, not just psychiatrists.

Tags: budget, featured, ideology, mental Health, participation, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »

Why are we forever chasing the dream of a universal drug plan?

Tuesday, June 18th, 2019

… derailed by opposing political agendas, fierce resistance from private insurers, public ambivalence and voter apathy… universal pharmacare isn’t merely about equity and ideology, but efficacy and efficiency… The challenge is to make those savings feel real, not notional… that cost-benefit tradeoff must be spelled out clearly to persuade people that the savings end up in their pockets.

Tags: budget, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, participation, pharmaceutical, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »

All Ontarians will pay the price for Doug Ford zapping public sector wages

Wednesday, June 5th, 2019

As much as some Conservatives might dislike debt, or disdain deficits, or begrudge public servants’ salaries, or resent teachers’ summers off, the laws of our land set a higher standard for the systematic suspension of collective bargaining rights. The courts have ruled that you must have good reason(s) — unless, of course, Ford once again intends to overrule any courts that dare to overrule his government by invoking the Charter’s notwithstanding clause.

Tags: budget, economy, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »

The hidden fiscal hole in Doug Ford’s budget that will keep on hurting

Sunday, May 26th, 2019

Never before has an Ontario government spent so much more to deliver so much less. Instead of getting greater value for money, we are losing what we value most — in education, transit, health care and social services.

Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »

Doug Ford’s post-budget plan to declare bankruptcy

Tuesday, May 21st, 2019

His first budget would recast him as a kinder, gentler premier. Not too tough, not too soft — just right. It didn’t go according to plan. By holding back the bad news… Ford’s Tories are belatedly paying a heavy price… Ford’s popularity is tumbling… Time for a change of plan… Instead of moderation, desperation and disruption are Ford’s new watchwords — because desperate times allow for desperate measures.

Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »

Doug Ford will axe the tax — except his own stealth carbon tax

Thursday, March 28th, 2019

Ontario will mark April Fools’ Day with a few strange stunts… shuttering the office of Ontario’s environmental commissioner, ending a quarter-century of independent oversight… paying more than $30 million in legal bills out of the pockets of Ontario taxpayers to fight the federal government that also represents them… Our premier is waging a loud battle against the federal carbon tax in court, while simultaneously proposing his own stealth carbon tax at home.