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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.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Ontario’s new plan for health care echoes past prescriptions
Thursday, February 28th, 2019
Elliott is now promising “transformation” of the system. She will deliver “patient-centred care.” And she intends to move people through a “siloed” system “seamlessly.” That’s precisely the wording used by the previous Liberal health minister, Dr. Eric Hoskins… Connectivity can be a good thing but it is not a sure thing — it can’t conjure up co-ordination, efficiencies and extra beds on demand. Buzzwords are not benchmarks… the question is whether these reforms are truly transformational or merely aspirational.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health History | No Comments »
The danger of two-tier medicine if Doug Ford’s top doc doesn’t seek informed consent first
Monday, February 4th, 2019
All that decentralization engendered duplication, as each LHIN and CCAC assembled its own bureaucracies and boards, leaving the available managerial talent stretched thin. It’s time to recalibrate and recentralize, breaking down barriers instead of creating yet more silos… If the Devlin-Decter duo is pondering a two-tier system for Ford, presumably they plan to be “transparent and accountable to the public” about it before delivering a fait accompli.
Tags: budget, Health, participation
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Ontario’s buck-a-beer playbook is coming to a campus near you — with tuition discounts too good to be true
Sunday, January 20th, 2019
… you don’t need a university degree to know that discounted tuition comes at a cost… This isn’t the first government to promise reduced post-secondary costs. The difference is the Tories won’t be making up the difference — because the money will come straight off the bottom line of Ontario’s cash-strapped colleges and universities.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
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