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Good advice on fixing Ontario’s welfare system
Monday, November 4th, 2019
“Low benefit rates leave people in deep poverty, and program rules create barriers to their participating in the labour force and improving their lives,” the report says… In short, a focus on cuts rather than results has not only made the lives of the poor more miserable, but it has worked against efforts to get people back into the labour force.
Tags: budget, disabilities, economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
A (little) bit of welcome news on the opioid crisis
Friday, October 25th, 2019
… “evidence-based strategies” … includes improved access to harm reduction and overdose prevention, such as safe consumption sites; increased resources to treat addictions and mental health conditions; and better access to alternative treatments for chronic pain… There were more than 4,500 opioid-related deaths in Canada last year. Ontario needs to do its part to make sure those numbers decline.
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Scheer, Ford and the lessons of Ontario
Saturday, October 19th, 2019
Ontario voters gave Ford their support when he warned of troubled government finances that needed a conservative touch to right the ship. They trusted him when he promised to put more money in their pockets and to cut government spending in ways they wouldn’t notice. We know how poorly that’s turned out, but Scheer is still hoping voters will buy those lines once again.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Liberals are the best choice for Canada
Thursday, October 17th, 2019
… despite the failings of the Liberals, this is the time to focus on what’s truly important in the long run… to make sure the wealth is more evenly shared. It cut taxes on the middle class, raised them on the wealthy and directed a lot more support to families with the new Canada Child Benefit… A re-elected Liberal government would also add to the child benefit that has been so vital to reducing poverty. It would finally put a tax on Big Tech companies that haven’t been paying their share. And, very importantly, it would stick to its plan to reduce carbon emissions
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
It’s time for federal leaders to focus on inequality
Monday, October 14th, 2019
… there’s a real problem when the benefits of wealth and opportunity are not shared by everyone…. while unemployment is the lowest it’s been in decades, the jobs are increasingly not very good ones… When the federal parties talk about jobs on the campaign trail, it needs to be a conversation about good jobs. When they talk about making life more affordable, they should be clear about who they’re talking about and how they’ll deliver. The Vital Signs report is a depressing but timely reminder that income and wealth are highly co-related with race, where people were born, and where they live now.
Tags: economy, housing, multiculturalism, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
To close the wage gap, focus on child care
Saturday, October 12th, 2019
Canada could add $150 billion to its economy over the next eight years if more women entered and advanced in the workplace. That’s exactly what research shows universal, affordable child care helps women do. Child care is the most effective way to close the wage gap, but it’s about more than that. It’s also about reducing poverty, increasing employment, helping families and growing the economy.
Tags: child care, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living, women
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
The Ford government needs to protect temporary workers
Wednesday, October 9th, 2019
… it reversed… equal pay provisions, along with getting rid of two paid sick days for all workers and a minimum-wage increase to $15 an hour… The Ford government should bring back the Liberal labour law updates it so thoughtlessly repealed and pass the necessary regulations to ensure companies who hire temp workers have an incentive to keep them safe… before tragedy strikes again.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Reversing cuts is just the start of what the Ford government needs to do
Friday, October 4th, 2019
Ontario’s social assistance system keeps nearly one million people living in abject poverty. It offers far too few pathways out of it. And the government has not reversed some of its other changes that have made decent low-skill jobs even harder to find. Ford kept Ontario’s minimum wage from rising to $15 an hour, as it was scheduled to do, and rolled back labour reforms designed to improve the lot of workers who need the most protection.
Tags: budget, disabilities, economy, featured, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Scheer is wrong to turn back the clock on Senate reform
Thursday, October 3rd, 2019
Scheer apparently prefers straight-up political patronage and says he’ll appoint Conservative senators “who would help implement a Conservative vision for Canada.” No sober second thought there. Just rubber-stamping and, no doubt, more of the embarrassing antics that long made the Senate one of the most reviled institutions in Canada.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, Senate
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Ford’s failing formula: Fewer teachers, worse schools
Monday, September 30th, 2019
The government’s funding plans are “well below core education cost drivers,” the report states. They don’t keep up with inflation, let alone student population growth. So the funding situation for schools is set to get worse, not better… the Ford government’s education changes were never about making education better. They were designed to fix a provincial budget problem largely of Ford’s own making.
Tags: budget, ideology, standard of living, tax, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
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