« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Ontario must not leave accused people high and dry
Monday, July 29th, 2019
In yet another display of indifference by the Ford government towards those who can’t afford a lawyer, the province has failed to close a legal loophole so that paralegals and student-staffed legal clinics can continue to serve clients in certain criminal cases… The Ford government has already stripped funds from legal aid… there’s no reason to further restrict access to the current level of affordable or free legal representation
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
The Ford government’s education cuts are setting kids up to fail
Wednesday, July 10th, 2019
The class cancellations and reductions… have everything to do with the Ford government’s decision to fix a provincial budget problem of its own making on the backs of students. It has substantially increased high school class sizes — from 22 to 28 students on average — and will fund thousands of fewer teacher positions… The Ford government cuts will hurt struggling students, gifted students and generally make school a lot less interesting for all students
Tags: budget, ideology, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Time for Ontario to make drug company payments public
Tuesday, July 2nd, 2019
When pharmaceutical companies dole out millions of dollars to doctors, hospitals, universities and others working in the public health care system, it should be done in a public way to maintain trust that it’s all above board. And not just for 10 big drug companies, but all of them. Ontario has already passed legislation to make that happen — if only the Doug Ford government would enact the regulations to bring it into force…
Tags: featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Transparency on what doctors bill OHIP informs the health-care debate
Friday, June 28th, 2019
The public benefit that comes from greater transparency around OHIP billings is clear. It will help to inform the debate about how Ontario spends its health care dollars and whether the current payment structure overvalues some medical services at the expense of others… Are we achieving the best health care outcomes for the dollars we spend? Is there a better way? … Opening up the system to public scrutiny can only help to build a stronger health-care system for patients and doctors alike.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, mental Health
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Ontario’s new attorney general should reverse cuts to legal aid
Monday, June 24th, 2019
The fact is, cutting funding for legal aid will further erode any hope the poor and vulnerable have of receiving justice in a system that’s already stacked against them… If he doesn’t, the fallout will be painful for the poor and immensely costly for taxpayers… who will pay for the costly incarceration of innocent people who are not going to get fair legal representation in bail hearings, criminal cases or immigration and refugee detention hearings.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
New report provides the Trudeau Liberals with a blueprint for pharmacare
Friday, June 14th, 2019
There’s true pharmacare, as laid out by the advisory council chaired by Ontario’s former health minister, Eric Hoskins. Then there’s a paler version that seeks only to fill in the gaps by providing coverage for those who currently have none… Canadians already pay more for drugs than they do for doctors’ services and… drug costs are rising at an unsustainable 6.5 per cent per year. That has a big impact on both workplace plans and government drug benefits for seniors and the poor.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, participation, pharmaceutical, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Ottawa should act on report on murdered and missing women, with all its flaws
Tuesday, June 4th, 2019
Ensuring such basic things as safe housing, clean drinking water and affordable food for Indigenous people should be beyond debate; it’s shameful that we’re still falling so short. There are already stacks of recommendations in these areas, and the government would be well-advised to focus first and foremost on issues more closely connected with the issue at hand: the violence visited on Indigenous women and girls far out of proportion to their share in the population.
Tags: crime prevention, featured, ideology, Indigenous, participation, rights, women
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Ready, fire, aim: the Ford’s reckless approach on cutting costs
Tuesday, May 21st, 2019
Whether it be kids with autism, students in high school music programs, people who rely on public health services, medical researchers or Toronto subway riders, the pattern is the same. The government announces a spending cut that takes everyone by surprise and then stands back as those directly involved scramble to puzzle out what just happened.Ontarians deserve better… At the bare minimum they deserve a government that figures out the effects of its actions before it pulls the trigger.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Ford still doesn’t understand the difference between charity and government
Saturday, May 18th, 2019
Almost a year into the job, Ford still doesn’t seem to understand the difference between an act of personal charity and the necessary role of government. If Ford is a decent citizen who spends his personal time doing good deeds in the community, that’s really great. But it doesn’t absolve him, as premier, of leading a government with policies that help people, rather than hurt them.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Toronto, Ontario and Ottawa need to close election spending loopholes
Thursday, May 16th, 2019
Premier Doug Ford exposed a vulnerability in Ontario’s laws by using his long-finished and debt-free leadership campaign to continue to raise money… Ford has also exposed the inadequacies of federal campaign advertising laws with his anti-carbon tax TV commercials… Ford also says he’s doing nothing but following “the rules.”… These rule-skirting, self-serving moves do nothing but contribute to voter cynicism about politics and politicians.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Recent Comments