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When it comes to immigration, Tories love Big Government
Friday, April 13th, 2012
Apr 12, 2012
Nation-building through government programs? Consistent services through centralized delivery?… Aren’t the Conservatives supposed to be about decentralization, local-knows-best, respecting the BNA act, and not treading on provincial jurisdiction? In some areas, such as health care, the answer appears to be yes. But in others, it’s been a case of Ottawa-knows-best…
Tags: economy, ideology, immigration
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
The welfare state’s cradle-to-grave dissatisfaction
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
Dec 7, 2011
… aboriginals, women, youth, low income Canadians – are the most heavily targeted by state assistance programs. Yet the more that is done, the greater the demand, and the higher the level of dissatisfaction when results do not meet expectations. Getting people to participate more in the political process is not about increasing customer satisfaction. It is about scaling back what’s on offer and focusing on protecting, instead of perverting, those cherished democratic ideals. Safeguarding freedoms doesn’t demand a massive bureaucracy; personal responsibility is not reinforced by ever-expanding redistribution.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
End native apartheid
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
Dec. 1, 2011
Children living in such squalor in non-native environments would be likely removed from their families and placed in foster care. But the grim legacy of the residential school system, and the political incorrectness of jeopardizing the maintenance of their aboriginal heritage, means native kids are left to suffer while the rest of Canada remains largely ignorant… the reality is that by leaving them in environments like Attawapiskat, we are knowingly condemning them to a cycle of poverty, abuse and neglect, a cycle that no amount of tax dollars has been able – or will be able – to break.
Tags: economy, Indigenous, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living, youth
Posted in Equality Debates | 1 Comment »
Aboriginal apartheid sentences Canadian natives to misery
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
Nov 30, 2011
No one is advocating that First Nations children be subjected to the cruelties of residential schools… But the reality is that by leaving them in environments like Attawapiskat, we are knowingly condemning them to a cycle of poverty, abuse and neglect, a cycle that no amount of tax dollars has been able – or will be able – to break.
Tags: economy, Indigenous, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Politicians should scrub up on health care
Saturday, August 27th, 2011
Aug 24, 2011
… instead of calling for government leadership, the report concludes that politicians cannot be expected to act because the situation has become “too toxic.” “Given entrenched beliefs, as well as the current fiscal challenges in Canada, the ability of governments to lead fundamental health-care reform may be seriously compromised.” The CMA implores its members, as well as citizens and other professionals, to work for change. On this point, the CMA is dead wrong.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Without Canada, French Quebec would be lost in a generation
Friday, June 24th, 2011
Jun 23, 2011
The survival of language is directly tied to economics. No money, no clout, no French… In Louisiana, Acadian French-speakers had no state-ordered linguistic protection, whether in the form of subsidies or legal guarantees. They had to speak English to survive, and were assimilated by economic necessity. The same would happen to an independent Quebec. If Quebecers want to continue living and working in French, their best option is to remain part of Canada
Tags: economy, multiculturalism, rights
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Feminism’s second-wave hangover
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
March 7, 2011
On the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, I find myself profoundly ambivalent about feminism. On the one hand, I owe it a huge debt of gratitude. Without feminists winning the right to vote, study, and work, I likely wouldn’t be writing this column… But, given the choice, a majority of women would prefer not to work full time when they have children.
Tags: child care, economy, participation, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
‘(W)e were organized and it was permitted and we did it’
Friday, October 29th, 2010
October 29, 2010
… the federal Parliament’s Board of Internal Economy finally agreed to end the practice of out-of-riding “ten-percenters”. Previously, Members of Parliament had the right – and the budgets – to send these flyers into opposition MPs’ electoral districts, in a number not exceeding ten percent of their own constituency, to promote their party’s views… 47 of the top 50 spenders on “ten percenters” in 2009-10 were Conservative MPs… Overall, MPs from all parties spent $10,182,707.71 on the mailouts.
Tags: budget, ideology
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Rob Ford, the real candidate of inclusiveness
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
October 26, 2010
Mr. Ford’s victory represents more than just a backlash against elitist big spending. It represents a potential right turn in the voting patterns of Toronto’s immigrant communities… Inclusiveness for immigrants in Toronto means getting a good job so their children can enjoy a higher standard of living than their parents. Participating in society is not achieved through parades, but by climbing the economic ladder.
Tags: budget, ideology, multiculturalism
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Health care poll gets a predictable answer… to the wrong question
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
August 18, 2010
… despite ballooning health care budgets, hospital wait times were 73 per cent longer in 2009 than they were in 1993 – an average of 16.1 weeks. Simply calling on the government to find efficiencies in the current monopoly public-payor system, as the poll implies, will not solve the problem. It is a recipe for delisting services, as Ontario did with optometry, chiropracty and physiotherapy in 2004… the answer is changing the delivery mix from a monopoly public system to a competitive mixed delivery system, such as exists in most of the western world.
Tags: budget, Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
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