New warning on health records
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
April 26, 2010
In summary, the report concluded that Canada’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) program, as implemented so far by Infoway and the provinces, has no overall cost controls, no total cost estimate, no numbers on total costs to date, no way of measuring benefits, no way of determining whether budgets are being met, has lacked strategic planning, has a high risk of not achieving objectives, and there are questions about how the project will be funded through to the end.
Tags: Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Ontario’s new Drug Czar
Saturday, April 10th, 2010
April 10, 2010
About 50% of the drug business flows through Ontario’s Drug Benefit Program. It covers seniors and others who need assistance, a segment of the population that is clearly going to generate more and more drug demand in years to come. The Competition Bureau recommended that government drug procurement be open to tender.
…the plan Ontario has offered as an alternative will not solve any long-term problems. It also removes consumers as active players in the drug market, which flies in the face of all the best advice.
Tags: Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Mr. Harper, cut down these tariffs
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
March 05, 2010
If tariff cuts that eliminate import costs are beneficial for manufacturers — freeing up money for productivity gains and other uses, creating 12,000 jobs — then cuts that eliminated costs for everybody else would be just as good. Canadians pay hundreds of millions of dollars in protective tariffs on clothing made in certain countries, agriculture imports, on shoes, on certain metal products and in anti-dumping fees on steel imports. Even though it will leave up to $4-billion in tariffs in place, the Conservatives are full of fake free trade bravura. The Speech from the Throne said the government “will oppose trade protectionism in all its guises.” What utter baloney.
Tags: economy
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Welcome to the jukebox economy
Friday, March 5th, 2010
March 04, 2010
When all spending is an investment in jobs, the jukebox must be continually fed lest the theoretical jobs stop materializing… the budget produced a “Job Impact” analysis that claims that by the end of 2010, Ottawa’s Economic Action Plan has “created or maintained” 220,000 jobs… But has the productivity of the auto sector improved? Possibly, but not likely.
The contribution of government handouts and spending to productivity — net increases in growth and prosperity — is at best suspect and likely non-existent. Some of this is obvious. The transfer of $1-billion to help companies bury carbon emissions creates jobs, no doubt about that, but the productivity gain can only be negative. Nothing is added to the economy.
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The Chopping Block: End corporate subsidies, save billions
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
February 22, 2010.
There are hundreds of corporate welfare items in Ottawa, too many to list or even count. Programs are buried within programs, with grants and loans vying with tax credits and direct subsidies to relieve Canada’s capitalists of risk and transfer it over to taxpayers.
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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