Ottawa rolls out funding for small business to hire people with disabilities
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
Oct. 10 2012
… to encourage the hiring of people with disabilities. Human Resources Minister Diane Finley was in Calgary today to announce a call for proposals that will see $30-million spent over the next three years. The money is expected to create 1,600 jobs at small and medium-sized businesses, providing employment to people who have had a tough time cracking the labour market.
Tags: budget, disabilities, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
Public Service Cuts: Jobs Slashed In Canada’s Federal Government
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
April 12, 2012
Hundreds of policy analysts were also among those told that their jobs are on the block as the Conservatives seek to slash spending by $5.2 billion over the next three years. The tension between the political and policy branches of government has been palpable since the Conservatives were elected in 2006… “What we’ve seen over the past little while is a change in what’s expected of advisers… in the past they wanted advice that was independent. We don’t feel that’s still what is being asked. It depends on the department but they’re often told to find information that will support particular positions.”
Tags: budget, ideology
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
Historic First Nations summit may not yield concrete outcomes
Saturday, January 21st, 2012
Jan 19, 2012
First Nations chiefs want to negotiate a cabinet-approved timeline with the federal government that would see concrete improvements for native communities…. Immediate challenges could include inadequate funding for housing, child welfare, education and water. Long-term issues include crafting a pathway to self-governance and recognition of treaty rights, creating a more reliable fiscal framework, economic development, financial transparency and speeding up talks on comprehensive land claims.
Tags: budget, Indigenous, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | 1 Comment »
Tuition rebates for 310,000 Ontario students to begin in January
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
Dec. 27, 2011
The majority of college and university students in Ontario will be eligible for 30 per cent tuition rebates starting in the new year… rebates of $730 to each college student and $1,600 to each university student from families with incomes under $160,000 a year… but the Canadian Federation of Students says all students should get a tuition cut. The students’ group presented a 40,000-signature petition to the legislature asking that the $423-million annual cost of the rebates be used to pay for a 13 per cent across-the-board reduction in tuitions.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
Recession, what recession? Company directors see pay soar 33 per cent during downturn
Thursday, December 8th, 2011
Dec. 7, 2011
A survey by the Conference Board of Canada suggests remuneration for directors on boards of publicly traded companies rose significantly between 2008 and 2010, when the general economy was struggling and unemployment was mostly on the rise. The findings of the semi-annual survey show the average total compensation companies paid to outside directors soared to $112,651, a 33 per cent jump from the $84,452 average in 2008.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Is our EI system broken?
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
Nov 15 2011
… the EI system is complex, opaque and not easily understood by contributors. It says the current program has failed to keep up with societal and economic change and it’s widely recognized that there are deep problems at the core of the system. Too many people, it says, are being left out of the social safety net, too many are carrying an unfair burden and too many are not achieving their potential.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Delivery System | 2 Comments »
Recession stalls progress on poverty; almost one in 10 Canadians poor: StatsCan
Monday, June 20th, 2011
Jun 15 2011
… the poverty rate edged up in 2009 to 9.6 per cent — the second straight year that poverty has grown after more than a decade of steady declines… In the past, recessions have deepened poverty in Canada for years, and exacerbated the gap between rich and poor… So far, that doesn’t seem to be the case. While the national poverty picture isn’t pretty, the number of people in the top, middle and bottom echelons of income in Canada remained fairly steady as the recession took hold.
Tags: economy, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Ontario Liberals helped hospitals hide embarrassing information: critics
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
May 5, 2011
Critics say Ontario’s Liberals are getting more secretive, despite their claims of making government more open and transparent. Liberals on the finance committee used their majority Thursday to exempt hospitals from the freedom of information law, an exemption they had been buried deep in the 2011 provincial budget. Natalie Mehra of the Ontario Health Coalition, a patient advocacy group… calls it “the hospital secrecy clause” because it’s so broad it amounts to a blanket exemption that will let hospitals hide embarrassing information.
Tags: budget, Health, participation, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »
Ex-PM urges Ottawa to beef up anti-poverty measures
Sunday, February 20th, 2011
Feb 17, 2011
The federal government has been so preoccupied with fiscal restraint and the fallout from the financial crisis that it has let domestic poverty slide off the national agenda, says former prime minister Joe Clark… But he…is encouraged by signs that parliamentarians of all stripes recognize there is a national problem that needs to be tackled. For proof, he points to a recent report on poverty from the all-party House of Commons human resources committee… while all parties agree that reducing poverty is important, they have all appended notes to the report stating their disagreement about how.
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Ontario professors worried that quality of education is dropping
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
Sep. 13, 2010
An analysis of a survey of faculty and librarians also cites larger classes and the cancellation of programs for their perception that the quality of post-secondary education, particularly at the undergraduate level, is falling… a tendency to replace retiring or full-time faculty with part-time or contract help is also impacting how professors and students interact, the survey indicates.
Tags: budget
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
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