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The dangerous myths about medicare
Friday, November 25th, 2011
Nov 25 2011
two pervasive health-care myths need be cleared up… First, medicare isn’t about to be bankrupted by the elderly… other things – such as wages paid doctors and overall population growth – are far more important in determining health-care costs. Second, medicare costs in general aren’t spinning out of control…. governments cut back health-care spending growth severely during the recession of the early 1990s, then… reversed themselves later on. As a result, provincial government health spending did accelerate. But by 2003 the growth rate had levelled off. In the last two years, it has slightly declined.
Tags: budget, Health
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
How Ottawa’s pension reform short-changes the young
Saturday, November 19th, 2011
Nov 18 2011
… an expansion of the CPP is the best way to deal with the 60 per cent of workers – particularly younger workers in non-union shops – who have no other pension plan. It doesn’t rely on the good intentions of employers… And by taking the strain from programs like Old Age Security, it saves taxpayers money… But many employers don’t like the idea because it would require premiums to rise. Financial institutions fear an expanded public pension plan would eat into their profits. And politicians are nervous about anything that might resemble a tax increase.
Tags: economy, pensions, standard of living, youth
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
The real progressive conservative wins a third term
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
Oct 06 2011
Think of Ontario as a one-party state. Sometimes the governing party refers to itself as Progressive Conservative. Sometimes it uses the name Liberal. But no matter what it calls itself, the ruling party usually — usually — follows a standard pattern. It intervenes in the economy to encourage business. It pays some attention to social needs (although it’s rarely accused of over-generosity). It doesn’t rock the boat. And, without being doctrinaire, it prides itself on being a competent manager of the province’s finances.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Why Harper’s ringing economic alarm bells
Saturday, September 24th, 2011
Sep 23 2011
… why the unusually inflammatory language? The kindest interpretation is that Harper is just being frank. The more realistic one is that he is trying to prepare the country for an unpopular change in course — specifically for a retreat from his election promises… indications are that his new approach to any economic slowdown will be the precise opposite — that the Conservatives will use fear of debt to make spending cuts that, during the spring election campaign, they promised to avoid.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
When will politicians act to save jobs?
Saturday, September 10th, 2011
Sep 09 2011
… the same conventional wisdom that extols the private sector argues that government jobs are a drain — that nurses and teachers are somehow unproductive and that anyone on the public payroll is grossly overpaid. In the face of today’s harsh reality, a logical government would continue spending public money to support jobs. But this is not a logical era… Provincially, the three main parties insist they can balance the budget painlessly by 2018 — which they almost certainly cannot.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario’s scandalous non-care for the elderly
Thursday, July 28th, 2011
Jul 27 2011
On paper, Ontario’s system for taking care of old people looks superb. The law sets out what appear to be strict standards for the province’s more than 400 long-term care homes that serve the elderly. There is even a bill of rights for residents of these nursing and old-age homes. But a story last week in the Star underlines how very fragile these standards can be… in practice, it’s usually the nursing homes themselves that decide what to do when a resident appears sick or injured.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Read this report before you slag Canada’s healthcare system
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
May 18, 2011
… health involves more than doctors, hospitals and drugs… Japan’s high life expectancy is related more to diet than anything else… it points out that the countries with some of the worst health outcomes are often those with the most poverty… infant mortality among advanced nations may have little to do with our health care system and much to do with the fact that our poverty rate is almost as high as America’s… overall, the Conference Board report doesn’t concentrate on medicare. It says we should deal with poverty, eat more vegetables and be more active.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, ideology, mental Health, privatization
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Yes, contempt of Parliament does matter
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
Mar 25 2011
When voters elected a minority government in 2008, they were signalling that they didn’t trust Stephen Harper’s Conservatives (or indeed any other party) to run the nation’s business single-handed… Harper’s partisanship is over the top. He not only disagrees with Canadians who are liberals and left-leaners. He seems to despise them… The contempt motion… demonstrates the Conservatives’ profound disdain toward the only democratic national institution we have.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Ontario’s hurry-up-and-die approach needs fixing
Monday, February 28th, 2011
Feb 26 2011
Ontario’s system for dealing with frail old people is a mess… the average wait time to get into a nursing home has tripled since 2005 – to 105 days… Retirement homes and home care are the other two components of Ontario’s haphazard system of dealing with old people needing help. In theory, all three are supposed to fit together… If nursing homes had enough beds, families would not have to park their elderly relatives in places, like retirement homes, that are ill- designed to serve those with serious needs… They have acted – but usually only when goaded by the threat of bad publicity.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Harper’s medicare agenda isn’t hidden – if you look carefully
Saturday, January 22nd, 2011
Jan 22 2011
… our prime minister says he is a big supporter of medicare. He brags that he and his family uses standard medicare doctors rather than the pricey executive clinics preferred by some politicians. But at the same time, Harper’s Conservative Party platform contains important caveats. It says provinces should have “maximum flexibility” to deliver health care. This is a hint that Conservative governments won’t be overly worried if provinces try to introduce two-tier care. It also calls for “a balance” between public and private delivery. Currently, virtually all Canadian hospitals are public.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, ideology, privatization
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
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