Archive for the ‘Child & Family Debates’ Category
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Hazardous passage for at-risk youth [Foster Children]
Friday, May 21st, 2010
May 21 2010
…staying in foster care to 21 as opposed to leaving care before 18 results in better high-school completion rates and grades, lower rates of teen pregnancy, more permanent jobs, less involvement in crime and better use of mental health services. The numbers tell the story. As a community, we can make the decent and humane choice now to support the cost of emotional, financial and educational assistance for youth standing at the edge of adulthood. Or we can continue to abruptly cut youth loose and pay the considerable societal cost later.
Tags: standard of living
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Opposition balks at steep price of Tory crime bills
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
May. 18, 2010
The government is gradually restoring legislation introduced in the previous session that would impose longer sentences for some types of crimes and mandatory incarceration for others. Opposition members – the Liberals in particular – admit they were not fully supportive of the measures when they were originally introduced but were reluctant to block them because the Conservatives would accuse them of being soft on crime. But the slow trickle of information about the money that will be required to keep thousands more people in prison is providing them with a counter-attack.
Tags: budget, corrections, crime prevention
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Slow down and get retirement homes law right
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
May 17 2010
…legislation would create an arm’s-length regulatory authority to license and inspect retirement homes, investigate complaints and impose penalties on operators who neglected or mistreated residents. This non-government agency would be governed by a board of directors made up of people with a background in the retirement home business or a competency in the field…. “…the model as drafted is more similar to enhanced self-regulation,” Wahl said. “We urge the committee to use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get it right and provide proper protections to individuals living in retirement homes.”
Tags: housing, participation
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Daycare should not be a partisan issue
Sunday, May 16th, 2010
February 02, 2010
The children in daycare now are the very ones whose income taxes will support the “Me Generation” when they are elderly… access to good quality childcare does nothing to threaten the right of families to choose to have one parent look after the children at home. A daycare space does not remove a stay-at-home mom space. A national daycare program is a good idea. And it’s a good idea no matter who thought of it, and no matter what political party manages to make it happen.
Tags: child care, standard of living
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Tories revive mandatory sentences for drug crimes
Friday, May 7th, 2010
May 07, 2010
Two studies prepared for the Justice Department, one in 2002 and the other in 2005, say that mandatory minimums do not work. Mr. Nicholson said his bill is designed to “send a message” that “if you sell or produce drugs, you’ll pay with jail time.”… The Harper government’s bill comes at a time when several American states have retreated from mandatory minimum sentences, saying they are a glaring symbol of the failed U.S. war on drugs.
Tags: crime prevention
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Recession Increases Poverty: New Report
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
May 4, 2010
Bearing the Brunt: How the 2008-2009 Recession Created Poverty for Canadian Families demonstrates the deep impact of the recession… …trend analysis projects that the poverty rate in Canada rose to 11.7% in 2009, an increase of over 900,000 Canadians compared to 2007. The child poverty rate has likely risen to at least 12%, an increase of 160,000 children compared to 2007.
Tags: poverty, standard of living
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Mandatory minimums won’t curtail illicit drugs
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Apr 15 2010
Once we accept that the war on drugs has failed to meaningfully reduce drug supply and has resulted in a range of destructive consequences, the next step is to consider the threat of each drug individually, rather than lumping drugs like cocaine and marijuana together, and to look toward international models that point the way forward.
Tags: crime prevention, Health
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It’s no time to be complacent about doing time
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Apr. 15, 2010
The cost of crime is so high (estimated at $70-billion annually by Statistics Canada in 2003) that imprisonment of serious and repeat offenders is an excellent investment in purely economic terms – to say nothing of the value of restoring people’s faith in justice.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention
Posted in Child & Family Debates | 2 Comments »
John Beaucage to advise on needs of aboriginal youth
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Apr 14 2010
John Beaucage, former grand council chief of the Anishinabek Nation, will be the aboriginal advisor on child welfare, reporting to Children and Youth Services Minister Laurel Broten… Staggering youth suicide rates in remote northern communities and funding problems among First Nations children’s aid societies will be a focus for Beaucage. His one-year appointment coincides with an ongoing review of the Child and Family Services Act. The review hones in on the situation of aboriginal kids.
Tags: Indigenous, standard of living
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Help crown wards through college: report
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
Apr 13 2010
As it stands now, crown wards age out of the system at age 18. “We really think there needs to be more support for a longer period of time,” Lewis said. Only 42 per cent of 19- and 20-year-olds in state care finish high school compared to the provincial average of 75 per cent, said the report.
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