Archive for the ‘Child & Family Policy Context’ Category
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Ontario court throws out law barring self-induced intoxication as defence for sexual assault
Thursday, June 4th, 2020
… the higher court said the provision violated a bedrock principle that an accused must voluntarily break the law to be convicted. Deciding to get intoxicated doesn’t meet the threshold… “What must be voluntary is the conduct that constitutes the criminal offence charged”… The legislation failed, the Appeal Court said, because it was unlikely someone could know beforehand that, if they got drunk, they would lapse into a state of automatism and involuntarily commit violence.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, rights
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
When it comes to long-term care, what matters more than ownership is accountability and responsibility
Tuesday, May 12th, 2020
The profit motive works in our market system. But what works for Walmart — relentless cost-cutting pressure on suppliers and minimal staffing ratios for low wage part-timers — is hardly an optimal model for nursing homes where part-time, underpaid caregivers are responsible for safeguarding people, not products… There is no excuse for not regulating and inspecting comprehensively, annually and aggressively. Surely that is the primary role and responsibility of government
Tags: featured, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Gun control is a Canadian value I was proud to adopt
Friday, May 8th, 2020
… the science is clear: jurisdictions that have more stringent restrictions on access to guns — including bans on assault weapons — have less gun injury and death. Canada’s assault weapons ban is backed by 15 medical associations, two national women’s organizations, survivors’ groups, mayors, police chiefs, and the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime… Let us not fall prey to hollow arguments about “gun rights” and “self protection” or opportunistic political posturing.
Tags: crime prevention, Health, rights
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Don’t grandfather machine guns, eliminate them
Wednesday, May 6th, 2020
Trudeau’s subsequent reference to “grandfathering” rules after a post-ban two-year transition period is alarming… A ban means no guns; it doesn’t mean keep the ones you have. It shouldn’t mean large payouts to gun owners…
Tags: budget, crime prevention, ideology, rights, women, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Mike Harris expanded the privatization of long-term care. Doug Ford is discovering that wasn’t a magic cure
Tuesday, May 5th, 2020
There is a contradiction in the criticisms of long-term care: We want to have it all for nothing — better beds but more of them; more quantity and more quality; single rooms with private bathrooms but without the wait lists; more for less… Today, in a pandemic cycle, beware the panaceas.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | 12 Comments »
Canada bans military-style firearms, but what about handguns?
Sunday, May 3rd, 2020
Trudeau rightly sees that “you don’t need an AR-15 to bring down a deer.” Well, you don’t use a handgun to shoot one either. Nor does a farmer need a handgun to kill pests. But every year handguns are used in hundreds of shooting incidents in communities across the country… Banning a range of military-style firearms is an important first step for Canada. But our biggest gun problem remains handguns and without banning those Trudeau’s Liberals aren’t doing enough to truly limit gun violence and death in this country.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada set to ban assault-style weapons, including AR-15 and the gun used in Polytechnique massacre
Thursday, April 30th, 2020
Ottawa is set to ban a number of assault-style firearms and weapons involved in mass shootings in Canada and abroad, including the Ruger Mini-14 that was used during the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre, federal officials say… The banning of firearms can be done by a decision of cabinet called an order-in-council and does not require the adoption of new legislation. There is no exact definition of a military-style firearm, which means the government’s decision is based on science as well as political choices.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, ideology, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Close your eyes and imagine what a best-in-class LTC system looks like… then build it
Saturday, April 25th, 2020
It has fewer and larger LTC facilities. We have too many now… a proper ratio of personal support workers (PSWs) to residents, as with regulated daycare centres… Each resident of the new LTC system has his or her own room, with a personal washroom… PSWs are prohibited from working in multiple locations. That widespread practice, rooted in PSWs’ low pay, is believed to have caused much of the COVID-19 spread.
Tags: Health, housing, jurisdiction, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada’s senior-care crisis has been long in the works
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
As a country, we need to rethink how we approach long-term care from top to bottom. And we don’t have a lot of time to do it. A 2017 Conference Board study estimated that, to meet demand, Canada needs to nearly double the number of long-term care beds available to about 450,000 by 2035. We can’t afford to do it on the cheap.
Tags: budget, disabilities, economy, Health, housing, jurisdiction, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Doug Ford didn’t protect long-term-care facilities from COVID-19. Neither did the rest of us
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
We could and should hold the current government to account — for falling behind the rest of Canada on testing, for lagging on nursing-home care, for fobbing off responsibility on to public health officials. But there is enough blame to go around — for politicians past and present, public servants and the public… Our premier has put his best face forward in recent weeks, but he still has much to answer for.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical, poverty
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Recent Comments