Archive for the ‘Policy Context’ Category
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Don’t call it a scandal: Volkswagen corruption is a syndrome
Predatory capitalism has been triumphing since 1989, throwing much of the world out of balance, on the side of private sectors. They are dominating government and much of society… Remember the 1989 concept of “the end of history,” the widely accepted claim that human society had reached perfection, thanks to our relentless greed? Well, watch out: Unless we get our act together, here it comes.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario faculty make the case for better and fairer labour laws
… faculty associations across Ontario continue to make powerful presentations about the need for labour law reforms to protect the growing number of contract academic workers in our universities… The presentations are part of the ongoing consultations around potential changes to the Employment Standards Act and the Ontario Labour Relations Act… the law ensure that part-time, contract workers do not face less favorable treatment compared to their full-time colleagues.
Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Unions are battered but not broken
Where labour once fought to work nine hours daily or less, some people today don’t work much more than that in a week. Permanent, full-time jobs are being replaced by temporary or part-time work, with secure employment a thing of the past. More Canadians are toiling for fewer benefits — often they’re deemed contractors instead of employees — and usually they’re young people, women, recent immigrants and visible minorities.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Re: Harnessing the poverty-fighting power of public institutions, Aug. 24
Funneling a portion of large public institution spending to local businesses that create jobs for marginalized communities could be a game-changer… In Cleveland, a number of employee-owned co-operative enterprises were formed to provide services to the universities, hospitals and other community agencies. The co-op enterprise model not only provides jobs, but gives employees an ownership stake, equity and a share of the profits.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Corporate tax brakes
Rate hikes don’t generate much public revenues once businesses restructure their affairs. Even in high-tax countries like the Scandinavian and Benelux countries, governments have figured out that smart policy is to avoid high taxes on capital investments. These countries tax capital less heavily than Canada today… Balanced budgets based on corporate tax increases will be ephemeral as businesses avoid high taxes in Canada to earn profits elsewhere.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, tax
Posted in Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Stop shortchanging workers on jobless benefits
Bédard and Fortin call for a single, national standard for benefit eligibility and duration, to replace the current 62 regional standards based on local jobless rates. Basically, workers would qualify for the same benefits wherever they live. They suggest workers be required to put in 20 weeks to qualify, with a minimum 15 hours per week. Benefits would be based on a worker’s best 20 weeks worth of insurable earnings prior to losing a job. And payouts would reflect the length of time the person had been employed.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Foreign Temp Worker Approvals Plummet
”The Harper Conservatives wanted to give the impression they were cracking down on the TFW program, but all they’ve done in reality is create new streams that employers can use,” McGowan said. ”Some of those streams have fewer rules than the old streams did.” … the real indicator of foreign workers brought to Canada would be shown in the number of work permits granted, a number the federal government has not released in six months despite promises to do so quarterly.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, immigration, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Canadian business innovation has faded despite federal cash
The memo explores the possible reasons why Canadian firms appear to have shunned innovation… Canadian companies rely more on “imitation than on innovation” and are less likely to collaborate in R&D with public institutions than firms in other G7 countries… a potential solution… [is that] Canada consider following leading countries by offering more direct measures to promote innovation, rather than continuing to rely heavily on indirect methods, such as tax credits.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Trade deals a threat to Medicare, pharmacare
TISA, as its name suggests, is about services and the core concept is to transfer control of public services from states to corporations, with the transfer being provided by states like Canada and other North and West States but excluding the BRIC countries [which are] somewhat incompatible with the main thrust of neo-liberal globalization… their applications would not only overwhelm the projected savings of pharmacare but most seriously destroy Medicare and replace a democratic based state institution with the antithesis of democratic responsibility, competence and control.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical, privatization, rights, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context, Policy Context | No Comments »
Just what is the TPP (and why should you care)?
The TPP is a template for future economic agreements… between the world’s fast-growing but least developed economies and its biggest but slowest-growing ones… The term “trade deal” is misleading. Negotiators seek to impose on their countries higher standards of working conditions, environmental protection, intellectual property rights enforcement, and purity of food and drug imports.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, participation, privatization, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Recent Comments