Archive for the ‘Equality History’ Category
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Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
February 1, 2011
Smith lived in an age of personal responsibility. Poor relief was a local, personal affair, as was the “beneficence” that Smith praised as the highest virtue. “Beneficence,” wrote Smith, “is always free, it cannot be extorted by force.” Forced redistribution would have offended Smith’s notion of justice, and he would instantly have spotted that “social justice” is a weasel concept that reverses the notion of justice entirely… Smith would have thought it ridiculous to suggest that a nation might become wealthier or happier by forced “redistribution”.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
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Monday, January 17th, 2011
Jan. 17, 2011
In the 1930s, outrage at the pre-Depression extravagance of the rich, contrasting with the dislocation experienced by masses of Americans, sparked a decade of left-leaning foment. Government expanded income security, directly hired millions of unemployed, and actively supported a new generation of unions to fight for the common folk. Meantime, it reined in business excess through tough financial rules, anti-trust policies, and high taxes on the rich. This time around, there’s been plenty of populist anger – but (so far) it’s been steered in exactly the opposite direction
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Saturday, October 16th, 2010
Oct 16 2010
For four decades after the war Canadians joined with citizens in other North Atlantic democracies in creating the most productive and equitable societies in history… For both ethical reasons and the functional need for stability, an expanding role for government and increasing equality came to be taken for granted. Left behind was the belief that individuals and the economy should be left to fend for themselves. In its place was… an idea retrieved from ancient Greece, that democracy meant more than the right set of procedures for selecting and maintaining governments. It also meant government action for the people.
Tags: featured, ideology, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living, tax
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Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Aug 10 2010
“I was struck,” Pierre Trudeau said, “by his vigorous defence of human rights and individual liberties. The Bill of Rights remains a monument to him.” August 10 is the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the Canadian Bill of Rights. Had this lifelong dream of Diefenbaker’s not become a reality, one could argue that Trudeau’s own Charter of Rights might not have come into being… “I believe the time has come for a declaration of liberties to be made by this Parliament,” he thundered in the Commons in 1946.
Tags: rights
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Sunday, July 18th, 2010
Jul 16 2010
In Canada, the Americans With Disabilities Act helped spark the Accessibility for Ontarians With Disabilities Act —this is still the only province with specific legislation — and continues to be “a model for many other countries,” says Penny Hartin, CEO of the World Blind Union. The union, whose headquarters are in Toronto, has members in 190 countries… Roberts’s campaign to live independently, with paid attendants, began California’s groundbreaking policy of supportive services for people with disabilities.
Tags: disabilities, rights, standard of living
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Sunday, April 25th, 2010
Apr. 25, 2010
In a match that pits a modern-day human-rights crusader against a historical women’s-rights pioneer, a prominent Winnipeg lawyer is questioning whether Nellie McClung should be venerated on the grounds where she first fought for her right to vote nearly a century ago… While Mr. Matas doesn’t deny Ms. McClung’s influential role in gaining the vote for Canadian women, he does take umbrage at her prominent support of the eugenics movement… By the mid-1930s, it had formed the intellectual basis for the forced sterilization of mental-health patients…
Tags: disabilities, participation, rights
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Monday, October 19th, 2009
TheStar.com – news/gta – CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP: A HISTORY
Published On Mon Oct 19 2009
Before 1915 — People in Canada from the U.K. and Commonwealth countries were British subjects. Others had to live here for five years and be of “good character” to be naturalized.
1921 — A separate status of “Canadian national” was created under the Canadian Nationals Act.
1946 — Canada passed the Canadian Citizenship Act and became the first Commonwealth country to establish its own nationality.
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Saturday, June 27th, 2009
TheGlobeandMail.com – Opinions – Indians and the just society: Forty years after Jean Chrétien’s ‘white paper,’ we still struggle to reconcile the Canadian square and the aboriginal circle
Jun. 27, 2009. William Johnson
A bombshell. No, a mega-magnitude earthquake. The tectonic plates underlying Canada collided against each other. To this day, the aftershocks continue their eruptions.
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
TheGlobeandMail.com – Life/Health – Disabilities not a reason to send a person to ‘jail’
April 2, 2009. ANDRE PICARD
On Tuesday night, on the grounds of the Ontario legislature, a group of community-living activists and former residents of institutions gathered for a candlelight vigil.
They were celebrating a historic moment in the evolution of health and social-welfare systems that occurred when, on March 31, Ontario closed the last three large institutions for people with developmental disabilities.
Posted in Child & Family History, Education History, Equality History, Governance History, Inclusion History | No Comments »
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