Archive for the ‘Equality Policy Context’ Category
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Indigenous thought belongs in the classroom
… a recommendation of the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, which says, “Aboriginal children are entitled to learn and achieve in an environment that supports their development as whole individuals.” … must penetrate the conscience of the nation, for it means that we cannot ignore the need for indigenous thought and fairer funding in on-reserve schools. It also means we can no longer ignore the need for indigenous history in all of our schools.
Tags: featured, ideology, Indigenous, jurisdiction, rights, standard of living
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SCC labour rulings not revolutionary: it’s the Charter going to work
A constitutional right to strike will certainly embolden unions to challenge elements of existing labour legislation, and some schemes will require amendment, especially to the definition of who qualifies as providing an essential service. But Charter rights are not absolute. Governments will still be able to defend limitations on the right to strike for a variety of pressing purposes, the health and safety of the public chief among them.
Tags: featured, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
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Canadian criminal justice meets ghost of Christmas past
Some Scandinavian countries have addressed the problem of poverty and criminal fines by using a system of “day fines,” according to which the amount of the fine is adjusted to how many days’ income it would represent for the criminal. This introduces a measure of equal justice into a society where variations in income and wealth can be extreme, ensuring that the impact of the fine is equal for each person punished.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, ideology, poverty
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The problem isn’t aboriginals as Stephen Harper suggests. It’s us
We are either indifferent to the indigenous peoples or sympathetic to them. But they do not want our sympathy. They want their rights — as spelled out in the treaties between them and the Crown… What’s to be done? Stop fighting land claims and wasting hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money. The Supreme Court and lower courts have repeatedly ruled in favour of the aboriginals.
Tags: ideology, Indigenous, jurisdiction, participation, rights
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Returning to the fairness of the ‘a buck is a buck’ principle of taxation
… individuals and corporations adjust their behaviour in response to rising tax rates, whether in an economic sense (less savings, investment and work effort) or simply by taking advantage of the various avenues available to them to reduce their tax exposure, including moving to lower-tax jurisdictions… If we really want to soak the rich better to focus on closing tax preferences, which research again shows mostly benefit those with higher incomes: the small-business tax deduction, for example, or the lifetime capital gains exemption.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, tax
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U.S. income gap a danger to Canada: TD
… the gap between high and low incomes in Canada was relatively stable through the 1970s and 1980s. That changed in the 1990s when governments began cutting transfer payments and support for low-income earners as they tried to cut deficits and balance the books. But when governments found themselves back in surpluses, the policies they put in place didn’t reverse the growing gap between rich and poor
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, privatization, standard of living, tax
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Income splitting not a wise investment for Canadians
Rather than implement short-term tax breaks for the wealthy, the government should be investing our surplus in those programs and projects that will best benefit Canadians both now and in the long-term…Canadians have sacrificed so our federal government can have a surplus. Now, it’s time it was reinvested properly for the benefit of as many Canadians as possible. Investments in innovation, higher education and health care will do that better than a targeted tax break for Conservative voters.
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Income splitting won’t help parents who really need a tax break
The federal government seems to expect single parents to live in poverty to raise children and to support them in that impoverished condition… Even with a $2,000 cap, the average benefits paid to the richest Canadians will remain unaffected; this costly tax benefit will not give any more help to those who desperately need child care so they can spend more time in paid work to get by… Parental income splitting will give shockingly expensive tax gifts to the rich while throwing small token payments to middle income families and nothing to those who need real solid programs they can count on the most.
Tags: budget, child care, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax, women
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Harper’s ‘income splitting lite’ is still a bad idea
It will allow couples with children under 18 to transfer up to $50,000 of income to the spouse with the lower income for tax purposes, thereby cutting their overall federal tax bill. The new twist is that the government will cap the benefit at $2,000 a year. That means couples with one high income earner won’t reap the windfall that the original plan would have given them. And it will cost the government less in foregone tax revenue. But income-splitting will still leave most families out. Single parents (accounting for as many as 28 per cent of families, by some estimates) will get nothing…
Tags: budget, child care, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Inequality Explained
Janet Gornick, Professor of Political Science and Sociology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and Director of the Luxembourg Income Study, presents a keynote address to the UN Economic and Financial Committee ( Second Committee) as webcast live at < http://webtv.un.org/search/inequality-and-development-janet-gornick-–-keynote-address-second-committee-2nd-meeting-69th-general-assembly/3826056194001?term=Janet%20Gornick >.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living, women, youth
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