Archive for the ‘Equality Policy Context’ Category
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Natives deserve same property rights as all Canadians
Friday, August 24th, 2012
9 August 2012
On reserves, land is owned by the Crown, which in turn permits First Nations to use it for their collective use. Houses typically are built and maintained by bands or bureaucrats — with no economic input from (or equity for) the occupants. It is an artificial, Soviet-style arrangement… this isn’t because Ottawa is nickel-and-diming Canada’s native reserves. Rather, it’s a function of the perverse economic incentives facing the natives who live in those homes.
Tags: economy, housing, ideology, Indigenous, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Ontario Human Rights Code amended to protect transgendered people
Wednesday, June 13th, 2012
Jun 13 2012
The transgendered Torontonian has had difficulty applying for credit cards, student loans, identification cards, and accessing health care, employment and housing. So Wednesday’s vote by MPPs to enshrine “gender identity” and “gender expression” in the Ontario Human Rights Code is a landmark moment… Ontario has become the first jurisdiction in North America — other than the Northwest Territories — to enact protection against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression
Tags: rights
Posted in Equality Policy Context | 1 Comment »
If Canada doesn’t tackle income disparity, the economy will suffer
Monday, June 11th, 2012
Jun 11, 2012
Inequality is growing faster in Canada than in the United States… We can reform Canada’s tax and transfer system to reduce the burden on low income Canadians and help boost people over the welfare wall… Looking out for the other guy isn’t just good for the soul. It’s good for business. The long term social costs of inequality and loss of opportunity are far more expensive than the measures to address it. Besides, business should be concerned that the public could lose faith in a market-based economy if they no longer have hope for economic and social success.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living, tax
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For Two Economists, the Buffett Rule Is Just a Start
Sunday, May 6th, 2012
April 16, 2012
Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty have spent the last decade tracking the incomes of the poor, the middle class and the rich in countries across the world. More than anything else, their work shows that the top earners in the United States have taken a bigger and bigger share of overall income over the last three decades, with inequality nearly as acute as it was before the Great Depression… “People say that reducing inequality is radical. I think that tolerating the level of inequality the United States tolerates is radical.”
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Reserve kids underfunded, court decides
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
April 19, 2012
Under the Indian Act, the federal government is responsible for funding health, education, police services and child welfare on reserves, all of which fall under provincial jurisdiction off reserves… children on reserve receive 22 per cent less funding for services than those who live off reserve. That distinction was central to the government’s argument that comparing funding from two different levels of government was both “unreasonable” and nonsensical. In her decision, Mactavish said the tribunal “erred in failing to consider the significance of the government’s own adoption of provincial child-welfare standards in its programming and funding policies.”
Tags: Indigenous, participation, rights, standard of living
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At 30, the Charter of Rights has reshaped our society, for the better
Saturday, April 14th, 2012
Apr 14 2012
[It] transformed us from being a parliamentary democracy to a constitutional one… At root, the Charter empowers the people… That is its great, enduring value… Under a series of vigilant judges who did not hesitate to strike down bad laws, or to “read in” rights when justice required, the Charter has come to affect most aspects of our lives. As Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dubé once put it, memorably, the Charter “stretched the cords of liberty” and enfranchised us all.
Tags: featured, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
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A simple way to tax the rich
Sunday, March 25th, 2012
March 9, 2012
While income earned from stock options is deemed to be ordinary income under our tax laws, a special deduction was created in 1984 (paragraph 110(1)(d)) which allows individuals to deduct 50 per cent of the income derived from exercising stock options. That is, only half of the employment benefit from stock options is subject to tax… The purpose of paragraph 110(1)(d) was to encourage more widespread use of employee stock option plans… there is no evidence the deduction achieved its stated goals… the entire deduction should either be eliminated… or a holding period should be attached to the exercised shares in order to qualify for the deduction.
Tags: budget, ideology, tax
Posted in Equality Policy Context | 2 Comments »
The have-nots always suffer
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
Feb 18 2012
Why must the poor, the young, the old always suffer while the rich never do? While the Drummond report has some good ideas, the well-to-do remain, as usual, untouched. Not even asked to do without luxuries, perks and tax breaks all subsidized by taxpayers who cannot even afford to make their own ends meet. Where is leadership by example?
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
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Same-sex marriage law to be changed to recognize gay tourists
Friday, January 13th, 2012
Jan 13, 2012
… we will change the Civil Marriage Act so that any marriages performed in Canada that aren’t recognized in the couple’s home jurisdiction will be recognized in Canada.” The legislative change will apply to all marriages performed in Canada regardless of the laws of the jurisdiction in which the couple live, the official said.
Tags: ideology, rights
Posted in Equality Policy Context | 1 Comment »
The case for tax reform
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Jan 03 2012
… top-earning CEOs are sitting on $2 billion in stock options that are treated as dividend income, and taxed at half the value. That’s a tax break worth $475 million… It’s hard to make a compelling case that the affluent need tax breaks that ordinary workers will never see when Ottawa is short on cash. And when 3.5 million Canadians live in poverty… The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report… urges Ottawa to eliminate the tax break for executive stock options… the Conservatives do have options for dealing with the deficit beyond thinning out the public service and cutting transfers or services.
Tags: ideology, standard of living, tax
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