Archive for the ‘Equality Policy Context’ Category

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Taxing extreme wealth to offset the costs of the pandemic would be unquestionably fair

Monday, March 29th, 2021

… we should look to new tax measures on extreme wealth transfers, including inheritance taxes, and to changes in the tax treatment of investment income to ensure more equitable treatment in relation to employment income. But for now, as we look to Budget 2021, we should ask those with extreme wealth to pay for our national recovery.

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Women, work and COVID-19: Priorities for supporting women and the economy

Friday, March 12th, 2021

This report looks at the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic security of women in Canada and the current efforts to respond to urgent economic need in the short- to medium-term, as well as demands for fundamental systemic change moving forward… Are they setting a course for an intersectional feminist recovery—one that not only recovers lost ground, but also tackles long-standing economic disparities?

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Supreme Court’s Rosalie Abella prepares to retire as her legacy of defining equality seems built to last

Sunday, March 7th, 2021

Her life’s work has been about defying indifference — to inequality, to discrimination, and to injustice… Her 17-year tenure at the top court has touched on all areas of law. She is a constitutional law and human rights expert, and a fierce defender of the rights of women, people with disabilities, and religious minorities, a judge who frequently cites international law and comparative law in her rulings.

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Indigenous rights bill weak, but necessary

Monday, January 4th, 2021

Bill C-15 does not have any tools to help operationalize consent or create new ways for Indigenous title to be implemented. Its slow, incrementalist approach is frustrating. Nevertheless, it has merit. Despite shortcomings, the bill will provide new avenues and contestation sites for Indigenous rights movements to advance. Most importantly, it binds any future government, no matter its political stripe, to the high standard of consent and the inevitability of Indigenous self-determination.

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What Canadians should understand about the federal UNDRIP bill 

Tuesday, December 8th, 2020

The first and second articles of the UNDRIP reiterate the basics of equality and non-discrimination: fundamental Canadian values, enshrined in our Constitution, that we should all rally behind. When people oppose implementing the declaration, they are opposing efforts to ensure Indigenous peoples enjoy the same fundamental rights to equality and non-discrimination that many Canadians take for granted. Achieving this equality may require the government to take specific measures to address current inequalities; non-discrimination requires us to celebrate and accommodate the uniqueness of Indigenous peoples, as well.

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In 2020, the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre is a call to action

Sunday, December 6th, 2020

Now it’s time to move forward on a Canada-wide action plan that makes gender-based violence a national priority. Reflecting on lives lost to preventable violence is important. But the greatest way to honour stolen lives is through concrete action.

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Liberals introduce bill to implement UN Indigenous rights declaration

Friday, December 4th, 2020

… the bill would require the federal government to ensure that the laws of Canada are consistent with the declaration’s 46 articles… By introducing the UNDRIP bill, the Liberals are fulfilling a promise dating back to 2016 — when Bennett announced Canada would officially renounce its objections to the declaration at the United Nations. The party pledged during the 2019 federal election to implement UNDRIP within the first year of a new mandate, but postponed tabling the bill earlier this year due to the rail blockade crisis.

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Premier Doug Ford is using the COVID-19 pandemic to make the rich even richer

Thursday, December 3rd, 2020

When we factor in inflation and population growth, base funding will decrease for education at all levels, social services, and municipalities. Funding for health care, the program area that sees the most support in this budget, will in effect be flatlined… The Ford Conservatives’ budget includes significant and permanent tax cuts for, primarily, business and industry… We are witnessing more corporate giveaways that have robbed Ontario of the revenue needed to support front-line public services that everyday people rely on

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Mandatory minimum penalties are preventing judges from arriving at just sentences

Friday, November 20th, 2020

Courts have ruled some mandatory minimums unconstitutional, but that is not an acceptable substitute for justice reform. The COVID pandemic has emphasized that good leadership requires putting politics aside and listening to evidence and expert advice that serves the public interest… Sound justice policy can and should protect public safety, address systemic racism and support fair and just results for all.

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British Columbia Supreme Court Rules Against Expansion of Private Health Care

Tuesday, September 29th, 2020

“in the context of complex social programs such as healthcare where there is a need to balance conflicting interests and claims over limited resources, a high degree of deference is owed to the government… even if I had found a violation of ss. 7 or 15 of the Charter, I would nonetheless have concluded the impugned provisions are a reasonable limit on those rights and are demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society under s. 1”.

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