Archive for the ‘Equality’ Category
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Lower taxes a windfall for the rich
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
Mar 09 2011
Nobody likes taxes, but they are a particular aggravation for the rich. For them, lower taxes are a huge windfall, and even if that results in service cuts at daycares and public schools, it won’t hurt those who have nannies and private schools for their kids. Similarly, our country club set has little interest in preserving the Canada Pension Plan, which only working stiffs rely on. Of course right-wing “populists” are obsessed with lowering taxes, because they and their wealthy backers gain the most and lose the least. Unfortunately, the rest of us have the least to gain and the most to lose.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
18 countries where women have it way better than in North America
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
Mar. 8, 2011
In celebration of International Women’s Day, we’re listing 18 countries that have a smaller gender gap than America. This data, published by the World Economic Forum, compares female-to-male professional achievement, educational attainment, health and political empowerment. America sinks in the rankings due to a terrible score on politics. Countries like Iceland elect an nearly equal number of women to office as men, while that’s far from true in the U.S [and Canada].
Tags: economy, participation, rights, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
A century of women’s rights: A struggle that continues
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Mar 08 2011
The struggle for women’s political and economic rights was big news in Old Toronto, 100 years ago. British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Sylvia were drawing sizable crowds… editors at the Toronto Daily Star devoted much of the front page to eldest daughter Christabel Pankhurst’s stunning declaration in London that the suffragists had embarked on a “real war” to claim women’s rights.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality History | 3 Comments »
The hedge fund manager and the nurse
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Mar 07 2011
… the Harper government introduced legislation that effectively strips women in the public service of pay equity coverage. On this rather sombre International Women’s Day, it’s worth reminding ourselves that the gigantic incomes of the financial elite and the low incomes of nurses have little to do with merit — or even the workings of a “free market” — and a lot to do with who gets to make the rules.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living, tax, women
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Feminism’s second-wave hangover
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
March 7, 2011
On the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, I find myself profoundly ambivalent about feminism. On the one hand, I owe it a huge debt of gratitude. Without feminists winning the right to vote, study, and work, I likely wouldn’t be writing this column… But, given the choice, a majority of women would prefer not to work full time when they have children.
Tags: child care, economy, participation, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Employment equity policy: one size doesn’t fit all
Monday, March 7th, 2011
March 7, 2011
Members of visible minorities earn less than other Canadians… an article written by Professor Krishna Pendakur and Professor Ravi Pendakur… provides… detailed, breakdowns of earnings by ethnic group… Canada’s current employment equity policy inspires anger and resentment… As long as it ensures equity in employment for some designated groups – instead of all Canadians – it will continue to do so.
Tags: multiculturalism, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
For sheer abuse of state power nothing touches Caledonia
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
Feb. 28, 2011
… for sheer abuse of raw state power, nothingtouches Caledonia – and where the G20 lasted but three days, the situation on the former Douglas Creek Estates remains formally unresolved… From start to finish, this story is but a stain on the Canadian landscape, the lesson that anything – criminal conduct, lawlessness, state abuses – is tolerated if it is done in the name of aboriginal self-expression.
Tags: Indigenous, participation, rights
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Natives still suffer shameful stereotypes
Sunday, February 27th, 2011
Feb. 25, 2011
Canada’s urban natives, who now comprise half of all Métis, first nations and Inuit, feel they are viewed negatively by the larger society, even as they display a high level of tolerance for other cultures… according to a study by Environics Institute, many non-aboriginals recognize their comic-book characterization of natives, and acknowledge that real discrimination exists. The federal government, the provinces and aboriginals themselves need to broaden this unsophisticated image, which focuses only on the social challenges natives face, while obscuring the many success stories.
Tags: Indigenous, multiculturalism, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Canadian-born visible minorities earn less
Sunday, February 27th, 2011
Feb. 25, 2011
One of the cherished notions of Canadian multiculturalism is that the children of immigrants succeed economically in a way that makes them indistinguishable from other Canadians. But since Canada opened up its immigration policy in the late 1960s, those children are much more likely to belong to a visible minority. Now that the eldest are in their 40s and have established themselves in the work force, it’s evident that Canadian-born visible minorities (and those who came to Canada as young children) earn less than their similarly qualified white counterparts.
Tags: immigration, multiculturalism, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Law Commission goes to bat for vulnerable workers
Friday, February 25th, 2011
Feb 25 2011
The federal government has ignored the emergence of a large underclass of vulnerable workers (roughly 2.2 million Canadians). The province has plugged the worst holes in the Employment Standards Act, but only to mollify anti-poverty activists. Unions have watched helplessly as the rights they fought for have been rolled back. Businesses have been largely silent, not wanting to jeopardize a good bargain… The Law Commission’s… objective is to come up with a set of legal reforms and policy changes that would ameliorate the plight of vulnerable workers and bring the province’s employment law into the 21st century.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
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