Archive for the ‘Equality’ Category
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Taking on the Feds for Aboriginal Equality
Monday, April 23rd, 2012
20 Apr 2012
Ten years ago she led FNCFCS on a mission to work with the government of Canada to bring equality to all Aboriginal people. But after five years of government rejecting proposal after proposal for fair education, safe housing and clean drinking water on reserves, FNCFCS took them to court. On April 18, FNCFCS won their case in Federal Court, and will head back to the Canada Human Rights Tribunal for another hearing.
Tags: Indigenous, rights, standard of living
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Buffett Rule a good place to start
Saturday, April 21st, 2012
Apr 20 2012
Warren Buffett, the billionaire critic of U.S. tax policy, started it all by lamenting that his tax rate is lower than his secretary’s. A secretary who has a few hundred or thousand more dollars in disposable income is likely to spend it, whether on food or on sending a kid to college. This spending will stimulate the economy. People who make, say, $5 million a year might use a tax break to splurge on an extra house, but they also will probably invest in financial instruments that are more likely to drive layoffs to increase a company’s profit margin than they are to create jobs.
Tags: ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
It would help if Andrea Horwath had a billionaire onside
Friday, April 20th, 2012
Apr 19 2012
Conservatives have managed to peddle policy changes — notably tax cuts for the rich — that offer no benefit to ordinary citizens and in fact undermine public welfare by depriving government of revenue needed for social programs. They’ve pulled this off partly by being sneaky, but also by forcefully defending their positions. This has enabled them to present themselves as tough and principled — even when there’s no principle beyond enriching themselves and their allies — giving them an aura of strong leadership. By contrast, their opponents have often come across as unable or unwilling to articulate the case for progressive policies.
Tags: budget, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Special consideration for aboriginals in the courts is a matter of fairness
Friday, April 20th, 2012
Apr. 20, 2012
Proportionality between the offence and the punishment is a traditional and, indeed, fundamental purpose of sentencing. It applies to all offenders. Many may have preferred the three-year sentence and that, if errors are made, they be made on the side of public safety. But where does this argument stop? Indeterminate detention would eliminate more risk. But it is fundamental in a democracy that people be sentenced for what they have done – not what they may do.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, ideology, rights
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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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Taxing the rich akin to ‘ethnic cleansing’ – seriously?
Sunday, April 15th, 2012
Apr. 15, 2012
The top 1 per cent of Canadians pocketed nearly 14 per cent of all income in 2007, compared with 8 per cent in 1982… The most commonly heard argument against taxing the rich is that it’s an attack on wealth-creators; the rich will simply move to lower tax jurisdictions or work less… The middle class is being squeezed by stagnant incomes, pension clawbacks and the steady erosion of government entitlements, such as Old Age Security. Basic fairness suggests all segments of society should share the burden.
Tags: ideology, tax
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The increasing inequality gap
Sunday, April 15th, 2012
Apr 14 2012
We know for a fact that there is a direct correlation between levels of income and the rate of poverty, chronic disease, addiction, mental illness and incarceration… The fastest way to close the inequality gap is by making our taxation system fairer. A slight increase on the wealthiest, as suggested by NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, is a step in the right direction. – / – I don’t begrudge Ontario’s millionaires their millions. But I also don’t think it’s too much to ask them to pay a little more when so many in the province have been asked to sacrifice so much. To me it’s a question of fairness.
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
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Health and wealth [income & taxation]
Sunday, April 15th, 2012
Apr. 14, 2012
Hospitals would voluntarily adopt an evidence-based framework to guide boards’ decisions about CEO base compensation… An arbitrary policy that would damage the leadership of these important public institutions is in nobody’s interest. – vs – Ontario’s highest personal income tax bracket (46 per cent) has not been this low since the Great Depression. This rate starts at $132,000, so it’s a flat tax for the rich. Billionaires pay the same rate as doctors. Conversely, the budget freezes social assistance rates – despite these payments’ buying 60 per cent less than in 1995… It’s time for high-earning Canadians to pay our fair share. Tax us. Canada is worth it.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, tax
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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
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Harper’s disregard for aboriginal health
Saturday, April 14th, 2012
Apr. 09, 2012
The abysmal health status of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples is Canada’s greatest shame… There’s a disturbing pattern here. The government has also cut funding to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. And the First Nations and Inuit Health branch at Health Canada oversees what is without question the worst health system in Canada, making every effort to slough the responsibility off onto the provinces and territories… “The Conservatives want out of the aboriginal business.”
Tags: budget, Health, Indigenous, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Delivery System | 1 Comment »
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