Archive for the ‘Equality’ Category
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UN holds private meeting with native youth
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
Feb 02 2012
They meet Monday with the UN committee on the rights of the child… The Geneva meeting is small and private — the six youths and the 18-member UN committee. Travelling with them are Ontario Child Advocate Irwin Elman and University of Alberta professor Cindy Blackstock, who is executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society… It is discriminatory not to give First Nations kids the same chances as other Canadian children, said Blackstock.
Tags: Indigenous, poverty, rights, standard of living, youth
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Why care less about the disabled fetus?
Monday, January 30th, 2012
Jan. 19, 2012
… if sex selection can be characterized as a social or cultural practice informed and perpetuated by demeaning attitudes toward women that many of us can agree is discriminatory, what about the selection of fetuses on the basis of disability? For those of us living with, or living with someone with, Down syndrome, a cleft lip or a missing limb, the selection against fetuses with these characteristics is as troubling as the selection against female fetuses.
Tags: disabilities, Health, ideology, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality Debates | 2 Comments »
Harper’s very political religion
Sunday, January 29th, 2012
Jan 28 2012
… freedom of and from religion is a secular principle. A prime minister who promotes it should be commended, not criticized. It is also unfair to accuse Harper of advancing an evangelical Christian agenda — championing only the cause of Christian minorities abroad. His game is more nuanced… Domestic partisan Conservative considerations are being turned into Canadian foreign policy.. In the religious freedom campaign, the Tories have exploited “old country” fault lines among immigrants. Instead of minimizing such divisions here, as has been our tradition, they have fanned them.
Tags: ideology, multiculturalism, participation, rights
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Property rights could unlock native reform
Sunday, January 29th, 2012
Jan 28 2012
… underlying title allows First Nation communities to subdivide a portion of their reserve land into fee simple lands for individual members to use. Band members could then use these fee simple lands to generate wealth through mortgages, loans, and buy/sell transactions, much like Canadians do off-reserve, but without any of the hassle of dealing with significant bureaucratic red tape that most members have to endure under the Indian Act.
Tags: Indigenous, participation, privatization, rights, standard of living
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Barack Obama is right — wealth inequality is a threat to capitalism
Friday, January 27th, 2012
Jan 25, 2012
Income inequality in the United States now stands at its highest rate since the Great Depression… this fact usually is cast as a social justice issue, which is why too many conservatives snidely dismiss it. In fact, free market capitalists are the ones who should be most concerned about inequality. A mass market consumer economy cannot function when earners cluster at the poles: Poor people buy very little, and wealthy people spend only a small fraction of their income on retail goods and services.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
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Resolve the treaties and complete Confederation
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Jan. 23, 2012
The five years leading to Confederation saw the great debates that stirred the ideas for union, and the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences that set the framework for a national accord. The five years leading to 2017 could lay the foundation for the next chapter – the missing chapter: the resolution of the treaties and the beginning of reconciliation and reconstruction with our aboriginal peoples. It’s the civil-rights movement of our generation.
Tags: economy, ideology, Indigenous, rights, standard of living
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Ottawa summit aims to boost first-nations economies
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Jan. 22, 2012
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is preparing a budget based on departmental proposals for spending cuts… aboriginal programs in areas such as health and housing are clearly at risk… But Mr. Harper says a focus on sharing natural-resources wealth can actually boost social funding for communities… if the billions in mineral, hydro and forestry development in northern Manitoba were to benefit the region’s communities, Ottawa could spend less in areas like on-reserve housing. “The treaties were based on sharing the wealth,” he said.
Tags: budget, economy, Indigenous, participation, rights, standard of living
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A historic moment for the federal government and First Nations
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Jan 23, 2012
Working with willing partners, we have signed five tripartite education agreements between federal, provincial and First Nation governments in New Brunswick, Manitoba, Alberta, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. We also introduced a new Specific Land Claims Action plan which has successfully resolved a significant backlog of specific claims. In addition, our government has committed to providing new investments to the First Nations Land Management Act which provides First Nations with self governance over their lands.
Tags: economy, Indigenous, participation, rights, standard of living
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Harper creating 13 kinds of citizens
Saturday, January 21st, 2012
Jan. 19, 2012
During his years with the National Citizens’ Coalition… Stephen Harper refined his opposition to “big government,” particularly medicare, and formulated his “strict constructionist” approach to the constitution to better attack a Canada he once openly derided as “a second-tier socialistic country.”… His disrespect for the provinces is a clear violation of the Constitution Act of 1982. It is as much a part of Canada’s Constitution as the BNA Act. Sec. 36 (1) states that “Parliament and the legislatures… are committed to promoting equal opportunities for the well-being of Canadians…
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, rights, standard of living
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Historic First Nations summit may not yield concrete outcomes
Saturday, January 21st, 2012
Jan 19, 2012
First Nations chiefs want to negotiate a cabinet-approved timeline with the federal government that would see concrete improvements for native communities…. Immediate challenges could include inadequate funding for housing, child welfare, education and water. Long-term issues include crafting a pathway to self-governance and recognition of treaty rights, creating a more reliable fiscal framework, economic development, financial transparency and speeding up talks on comprehensive land claims.
Tags: budget, Indigenous, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | 1 Comment »
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