Archive for the ‘Governance Debates’ Category
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Ford picks up class war where Mike Harris left off
Now, in Ontario, we’re back to a full-frontal embrace of inequality… What makes this revival particularly insidious is that Ford didn’t campaign on it; he refused to reveal where he’d wield the knife to produce $6 billion in spending cuts, and specifically denied he would end the Basic Income Pilot Project… Another clear signal… was its decision last month to cut in half the scheduled increase in benefits for social assistance recipients, including those with disabilities.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Most CRA auditors polled say Canada’s tax system is skewed to protect the wealthy
More than eight out of 10 of those polled agreed that “tax credits, tax exemptions, and tax loopholes disproportionately benefit corporations and wealthy Canadians compared to average Canadians.” And 45 per cent agreed that CRA’s mandate has been “compromised by political interference”… The online survey… included managers, forensic accountants, economists, statisticians and actuaries… “Nobody knows better how income from all sources is assessed and turned into tax revenue,” says the poll summary.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Sorry, but I’ve had enough of saying sorry
The modern euphemism for men like Macdonald and Langevin is that they had “complicated” legacies or personal stories. What that means is that they were men of their time and place, subject to the common failings (that is, racism or misogyny) of their era, plus burdened with personal weaknesses. Of course they were. Who isn’t?
Tags: ideology, Indigenous, multiculturalism
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
A buck-a-beer: the symbol of Ontario populism
Populist politicians use sentimental yearnings for times past to strike a chord with people who are unsure about how to confront today’s intricate problems. Voters are discouraged by complexities and fearful about the future. The past seems like a safer place to be… Current models offer a more indirect and restrained form of governance, away from the bans and prohibitions of the past and toward more subtle incentives to encourage the right type of behaviour, from environmental compliance to health promotion.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Why the Ontario Progessive Conservatives aren’t ‘progressive’
… today’s Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario is most certainly “conservative,” but not even remotely “progressive.” … Naturally, there are Red Tories, or left-leaning Conservatives, like Segal, former Ontario Premier Bill Davis and Toronto Mayor John Tory. These individuals promote progressive values, such as social justice, support for a welfare state, and maintaining significant amounts of public funding for social services. Nevertheless, this isn’t what most Ontario Conservatives think, or have ever thought, about political conservatism. To equate one with the other is wrong.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, poverty
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Predicting Hurricane Doug’s path of destruction
aving analyzed the fallout from the province’s last right-wing government, I expect the damage wrought by Hurricane Doug will be particularly harsh for two specific and often intersecting constituencies: urban progressives and women… Hurricane Doug begins with a simple, brazen focus on streamlining debate out of the political calculus. Urban citizens with a democratic vision live in the eye of a very dangerous storm.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living, tax, women
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Abandoning the red Tory tradition hurting the most vulnerable
… something cruel and uncaring has developed in Canadian and especially Ontario politics, a new conservatism that has abandoned the paternalism of the red Tory tradition, and replaced it with harshness, division, and a disregard for those who are most in need of our concern and empathy. Whether it’s using dismissive language about migrants, cutting promised minimum wage and welfare increases, or ending guaranteed income schemes, it stinks of something almost Dickensian.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Why I love paying taxes
Canadians have been trained to demonize tax in all its forms… Taxation gets things done… Taxes pay for an organized, rules-based pleasant city for nearly three million people. It works. And if it doesn’t work, you have someone to complain to. If you want nicer things, for instance a downtown relief line or greater population density and homes people can afford, taxes will have to rise… Jennifer Keesmaat wants nicer things. I’m not sure if John Tory does. But can they both finally talk about taxes with candour and realism?
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Doug Ford’s brutal, rapid-fire approach to governing
It’s a rapid-fire approach to governing that keeps people off balance, largely uninformed and unable to participate in what little public discourse there is. If you explode six political files in rapid succession people are so shell-shocked they can barely remember the first three, let alone what they might have thought about them. And with so much back-to-back turmoil the standard for what constitutes reasonable government behaviour starts to change. One only needs to look at the United States under President Donald Trump to know that.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Growing disconnect between urban and rural Canada
Where we live is the key determinant of how we think, work, and live. And, as we continue to urbanize, a chasm is growing between urban and rural experiences and perspectives. The data is pretty overwhelming. On a host of measures — ranging from incomes to employment to education to immigration to health to religion to family size to sex — researchers find significant differences… even after controlling for sociodemographic factors as well as ideology. Put more simply: where we live shapes how we vote more than other factors such as age, income, religion, or values.
Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Recent Comments