Archive for the ‘Governance Delivery System’ Category
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An accountable act
Sunday, May 6th, 2012
May 05, 2012
Although this bill on its own won’t undo the damage of the Indian Act, it helps to address one of the fundamental problems on many native reserves today — a lack of accountability for taxpayers’ dollars spent… This legislation is meant to deal with the worst of the worst, so individual band members can ask their leaders where the money went when the water isn’t running, the heat isn’t turned on, or the school isn’t being built. It’s a direct way of empowering natives to question their leaders, without fear of reprisal.
Tags: Indigenous, poverty, rights, standard of living
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StatsCan, or StatsCan’t?
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
May 2, 2012
Just two months ago, economists and policy wonks were cheering the news that Statistics Canada, the much lauded government statistics office, had eliminated fees for its online databanks, making millions of figures available for free. Now the quantity of that data is under threat from the biggest budget cuts in recent memory… Nearly half of the agency’s 5,700 staff have received the layoff notices… Three-quarters of the savings would come from cutting programs, meaning fewer surveys, less data and less analysis.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Ottawa should do the math: Productivity trumps head counts
Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
Apr. 23, 2012
…the problem with government isn’t so much payroll as productivity. Make a single percentage-point increase in efficiency in the federal work force annually for 10 years – and you would save 40,000 jobs: once again, with no loss in either quality or quantity. (Alternatively, as some people would see it, the government could increase services by 10 per cent with no increase in payroll.) … The public sector is Canada’s largest industry by far, administering one-third of the country’s entire economy. Excused from the need to get productive, it constitutes a constant drag on economic growth.
Tags: budget, economy, standard of living
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Ontario’s budget by the numbers
Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
Mar. 29, 2012
The Government of Ontario tabled its annual budget on March 24, asking everyone from affluent seniors to corporations to help the government tackle its deficit. Find charts and graphs below detailing the province’s revenue, spending, debt, proposals and projections for the years ahead. [See Infographic.]
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living
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Your 2012 federal budget explained
Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
Apr. 02, 2012
Stephen Harper’s 2012 federal budget was released on March 29, offering a roadmap for Canada under the direction of the Conservative’s first majority. Use this infographic to explore the revenue, expenses, proposals and projections from the budget. Read all of The Globe’s in-depth coverage by clicking here.
Tags: budget
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Canada needs a new voting system
Sunday, April 22nd, 2012
Apr 22, 2012
I do not see why we should maintain a voting system that makes our major parties appear less national and our regions more politically opposed than they really are… I propose the “proportional-preferential-personalized vote,” or “P3” for short… We would elect three to five MPs per riding rather than one. The number of seats would remain the same; what would be reduced is the number of ridings. This would provide moderate proportional representation, which corrects the regional distortions of the current electoral system.
Tags: ideology, participation
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Public Service Cuts: Jobs Slashed In Canada’s Federal Government
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
April 12, 2012
Hundreds of policy analysts were also among those told that their jobs are on the block as the Conservatives seek to slash spending by $5.2 billion over the next three years. The tension between the political and policy branches of government has been palpable since the Conservatives were elected in 2006… “What we’ve seen over the past little while is a change in what’s expected of advisers… in the past they wanted advice that was independent. We don’t feel that’s still what is being asked. It depends on the department but they’re often told to find information that will support particular positions.”
Tags: budget, ideology
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Drummond Commission report: countering cutbacks in Ontario
Sunday, March 25th, 2012
Feb. 17, 2012
In the wake of the Drummond report on reforming Ontario’s public services—which includes 362 recommended reforms to balance the books by 2018—CCPA Research Associates share their analyses… [articles by Erin Weir, Karen Foster, and Jimm Stanford].
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living
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Too many needless government agencies in Ontario
Sunday, March 25th, 2012
Mar 08 2012
Ontario has 82 taxpayer-funded health agencies… Even when they’re benign, they diffuse health decisions over so many different bodies that it’s impossible for Ontarians to keep track. And they’re expensive. Many are headed by well-paid executives and provide jobs for hundreds of government appointees… at a time of austerity, Ontarians need to know why the government needs so many stand-alone health agencies… There isn’t likely to be a better time than now to cull these agencies (plus the 526 that report to other ministers)… the public is primed for belt-tightening.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation
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CPI retooling could result in big savings for Ottawa, business
Monday, February 13th, 2012
Feb. 13, 2012
Canada’s statistics agency is refining the consumer price index, a key economic yardstick for matching pensions and salaries to the rising cost of living – and the result could mean sizable savings for governments and corporations that hike payments annually to keep pace with inflation.
Tags: budget, standard of living, tax
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