Archive for the ‘Governance’ Category
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Stephen Harper wasn’t obsessed with data. Here’s why Justin Trudeau is
Tuesday, April 4th, 2023
This whole fixation on data is, first and foremost, a big product of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the realm of health care. Trudeau has talked often about how the government learned in the early days of the pandemic just how little information it had at its fingertips… The data deficit in the current public service has also been cited as one reason the government has needed to lean so heavily on outside consulting firms
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Federal budget 2022: Highest-earning Canadians face minimum tax rate increase
Friday, March 31st, 2023
Ottawa is raising the alternative minimum tax rate and imposing new limits on many of the exemptions, deductions and credits that apply under the system starting in 2024… it is increasing the alternative minimum rate to 20.5 per cent from 15 per cent starting in 2024… Wealthy Canadians pay the alternative minimum or regular tax, whichever is higher… about 32,000 Canadians will be covered by alternative minimum tax in 2024
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
The provinces’ poor-us act on health care is wearing thin
Tuesday, March 28th, 2023
The provinces chose to ignore those tax-point grants in the recent funding debate. But a new round of tax-point transfers makes sense: it would put the ability to generate health care dollars – and the responsibility for how well they are spent – in the hands of the provinces that deliver the services.
Tags: budget, economy, jurisdiction, mental Health, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Biden breaks taboo on taxing wealthy, showing Trudeau how to do it
Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
… their wealth is largely held in corporate stock and, unless they sell stock and trigger a capital gain, no income tax applies. The wealthy are a formidable interest group who play an enormous — although largely hidden — role in shaping the political agenda. Still, they’d have more trouble keeping a wealth tax off the agenda if our progressive politicians embraced the idea with the same gusto as the broad Canadian public.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
We can’t fight authoritarianism without understanding populism’s allure
Monday, March 20th, 2023
… democracy only works when it is safeguarded by a robust system of checks and balances, masses of engaged citizens and an independent judiciary. Every populist who promises to destroy the government to save it is lying for personal gain. It’s as simple as that… the fate of democracy depends on the passion of the people to defend it from its enemies. But today, the people’s passion is in the grips of hard-right populists.
Tags: ideology, participation
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Ontario: Brutal under-funding punishes health and education
Friday, March 3rd, 2023
What’s happening in health care, education, and other services tells a story of a government that simply refuses to invest in the services Ontarians need… The current crisis in Ontario health care stems not only from the pandemic, but also from bad public policy… coupled with tax cuts that have been implemented, it results in a shrinking public sector and weakened public services. That opens the door to increased private profit-making off of the public services that Ontarians hold dear.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Laugh at the farcical scandals of John Tory and Doug Ford but the joke’s on the powerless
Wednesday, February 15th, 2023
… for-profit nursing homes had four times as many COVID-19 deaths as city-run homes… Ontario announced funding for new nursing home beds in 2022… adding 200 new police won’t decrease wait times for police to respond to calls. It doesn’t support the idea that more police equals less crime, either. But data shows reducing poverty can reduce crime… The proposed 2023 budget cuts $4.3 million from jobs and social services.
Tags: budget, Health, homelessness, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Ontario needs to invest in the non-profit business model for health and social services
Wednesday, February 8th, 2023
In Canada, we have a long tradition of non-profits working in partnership with governments to build community infrastructure and provide services. But for the past 20 years, for-profit corporations have been taking over these services and the results have been disastrously poor, including short cuts in service provision and understaffing… Accessibility is top-of mind as service provision is based on community needs, regardless of ability to pay or complexity of care.
Tags: budget, ideology, privatization
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Doug Ford appointed unqualified party loyalists to fill key tribunal spots. Now Ontarians are paying the price as wait lists swell
Wednesday, December 14th, 2022
Tribunals are supposed to be the one place where justice, and access to justice, is equal for all — an alternative to high-priced lawyers and endless court dates. Yet Ontario’s front-line administrative tribunals have become dysfunctional on Ford’s watch… Ordinary Ontarians are paying the price for the premier’s pork barrelling, with a queue exceeding 67,000 cases in key areas:
Tags: featured, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
Preventing use of the notwithstanding clause is a bad idea — and unnecessary
Tuesday, November 15th, 2022
Questions that could be asked of the Supreme Court include: When can section 33 be used? How does the word “notwithstanding” in Sec. 33 relate to the words “notwithstanding anything” in Sec. 28’s equal rights guarantee? How can the clause be amended? … Rather than stoking a constitutional crisis through disallowance, this reference would allow the federal government to de-escalate tensions and, most importantly, clarify the scope of the notwithstanding clause.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
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