Archive for the ‘Inclusion Debates’ Category
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Canadians need to reverse troubling trend on charitable giving
Mar 20 2013
Relatively fewer people are giving than in the past. Those who do — and people who make $80,000 or more give half of all donations — are giving more… This disconnect spells trouble not only for the churches and religious causes that top donors’ giving lists, but also for universities, colleges, hospitals and a panoply of community services and foreign aid agencies that rely on private generosity to better the lives of millions of people.
Tags: economy, participation, philanthropy, standard of living
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No political equality for the poor
March 1, 2013
… the rich and the rest have different political preferences. These do not split easily along traditional partisan lines… in certain areas, like defence policy, there is no class divide. But on an important set of economic issues — deficit reduction, the minimum wage, free trade, regulation and progressive taxation — the affluent are more conservative than everyone else.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
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The Virtual Middle Class Rises
Feb. 2, 2013
Historically, we have associated democratic revolutions with rising middle classes… so people can worry less about basic food and housing and more about being treated as citizens with rights and with a voice in their own futures… The massive diffusion of powerful, cheap computing power via cellphones and tablets over the last decade has dramatically lowered the costs of connectivity and education — so much so that many more people in India, China and Egypt, even though they’re still just earning a few dollars a day, now have access to the kind of technologies and learning previously associated solely with the middle class.
Tags: globalization, participation, rights, standard of living
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The globalization of local politics
Feb 01 2013
This is globalized contact in myriad forms… Guess what they find: outsiders are the global majority — by miles. Authoritative males are few — and you don’t need them to learn what’s going on, or their blessing to act. There’s also a mingling effect due to vast migrations, based on economic needs and dislocations. This all runs counter to the explicit agenda of economic globalization, which plays people off against each other, isolates them and forces them to compete… change cuts many ways… As for Ontarians, we may have been last in line to get our woman premier but hey, we’re the first to have a lesbian grandmother premier.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, multiculturalism, participation, women
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Canada’s energy juggernaut hits a native roadblock
Jan. 14, 2013
Harper’s attack on Canada’s environmental laws included rewriting parts of the Indian Act, thereby removing safeguards for native land and waters that are protected in the Constitution. Of course, even with the Constitution on the side of aboriginals, it’s hard to imagine a group consisting of some of the poorest people on the continent taking on the federal government, backed up by corporate Canada, and winning… The Harper government will undoubtedly mobilize resources and cunning against Idle No More.
Tags: economy, globalization, Indigenous, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living
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The mean test: Have we stopped caring about Canada’s most vulnerable?
Jan. 02, 2013
GDP tells us nothing about how the benefits of growth are shared or about the costs of growth to the environment, our community, even future economic prospects. It tells us nothing about those values that sit outside the market. International agencies and a number of countries are developing indices that take into account equality, sustainability, democracy and trust, as well as economic performance.
Tags: budget, featured, globalization, ideology, Indigenous, participation, poverty, privatization, standard of living
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Quebec attitude changing — for the better
Dec. 30, 2012
In the last 25 years, Quebec has taken its place as a socially supportive democracy with high gender equity; strong support for children, families and culture; a shorter work week than in other provinces; and excellent access to higher education… the relative rise in happiness in Quebec over the last 25 years is not due to the factors that economists traditionally look for.
Tags: child care, Health, ideology, multiculturalism, rights
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Give bank profits to needy
Dec. 27, 2012
Canada’s Big Five banks combined to report $7.8 billion in profits in the third quarter. Undoubtedly they benefited from the ongoing corporate welfare system of tax cuts, granted them by the federal government…. It seems hard to understand why the Conservatives would choose to increase already excessive bank profits through corporate tax cuts, which have eliminated funds that could have been used to reduce the need for some 900,000 people having to rely on food banks.
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Where the homeless go on Christmas Day
Dec. 18, 2012
Homelessness will worsen in January when the Ontario government cancels its community start-up and maintenance benefit, which provided some social assistance recipients with money to pay the rent deposit on an apartment, replace furniture infested with bedbugs or pay overdue utility bills… “People have to demand that our political leaders treat housing as a priority. If they keep loading the burden on the charitable sector, they’re going to kill it.”
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, homelessness, housing, mental Health, poverty
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Do capitalism and charity mix?
Dec. 01 2012
… adult lives have three acts. In the first act, you build your skills. In the second act, you support your family. The third act is about the quest for meaning. A tidal wave of boomers is reaching Act 3, with energy to burn. They’ve done well, and now they want to do good. They’re the new breed of social entrepreneurs. They don’t just want to write cheques and get their names on a building – they want to get hands-on.
Tags: budget, philanthropy, poverty, standard of living, tax
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