Archive for the ‘Inclusion Debates’ Category
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Why I did it: Senate page explains her throne speech protest
Thursday, June 9th, 2011
Jun 08 2011
Our views are not represented by our political system. How else could we have a government that 60 per cent of the people voted against? A broken system is what has left us with a Conservative government ready to spend billions on fighter jets we don’t need, to pollute the environment we want protected, to degrade a health-care system we want improved, and to cut social programs and public sector jobs we value… Such a system leads us to feel isolated, powerless and hopeless — thousands of Canadians made that clear in their responses to my action.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
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One in four Canadians have depended on social services: poll
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
May 25, 2011
Regardless of their personal feelings on why homeless people end up in that situation, an overwhelming majority of Canadians — 93% — believe nobody in the country should be homeless and housing access should be a fundamental right, according to 86% of the poll respondents. Almost all those polled said the homeless population “deserve a sense of dignity.”… Mental illness was also an area of focus in the survey, with it being cited as a suspected contributing cause of homelessness by 40 per cent of the respondents.
Tags: disabilities, homelessness, housing, mental Health, poverty
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Digital technology can bring democracy to life
Monday, May 16th, 2011
May 16 2011
Governments need more than our votes — they need our knowledge and our efforts. Governments must create opportunities for sustained dialogue between voters and public officials. To be clear, this is not some kind of direct democracy, where citizens would vote online every night after the evening news. That would be tantamount to a digital mob. Nor is this just a means to determine voter sentiment. Opinion polls already do a good job at that. Instead, we need ways to allow citizens to contribute ideas to the decision-making process — to get them engaged in public life.
Tags: ideology, participation
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Poverty handbook offers practical policy suggestions
Saturday, May 14th, 2011
May 13, 2011
Some of the country’s foremost thinkers on social policy have put together a handbook of ready-to-use options for decision-makers seeking to help the most vulnerable… “The approach is very practical, pragmatic and policy-ready,” said Alan Broadbent, chairman of the Toronto-based Maytree Foundation that spearheaded the report… The report recommends making tax credits refundable so that the poor can benefit. It also calls for better protections for seasonal and temporary workers, improvements to employment insurance and income support for caregivers…
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
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Politicking has hurt county’s poor
Monday, May 9th, 2011
May 7, 2011
A series of federal and provincial governments have left Simcoe County’s poor to suffer the degradations and misery of the street — to suffer the judgment and cruelty of society’s ignorant. According to the 2009 poverty report of the Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness, 7,500 people experienced homelessness in 2008. Many of these individuals were women who were sexually or physically assaulted, averaged three or more years of homelessness, and suffered psychological and physical harm from life on the streets (SCATEH 2009).
Tags: disabilities, homelessness, mental Health, poverty, women
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The winner of this campaign? Citizen engagement
Saturday, April 30th, 2011
Apr 30 2011
Canadians… are less jaded about their country’s public affairs than much of the political and journalistic elite that purports to represent and inform them… the developments of the past five weeks have shown that there is a lot more appetite for a discourse based on hope than one based on fear… Serious policy never really made it to the centre stage of the campaign… But the reality is that there are ultimately less irreconcilable policy differences between the parties than their partisan hype would lead to believe…
Tags: ideology, participation
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The Power of Mockery
Sunday, April 24th, 2011
April 16, 2011
A crucial lesson… is the power of nonviolence: “If somebody is beating you, don’t attack him. Don’t use any violence against them. Just take photos of them and put them on the Internet.”… One of the most exciting trends in the struggle against poverty and social pathologies such as crime is the use of similar youth-owned movements to change cultural norms from the bottom up… Sometimes the most powerful force for social change is a bunch of irreverent and wise-cracking students, working together.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
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Just another reason to hit the help wanted ads [mortality rates]
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011
Apr. 18, 2011
…unemployment increases the risk of early mortality by 63%… “There is, at least partially, a causal effect here between unemployment and mortality.”… But… being unemployed is just a symptom of the real ailment: poverty. Not having a job may be distressing, but it’s the inability to pay for quality goods like health care, and living space that will kill you… there is a proven link between mortality and lower socio-economic status…
Tags: economy, Health, participation, poverty, standard of living
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London tests power of prayer in bid to close rich-poor gap
Sunday, April 17th, 2011
April 17, 2011
leaders from several major faiths in London have joined forces to preach the same message at the same time to Christians, Muslims and Jews. The message: Vote and vote for the person or party you believe does the most to bridge the growing gap in Canada between the rich and the poor. It’s likely the first time leaders of different religions in London have blanketed their followers with one message, and a political one at that… “We are one family at the end of the day,” Imam Jamal Taleb of London Muslim Mosque said Friday.
Tags: ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | 1 Comment »
Has U.S.-style ‘voter suppression’ made it to Canada’s election?
Sunday, April 10th, 2011
April 10, 2011
The term refers to efforts by one political party, not to win votes, but to convince people not to vote at all… with negative advertising. The Conservatives might be calculating that, even if the coalition bogeyman doesn’t win voters over to their side, the prospect might discourage some Liberal supporters from voting at all–a second-best result… both the Liberals and the Conservatives may be hoping that, if they can mobilize their vote while discouraging voters who incline to their opponent, that’s not the worst thing in the world.
Tags: ideology, participation
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