Archive for the ‘Inclusion Delivery System’ Category
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Against all odds, Legal Aid Ontario is getting better
McCamus, who conducted a comprehensive review of Ontario’s legal aid system in 1997, is acutely aware that only the very poor qualify for legal aid. He doesn’t have the authority to raise the threshold. But he has lobbied the government to do it throughout his tenure. This year, for the first time since 1997, the answer was yes.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | 4 Comments »
Ontario’s legal aid system gets some well-targeted help
The new money, the first installment of a two-year plan to invest $9.8 million in legal aid clinics, ill be allocated according to need… Specialty clinics – serving ethnocultural minorities, people with disabilities, industrial accident victims, people with HIV/AIDS, the elderly, tenants and children – will get $1.2 million, and clinics serving francophones and other linguistic minorities will get $600,000.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living
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A person of different abilities is a person first
One of the biggest challenges facing any person, with Down syndrome or without, is being told what we cannot do. The language we use, the classrooms and special programs we set up, and the job opportunities available all set the tone for a person’s development and success. As we shift from looking at people with disabilities as “disabled,” and move toward a more inclusive model that sees all people as capable, with a range of abilities, our expectations for those with Down syndrome will continue to evolve.
Tags: child care, disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health, participation, standard of living
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The great divide in Toronto housing
With one in five Torontonians living in poverty, that’s a lot of us left out in the cold, especially aboriginal, racialized and immigrant women who are more likely to experience poverty, precarious employment and lack of affordable housing as a barrier to leaving violent situations. This isn’t just about building more shelters and fixing the backlog of TCHC repairs. While these are necessary, they can never be more than band-aid solutions without careful consideration of how housing, urban planning and community development interact with poverty and inequality.
Tags: homelessness, housing, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
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Letting down Ontario’s disabled
the accessibility act is in danger of becoming “window dressing” and a sham as businesses fail to comply with its most basic requirements. What was needed then, as now, is compliance, beginning with an insistence that reports be filed, with inspections and fines to follow. What was needed then, as now, is a government that is prepared to make a public example of scofflaws, not coddle them. Providing equal access for the disabled will require more robust, effective, visible enforcement than we’ve seen to date.
Tags: disabilities, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
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Ottawa should broaden tax break for donations to charity
U.S. laws do more to encourage donating to charities by offering more generous tax breaks to people who give money away… In its spring budget the Conservative government should broaden the tax exemption on capital gains for charitable donations. It should give the same tax treatment to donations of private-company shares and real estate as is now given to gifts of publicly traded shares… That would likely result in additional donations to charities in the region of $200 million a year
Tags: budget, ideology, philanthropy, tax
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Food-bank system’s absurd, but it shows we don’t lack for helpers
My neighbour has trouble affording food that is easily available quite near to our house. But we don’t address his shortage of money, the actual root of the problem. Instead we marshal a lot of resources addressing a non-existent food shortage… In the absence of bigger, possibly more elegant and efficient, solutions to poverty — better jobs, better social supports, more money — the food bank system does good work.
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Queen’s Park newcomer aims to move the yardsticks on housing
… the Planning Statute Amendment Act. If it passes… would give municipalities across Ontario the authority to direct developers to set aside a number of units in every residential project as affordable housing. It’s called inclusionary zoning. The idea is not new, but it has never gained enough traction at Queen’s Park to become law… it would allow urban planners… to accelerate Toronto’s move toward a mix of market-priced and rent-geared-to-income housing.
Tags: homelessness, housing, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | 8 Comments »
Stinging message to Canada’s judges
“The cost of legal services has forced us to become our own advocates. Given the complexity of the system… We need your clear and respectful explanations and your fair discretion to avoid turning the courtroom into a playground for experts.”… Self-representation is not an act of bravado. It is a desperate, exhausting, stressful choice. That is the new reality of Canada’s courts.
Tags: featured, ideology, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living
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New funding for affordable housing is welcome news
… the federal and provincial governments announced they are dedicating $801 million over five years for new and affordable housing in Ontario. Of that, Toronto will get $20.5 million in the first year… Still, there’s another problem… if Toronto is to continue to make headway in housing low- and moderate-income families… making sure the affordable housing units TCHC already has aren’t lost because of a lack of funding to keep them in good, livable repair.
Tags: budget, homelessness, housing, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | 341 Comments »
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