Archive for the ‘Social Security Debates’ Category
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Report finds poverty myths rampant
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
March 1, 2011
… the Salvation Army says it’s “extremely difficult” for a family to live on less than $40,000 in an urban area. At the same time, the report shows 89 per cent of Canadians agree that people in poverty deserve a helping hand and 81 per cent say helping poor families sets up their children for success
Tags: ideology, poverty, rights, standard of living
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How about a crackdown on hypocrisy?
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
Mar 01 2011
There are three things the government needs to consider with respect to the integrity of its welfare program. The first is that income is the major predictor of health and medical outcomes… The second is that basic welfare allowances for both food and shelter are woefully inadequate, and bear no resemblance to rising real costs. The third is that chronically dehumanizing and criminalizing the poorest and most vulnerable citizens — overwhelmingly the sick, the old, the young, the disabled, the unemployed — perpetuates a mentality that they are the cause, not the victims, of our social problems.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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CPP a better bet than private plans
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
Feb 28 2011
If we fail to act, inadequate pensions will cost governments (us as taxpayers) a lot more down the road for income-tested support vehicles like the old age security program’s guaranteed income supplement (GIS)… It is beyond belief that finance ministers armed with incontrovertible research and overwhelming public opinion would opt for a pig-in-a-poke program like the PRPP. It shows the kind of power and influence that business, especially the financial industry, has over politicians and government in this country.
Tags: pensions, poverty, rights, standard of living, tax
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Ex-PM urges Ottawa to beef up anti-poverty measures
Sunday, February 20th, 2011
Feb 17, 2011
The federal government has been so preoccupied with fiscal restraint and the fallout from the financial crisis that it has let domestic poverty slide off the national agenda, says former prime minister Joe Clark… But he…is encouraged by signs that parliamentarians of all stripes recognize there is a national problem that needs to be tackled. For proof, he points to a recent report on poverty from the all-party House of Commons human resources committee… while all parties agree that reducing poverty is important, they have all appended notes to the report stating their disagreement about how.
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Make some noise for the RDSP
Friday, February 4th, 2011
Feb. 3, 2011
The Registered Disability Savings Plan is a relatively new national tax-deferred, long-term savings plan for families who want to help ensure the financial security of relatives with disabilities and for individuals with disabilities who want to build up retirement savings for themselves. Think of it as an RESP — only with far more generous federal funding. In fact, for each dollar contributed, the federal government adds up to $3 in grant money… What’s more, anyone can contribute to an RDSP — parents, grandparents, friends, charities, foundations –it’s wide open.
Tags: budget, disabilities, participation, pensions, tax
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Improving CPP is win-win for all
Friday, January 28th, 2011
January 26, 2011
Not only does the CPP cover most Canadians, it does it more cost-efficiently than any private for-profit that puts your pension at risk. A real government would see the proposal to improve the CPP as win-win. The public wins with a livable pension above the poverty level. The government wins threefold out of the risky business of subsidizing private insurance that doesn’t deliver, save money on subsidies, save money on welfare and finally, the savings on medical costs to seniors. Imagine eliminating poverty for seniors. Why not?
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, pensions, poverty, standard of living
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Cost of food peanuts compared to price of poverty
Sunday, January 23rd, 2011
January 22, 2011
… about 60% of the regular guests at the soup kitchen have mental health and addiction illnesses, and their welfare and disability incomes don’t leave much for food. The hospital consolidation and move away from the psychiatric hospital model to more community-based treatment could further burden the food bank and soup kitchen. It’s like the social service system is designed to require full-time charitable organizations to fill the gaps for basic necessities. Put another way, the generosity of volunteers and philanthropic souls are a major line item in the provincial budget.
Tags: budget, homelessness, mental Health, pensions, poverty
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Let’s refocus on a guaranteed annual income
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
Jan. 20, 2011
Mr. Croll’s description of the situation Canada faced in the 1970s still echoes: “If the social welfare business of Canada had been in the private sector, it would have long ago been declared bankrupt. The reasons are not hard to find. Resistance to change, a stubborn refusal to modernize its thinking, a failure to understand the root causes of poverty, inadequate research and the bureaucracy digging in to preserve itself and the status quo, are some of the basic causes of the dilemma in which we find ourselves today.”
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates, Social Security History | 2 Comments »
Poor stuck in the middle of an ideological fight
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
January 10, 2011
“The changes to the special diet allowance have been disastrous from the beginning,” sighs Wendy Muckle, executive director of Ottawa Inner City Health. The good news is that eventually, we might be able to have confidence that people who need extra money because of medical conditions are getting the amounts they really need. That won’t happen until at least June 2012, when Munir Sheikh — late of Statistics Canada — and Frances Lankin are supposed to complete their review of all social assistance programs in the province.
Tags: Health, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Anti-poverty success airbrushed out
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
Jan 11 2011
… called “mincome.” It was billed as an “important contribution to the review of Canada’s social security system.” … In 1978, Ottawa pulled the plug when the economy slumped, unemployment and inflation climbed and public interest in welfare reform plummeted. The findings were never analyzed. No report was ever written. But the concept of a guaranteed annual income (GAI) refused to die.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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