Sick health care system made Canadians lose more than $3-billion in economic activity: Fraser Institute
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
1 August 2012
the Fraser Institute, which estimated that last year Canada lost $1.08-billion in business-day economic activity due to excessive wait times at hospitals and time gaps between visits to specialists and receipt of treatment. Long waits in emergency rooms and forcing Canadians to take time out their work days to visit multiple doctors has a cumulative effect not only on the quality of their care but on the overall productivity of the workforce, says the report.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Immigrants face steep climb to success
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
24 July 2012
In Canada, it appears immigration is, in fact, working to reduce productivity given the chronic underemployment of immigrants in the country. According to some estimates, 20% of the increase in the U.S.-Canada productivity gap over the past decade can be attributed to immigration… heavy a reliance on short-term, unskilled foreign workers might improve job market flexibility in the near term but will reduce its growth potential in the long term due to the comparatively limited ability of low-skilled workers to adjust… language skills have also proven critical to success.
Tags: economy, immigration, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Poverty costs Alberta up to $9.5B a year, report suggests
Monday, February 6th, 2012
February 6, 2012
In a report being released today, Vibrant Communities Calgary estimates poverty costs the Alberta government between $2 billion and $2.4 billion and the overall Alberta economy between $5.1 billion and $7.2 billion – for a total of up to $9.5 billion annually. “This big $9 billion number doesn’t include the cost the government pays in social services or subsidies,” said Dan Meades, director of Vibrant Communities Calgary. “We were kind of surprised this was the number of just the external cost of poverty and it’s that big. We were surprised nobody fixed this yet.”
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Poverty+costs+Alberta+year+report+suggests/6107166/story.html#ixzz1lcBt5BTd
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Program targets aboriginal issues in justice system
Saturday, January 28th, 2012
Jan. 27, 2012
In R v Gladue, the Supreme Court recognized that certain mitigating factors, including aboriginal peoples’ history of dislocation, disadvantage and discrimination, and a range of options should be considered when sentencing them. Despite that ruling, aboriginal offenders today still account for 20 per cent of the federal offender population, even though aboriginal adults represent four per cent of the Canadian population… while Corrections Canada has adopted Gladue principles into their policy documents, evidence of the application of those principles by corrections staff has been lacking.
Tags: corrections, Indigenous, multiculturalism, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Trudeau’s words about aboriginals resonate
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Jan. 3, 2012
“We will recognize treaty rights,” continued Trudeau, those 42 years ago. “We will recognize forms of contract which have been made with the Indian people by the Crown and we will try to bring justice in that area and this will mean that perhaps the treaties shouldn’t go on forever”… After considerable opposition from Indian politicians, the Trudeau government backed away from this so-called red paper proposal. Who is to know if his proposals would have made a difference among our First Nations communities?
Tags: ideology, Indigenous, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality History | 9 Comments »
Early warning signs Mental health problems can start early and last a lifetime
Friday, October 7th, 2011
October 7, 2011
Increasingly, mental health disorders are seen as resulting from a complex interplay of genetic, biological, personality and environmental factors that may have roots in childhood. How early is unknown, but behaviourial problems with babies and toddlers can show up as difficulties with eating, sleeping and playing… Usually, things resolve themselves around age two or three. If not, an assessment may be warranted … Between 60 and 80 per cent of adult psychiatric problems begin at some point in childhood…
Tags: mental Health, youth
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Poverty cure
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
June 29, 2011
… there is no bigger idea than to advocate for a basic annual income based on a negative income tax… As Senators Hugh Segal and Art Eggleton have suggested, a basic annual income means ensuring that people, regardless of the reasons for their need, receive an income that would keep them above the poverty line. Good social policy should work to alleviate poverty, and thus prevent the associated ills which themselves arrive with other costs we all share -for health care, for policing, for diminished educational outcomes.
Tags: ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Mayor looks for ‘big idea’ to tackle poverty in Calgary
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011
June 28, 2011
While it’s true that much of this is in the responsibility of the federal and provincial governments, somebody has to take leadership. [Nenshi] “I’m not interested in endless buck passing on this.”… “Poverty reduction is not about money,” Richter said. “Poverty reduction is about quality of life and access to the economy and allowing people to help themselves; just create a level playing field as opposed to creating equal results. “That would really challenge a lot of assumptions about what poverty reduction is and about . . . the role of a municipal government in that.”
Tags: featured, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Divisive [multiculturalism]
Monday, February 14th, 2011
February 13, 2011
The forces at work have become sadly centrifugal, as we desperately search for a sense of national community and purpose, against a domestic background of creating growing numbers of internal solitudes… Ottawa’s brand of multiculturalism has merely contributed to the kind of “multi-identity-ism” that has turned all of us, myself as an immigrant included, into a nation of hyphenated Canadians. Canada’s journey to nationhood must be based on that deeper sense of diversity from which, fed by a multitude of tributaries, flows a new, distinctive and enriched national stream.
Tags: ideology, immigration, multiculturalism, participation
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Why CPP hikes are a bad idea
Monday, February 7th, 2011
February 6, 2011
The earliest contributors to the CPP made out wonderfully… But the return on one’s CPP taxes become meagre the later one is born. It’s why it resembles a social program and not a true pension plan… The low contribution rates for the pre-baby boom generation had everything to do with demographics. Over the decades, successive governments kept retirement contributions artificially low… The 1997 reforms were meant to address both the unfunded liability in the CPP and partially address the generational imbalance.
Tags: pensions, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security History | No Comments »
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