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Childhood hunger is a Canadian public health crisis
Monday, May 14th, 2012
May. 14, 2012
”We admit proportionately more children from high poverty neighbourhoods to hospital than from other neighbourhoods, and the children from poorer neighbourhoods stay longer at the hospital… childhood hunger – which of course is linked to poverty – has long-term impacts on physical and mental health… “Children who live in food-insecure households are more likely to have growth and developmental problems, be susceptible to illness and perform poorly in school, compared to children who are food-secure.” Adequate nutrition is also a key issue when it comes to mental health among youth.
Tags: disabilities, Health, mental Health, poverty, rights, youth
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
You can talk about efficiency, but you can’t hide the axe
Friday, May 11th, 2012
May. 11, 2012
The line is that budget cuts of $4-billion will not affect service to Canadians, but rather can be absorbed by (the following words are in the budget): rationalizing, consolidating, integrating, streamlining, refocusing, reconfiguring, modernizing, realigning and everywhere seeking efficiencies… Doubtless, efficiencies can be found and should be pursued. But there are not $4-billion of them to be found. Only if governments stop doing things can such sums be saved, which is what is happening…
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Which charities get the most foreign cash? Not those on Tory hit list
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
May. 10, 2012
The CRA database shows only 1,998 of the 85,000 or so registered charities now active in Canada have reported any foreign income. Most are aid organizations, religious groups or schools. All of their foreign funding over the years amounts to a combined total of $811,467,808… Canadian charities do not have to disclose on their tax returns which foreign groups gave them money. But the recent federal budget promised to impose new penalties on charities that fail to provide full disclosure of funding and activities.
Tags: ideology, philanthropy, rights, tax
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Canada must actively recruit the best and brightest immigrants
Saturday, May 5th, 2012
May. 05, 2012
Ottawa must do more to ensure newcomers can convert their foreign credentials and job experience. It must address discrimination in the labour market, and gate-keeping by professional associations. But first and foremost, Canada needs to change its mentality around immigration. It should be designed as much around whom Canada wants, as who wants Canada… Canada must learn to compete. Educated professionals, entrepreneurs, leaders, will not waste their most productive years trying just to get through the door.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, immigration, multiculturalism, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Budget bill gives Conservatives broad power over EI rules
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
May 3, 2012
The measure is contained inside the budget implementation bill and would give cabinet the power to change employment insurance rules later through regulation without the approval of Parliament… The budget bill contains a small section that allows cabinet through regulation to define “suitable employment.” Ottawa isn’t saying what it has in mind… this and other EI changes in the budget bill – which also include replacing existing appeals bodies with a single “Social Security Tribunal” – are of such significance that they should be studied independently.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Aboriginal reconciliation: An open letter to Stephen Harper
Monday, April 30th, 2012
Apr. 30, 2012
Your apology and any actions you have undertaken since have only been the expedient motions demanded by tragedy, catastrophe or the public outing of your government’s callous indifference to the needs of Canada and her people. Because it’s not just aboriginal people you harm when you deign to disengage us from vehicles of healing. You harm Canada. You make the entire country less.
Tags: budget, ideology, Indigenous, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Harper unbound: An analysis of his first year as majority PM
Sunday, April 29th, 2012
Apr. 28, 2012
For most of Canada’s history the Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives did not differ fundamentally in political philosophy. Each attempted to broker competing regional, linguistic and class interests. A third, values-based party, the NDP, camped out on the left. But Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party is infused with his own dedication to economic and social conservatism. Rather than being a brokerage party, it is values based. Eventually, a progressive coalition will rise to challenge it, making national politics a two-party, values-based contest. That progressive coalition could form around the NDP or the Liberals – or it could emerge from a merger of the two.
Tags: ideology
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
The professional-class bubble is bursting
Sunday, April 29th, 2012
Apr. 28, 2012
The Great Reset has hit the professional classes too. Young professionals are facing a painful double squeeze. The cost of a degree has gone way up, and the economic benefit it confers has gone way down. Think twice before you encourage your daughter to go to law or med school, especially if she’ll have to borrow heavily to do it. On top of that, these young professionals are starting their working lives later than ever before. By the time they are credentialed and hit the work force, they’re in their early 30s… The professional classes can’t escape the gales of change that are ripping through society. They’ll adapt. But they’ll never be so comfortable again.
Tags: economy, standard of living, youth
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
In the provinces, restraint without the hard edge
Sunday, April 29th, 2012
Apr. 28, 2012
The post-recession hangover of deficits and higher debt means provinces, like Ottawa, have entered a period of spending restraint. Politics is about management these days, not vision or grand schemes or social advancement. It’s about trying to operate in leaner times… So there’s little to suggest that the agenda that seems to drive the national Conservative Party has much appeal at the provincial level… If a difference exists, it would be that the federal Conservatives really want to cut, whereas provinces feel they have no choice.
Tags: budget, ideology
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Health reform? Ottawa must provide clarity
Thursday, April 26th, 2012
Apr. 26, 2012
While the CHA says there must be deductions from federal cash transfers for extra-billing “by medical practitioners or dentists in the province,” it’s unclear as to whether extra-billing by providers in another province automatically requires federal penalties… to the degree that providing such clarity is a key step toward meaningful public dialogue on health care in Canada, the federal government should do so. Clarity is one thing that’s clearly missing from current debates.
Tags: budget, Health, rights
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
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