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Supreme Court ruling in case of disabled woman admirable
Monday, February 13th, 2012
Feb. 13, 2012
Not all testimony is equal; a judge decides how much weight to give it. But to cut off the possibility of testimony from disabled adults because they have trouble verbalizing what they understand of truth and lies is an arbitrary approach. It doesn’t get at what they know, just at what they can explain about what they know… mentally disabled adults should not be arbitrarily denied…
Tags: crime prevention, disabilities, mental Health, rights, youth
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Buy North American and save ourselves
Monday, February 13th, 2012
Feb. 13, 2012
Few Americans know that the two key markets for their exports and source of energy imports are Canada and Mexico. Our trade with each other enhances our collective competitiveness because many of those goods are jointly produced with parts from all three countries. Thus, the best way to multiply our exports and accelerate growth would be to create a seamless market…
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
CPI retooling could result in big savings for Ottawa, business
Monday, February 13th, 2012
Feb. 13, 2012
Canada’s statistics agency is refining the consumer price index, a key economic yardstick for matching pensions and salaries to the rising cost of living – and the result could mean sizable savings for governments and corporations that hike payments annually to keep pace with inflation.
Tags: budget, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
The world’s losing its workers. How will we compete?
Sunday, February 12th, 2012
Feb. 11, 2012
The world’s supply of working-age people will soon be shrinking, causing a shift from surplus to scarcity… There are currently almost five working-age Canadians whose income taxes pay the pension and health-care costs of each retiree; within 20 years, there will be only three. As a result, according to Ottawa, health-care costs will double and social-service costs will rise by a third… Immigration has spared Canada from the worst of aging, but immigrants adopt host-country family sizes very quickly, so they’re a temporary fix.
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living, youth
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
The poor in Toronto: They’re working but not getting any richer
Sunday, February 12th, 2012
Feb. 12, 2012
Even during times of economic prosperity, from 2000 to 2005, the number of working people unable to make ends meet grew by 42 per cent in the Toronto area. The exacerbation was especially pronounced in the city’s transit-starved east end. But rates grew fastest in the suburbs… A deep recession and sluggish recovery haven’t helped… Immigrants make up a little more than half of all the working-age population in the Toronto area – but almost three-quarters of the region’s working poor.
Tags: economy, immigration, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Delivery System | 2 Comments »
Canada’s Charter of Rights: a global model
Saturday, February 11th, 2012
Feb. 10, 2012
As Canada was founded on compromise and dialogue, so are those qualities woven into its rights charter. And so it offers a structure for working through the competing interests found in any sophisticated, multicultural nation… The structure for balancing opposed interests is found in three key sections. Section 1 sets out that rights are not absolute; governments may limit them, as long as they have evidence to justify those limits… Section 15, the equality-rights section, is open-ended, and new groups, such as gays and lesbians, have been brought under its umbrella by the Supreme Court…
Tags: disabilities, featured, multiculturalism, rights, standard of living, women, youth
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Top court orders new trial in sex attack on developmentally challenged woman
Friday, February 10th, 2012
Feb. 10, 2012
… the ruling simply means that persons with mental disabilities are not required to meet a more onerous test than any other witnesses before they are allowed to enter the courthouse door and take the stand… “So that persons with mental disabilities report sexual abuse, that it will be treated even more seriously by police and by prosecutors, with some assurance that when their evidence comes before the court, it will be accepted and heard.”
Tags: crime prevention, disabilities, rights
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
Why underfund? [1st Nations Schools]
Friday, February 10th, 2012
Feb. 10, 2012
If education is a means to alleviate dependency, poverty and social issues, then why does the government continue to underfund education on reserves such as Waterhen Lake? I urge the Prime Minister to make the financial resources available so Waweyekisik can continue its success with students.
Tags: budget, Indigenous, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | 1 Comment »
Let’s debate OAS based on fact, not perception
Monday, February 6th, 2012
Feb. 06, 2012
OAS is taxable income, so a lot of the moneys paid out go straight back to Ottawa… If your income exceeds $67,668, then you lose your OAS at a 15-per-cent clawback rate. If you have income of $110,123 or more, you get no OAS at all… It’s well known that wealthy Canadians live longer than poorer Canadians… So two key questions need to be addressed. First, is raising the age of eligibility for OAS really necessary, or is the system sustainable as is? Second, how does one justify a public policy shift that’s so clearly regressive in its impact?
Tags: budget, pensions, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Don’t shut disabled kids out of society
Sunday, February 5th, 2012
Jan. 31, 2012
Dr. Snowdon makes three main recommendations: * Create a single online reference tool that lists all community programs, services and professional care available to people with disabilities. * Invest in programs where disabled kids are integrated, not segregated, so they can feel part of their community. * Find ways to expand the social networks of children and teenagers to break the isolation… being a “virtual” citizen is only a baby step in the right direction, it’s not enough… isolation was far more painful to live with than physical or development disabilities themselves.
Tags: disabilities, participation, rights, standard of living, youth
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
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