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The awful truth about social programs
Saturday, October 13th, 2012
Oct. 13 2012
Hardly any of the countless programs that spend billions of dollars to help the poor and vulnerable are measured for results. According to the Cato Institute… “We are spending more than enough money to fight poverty but not spending it in ways that actually reduce poverty”… we’ve got to start spending public money more wisely. To do that, we need rigorous evidence about what works.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security Debates | 1 Comment »
Did this historic trade deal help Canada? No
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
Oct. 06 2012
Let’s step back from the rhetoric and consider some concrete indicators of our North American trade performance, then and now… Quantity of Exports… Composition of Exports… U.S. Market… Productivity… In short, it’s hard to find any concrete economic evidence whatsoever that this historic deal actually helped Canada… In reality, last week’s back-patting was all about partisan politics, not economics.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
Posted in History | No Comments »
Ottawa rolls out funding for small business to hire people with disabilities
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
Oct. 10 2012
… to encourage the hiring of people with disabilities. Human Resources Minister Diane Finley was in Calgary today to announce a call for proposals that will see $30-million spent over the next three years. The money is expected to create 1,600 jobs at small and medium-sized businesses, providing employment to people who have had a tough time cracking the labour market.
Tags: budget, disabilities, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
Evangelical Christians find a home in Conservative politics
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
Oct. 10 2012
Evangelicals’ support for the Conservatives is tremendously helpful in the form of financial contributions and votes. Only occasionally does their presence make itself felt, as in the abortion debate, usually without much direct effect. But indirectly, their view contributes to how the Conservatives see the world and act within it.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, women
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »
After 25 years, free-trade deal with U.S. has helped Canada grow up
Saturday, September 29th, 2012
Sep. 29 2012
Canada has not, as opponents predicted, become an economic appendage to the American giant, a 51st state in all but name… We are, if anything, a freer actor in the world than we were before the deal was signed, 25 years ago… But the benefits are also debatable… Despite rosy predictions, Canadian productivity continues to lag; too little gets researched here and not enough is developed… The real legacy, however, may be intangible.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in History | 1 Comment »
The poor ain’t what they used to be
Saturday, September 29th, 2012
Sep. 29 2012
… everything has changed. The poor are still with us, but they aren’t who they used to be. And “ending poverty” doesn’t mean what it used to mean… now that the inequality is no longer international but within nations, there’s a “need for a fundamental reframing of global poverty as largely a matter of domestic distribution… Growth by itself isn’t going to do it… There will still be a lot of poor”.
Tags: budget, globalization, ideology, philanthropy, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion History | No Comments »
A matter of justice, without delay
Friday, September 28th, 2012
Sep. 28 2012
… crime rates are the lowest in decades… with youth crime falling faster than overall crime. And yet, less crime has not translated into lower court costs. Crime is down 33 per cent in the past six years, but criminal justice costs are up 35 per cent in the same period.
Tags: budget, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
Following New Zealand’s lead on generic drugs would cut costs, study show
Friday, September 28th, 2012
Sep. 28 2012
Ontario could save an additional $250-million a year if it changed the way it buys generic drugs, and nationally, that figure could hit $1-billion… [by] switching to a tendering system under which generic manufacturers would bid to offer the best price to the drug plans that provide prescription medications to seniors and social assistance recipients.
Tags: budget, Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Technology and the shrinking middle class
Saturday, September 22nd, 2012
Sep. 20 2012
The revolution Mr. Milner describes is part of a sea change in how the economies of Western industrialized nations work – and one that is hollowing out the middle class.
Mr. Milner’s focus is on what he calls the three big “stories” in business innovation: “platform,” “free” and “e-commerce.”… the biggest impact of the e-commerce revolution… won’t be on the number of jobs in the economy; it will be on how well they pay.
Tags: economy, globalization, participation, poverty, standard of living, youth
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
Drummond report falls off Liberal radar, Liberals still looking to ‘short-term fixes’
Saturday, September 22nd, 2012
Sep. 21 2012
Central to his prescription was avoiding “short-term fixes” and “across-the-board cuts,” which allow structural problems to fester… No section of the report was more explicit on this front than the one on labour costs, which account for the bulk of government’s expenditures… Mr. Drummond’s report still serves as a useful catalogue of cost-cutting options. Its brief time as the guiding orthodox
Tags: budget, ideology, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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