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Grim state of native education comes as a surprise to no one
Friday, November 18th, 2011
Nov. 18, 2011
There are places in Canada, specifically Nova Scotia and to a lesser extent British Columbia, where native schools are working and where graduation rates are climbing. The common denominator seems to be Indian control of Indian education – not just within individual schools but also in terms of the administrative functions normally handled by school boards… There is an urgent need to fix what’s wrong with native education – not just for the children who are being left behind but also for the rest of Canada, which will have to pay the enormous price incurred by doing nothing.
Tags: budget, participation, rights, tax
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
The best defence against bullying
Friday, November 18th, 2011
Nov. 18, 2011
… research shows that when students spoke up, or jumped in physically, half of the incidents ended abruptly. Telling an adult is the ideal response – the more students who come forward, the more likely school officials will react. But in the higher grades… teenagers need specific skills: how to rally their friends to face down the bully or reach out to the victim… victims of bullying reported that bystanders were the most helpful when they comforted them after the fact, helped them get away from the situation, or gave them advice. What makes the difference may be numbers…
Tags: mental Health, youth
Posted in Child & Family Debates | 5 Comments »
Employment Insurance system unjust and inefficient, report finds
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Nov. 15, 2011
Fewer than half of jobless Canadians get EI. That’s down from about 80 per cent in the mid-1990s, when Ottawa made the program less generous to save money. “The number of people outside Canada’s social safety net is growing and growing,” said Mr. Mendelsohn, an academic and former top federal and Ontario government official… In some parts of the country, work is scheduled around the seasons to squeeze the more out of EI. It isn’t efficient, says Arthur Sweetman… People are sitting at home when they could be productive.” Employers have also learned to exploit the system.
Tags: ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Delivery System | No Comments »
Is the Charter ‘applied ethics’ in law’s clothing?
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Nov. 14, 2011
The interaction of law and ethics is increasingly overt in developing and implementing social and public policy, especially in contexts that affect human life and well-being such as reproductive technologies, public health, drug addiction, end-of-life decision-making and prostitution. The Supreme Court’s judgment in the Insite case manifests this interaction, and examining it from that perspective provides insight… the judgment can be seen as the court using the Charter in a legally sophisticated and complex way to reach an ethically acceptable outcome.
Tags: Health, ideology, rights
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Treat unemployed workers equally across Canada
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
Nov. 16, 2011
It had been supposed that local unemployment rates were a good indicator of how long it would take for a person who has been laid off to find a new job. That turns out not to be true. Moreover, the levels of GDP per capita have been converging across Canada, while the EI system has mistakenly continued to treat whole areas of the country as if they were underdeveloped regions, fostering among some people a habit of dependence.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Let Canadians die with dignity
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
Nov. 16, 2011
Ottawa should heed the advice of a high-profile panel on end-of-life issues and decriminalize voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide, as several other jurisdictions have already done, including the Netherlands, Oregon, Switzerland and Belgium… some form of assisted suicide be permitted – even for those who have not been diagnosed with a terminal illness, because patients may be suffering terribly and permanently.
Tags: Health, mental Health, rights
Posted in Health Debates | 1 Comment »
Raising a disabled child takes a village (and an RDSP)
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
Nov. 16, 2011
In practical terms, the RDSP allows parents of special needs children to save for that day when they’ll no longer be able to care for their disabled offspring…. Canada may do well in the employment integration of the disabled, but for children such as ours, who are likely to never live an autonomous life, let alone work, disability-related public spending measures are dismal.
Tags: budget, disabilities, pensions, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | 2 Comments »
Mandatory reading on mandatory minimum sentences
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
Nov. 15, 2011
In Canada, the federal prison population rose by 1,000 to 14,500, in just 18 months, partly as a result of new mandatory minimums, a federal report found in August. At an average cost of $110,000 a year per inmate, the benefits would be questionable at any time – all the more so when economies nearly everywhere are at risk… the Canadian government… seems intent on following the failed U.S. model, even as that country beats a retreat.
Tags: budget, corrections, crime prevention, ideology
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Young men without work
Saturday, November 12th, 2011
Nov. 11, 2011
Despite what the Occupy movement says, the biggest economic challenge we face today is not income inequality, greedy corporations, Wall Street corruption or the concentration of wealth among the top 1 per cent. It’s the increasing failure of young men with high-school degrees or less to latch on to the world of work. Young men without work aren’t just an economic problem. They’re a huge social problem… Young men without work are trapped in a twilight world of failure to achieve adulthood… The longer they go without work, the dimmer their prospects become.
Tags: economy, poverty, standard of living, youth
Posted in Debates | 2 Comments »
The weirdo PM who showed the way
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
Nov. 08, 2011
His exemplary displays of centrist brokerage politics, his placing of national unity at the forefront and his securing of Quebec were pillars that endured for decades. But the fracturing began under Mr. Trudeau and was accelerated by Mr. Turner, who clashed with both Mr. Trudeau and Jean Chrétien. The party took sides, dividing into long-lasting Trudeau/Chrétien and Turner/Paul Martin blocs.
Tags: ideology
Posted in Governance History | No Comments »
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