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It’s time to find a cure for the problem of how doctors are paid
Saturday, April 30th, 2011
Apr. 28, 2011
… the fastest-growing health expense in Canada is not drugs, it is physician services… there are more doctors – 68,100 and rising. In the last year alone, there has been a net gain of 2,700 physicians… Three-quarters of physician payments are made on a fee-for-service basis… it is open-ended. Physicians can see as many patients as they wish (or is practical) and bill for services rendered – even if that care could be more efficiently delivered by a nurse or pharmacist. It creates an incentive for over-consumption… a phenomenon known in the literature as supplier-induced demand.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Government-sanctioned online gambling: short-sighted and morally bankrupt
Monday, April 25th, 2011
Apr. 21, 2011
There are few public policies that are more short-sighted, misguided and morally bankrupt. Gambling is unhealthy – financially, socially and, sometimes, physically… All gambling is tends to be anti-social activity – a destroyer of families and relationships – and never more so than when done online… Canada has essentially taken a “we can’t do anything about it” attitude, even though one of the biggest online gambling hubs in the world is located in Kahnawake, a native reserve just outside Montreal.
Posted in Child & Family Debates | 1 Comment »
How sensible tax policy gets mired in politics
Monday, April 25th, 2011
April 25, 2011
The GST cut was almost certainly a mistake, but no opposition party has challenged this decision in the election campaign… the losses associated with the GST cuts are on the order of $12-billion to $14-billon, while those of the CIT cuts are around $2-billion. Moreover, corporate income taxes are a rickety foundation upon which to build social democracies: all the countries that have pulled off the trick of supporting high levels of social spending without sacrificing economic growth have learned that theoptimal tax mix relies less on corporate taxes and more on consumption taxes such as the GST.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
It’s not Diane Anderson who should be judged harshly
Sunday, April 24th, 2011
Apr. 23, 2011
… she was also strong, resilient, proud and even near what turned out to be her breaking point – when she was consumed with grief and flailing – she was still trying to rouse the bureaucracy to action… What she was offered, for the most part, were figurative hugs for her “issues” by a gathering flock of helping professionals… The concrete things that I believe may actually have helped her – child care… a better place to live… a bit of extra cash… a ride now and then to the agencies that were downtown… never materialized.
Tags: child care, poverty, rights, standard of living, women
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
The economy: How the parties differ
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011
Apr. 23, 2011
Health care and the economy are the two issues Canadians consistently say mean the most to them, but they’re not getting that much substantive air time in the campaign. With this primer, The Globe and Mail addresses that. In this special feature, economic-policy reporter Barrie McKenna applies a reality check to the three main parties’ fiscal platforms.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Health care: Parties set out their approaches
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011
Apr. 22, 2011
Health care and the economy are the two issues Canadians consistently say mean the most to them, but they’re not getting that much substantive air time in the campaign. With this primer, The Globe and Mail addresses that. In this special feature, public-health reporter André Picard frames the problems and politics reporter Steven Chase tries to pin down the parties.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Hold the line on EI premiums
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011
Apr. 17, 2011
Corporate tax cuts do not create as many jobs, and hikes do not yield as much revenue, as the parties claim… But taxes – payroll taxes, that is – are going up, by 15 cents per $100 of insurable earnings… a like increase is planned for every future year. Add that across the entire economy, and it’s a significant bite into incomes and pocketbooks… The parties should commit to holding the line on EI premium increases across the board. It can be done without bankrupting the EI system, and it’s the best way to help workers, and businesses of all sizes.
Tags: budget, ideology, tax
Posted in Delivery System | No Comments »
Health reforms
Thursday, April 21st, 2011
Apr. 20, 2011
That the federal government and the provinces focused only on filling the so-called “Romanow gap” in system funding rather than on engaging the hard choices Mr. Romanow proposed should not be blamed on the messenger. The commission had two goals. First was the accumulation of the best evidence available including 40 published research reports that ran the gamut of the ideological spectrum. The second was a multifaceted approach to getting citizens involved in thinking about not only what they needed from the system but also how it should be financed, organized and reformed.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
A Canada-U.S. tax gap means a Canada-U.S. tax transfer
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
Apr. 20, 2011
…our rates fall substantially below U.S. rates. According to the 2010 budget, the Canadian corporate tax rate at 16.2 per cent in 2012 would be half that of the U.S. at 34.2 per cent, with a still-to-come 1.5-point drop. Under Article XXIV of the Canada-U.S. tax treaty, any U.S. citizen, resident or company earning income in Canada is subject to U.S. tax, with a credit for Canadian tax paid or accrued. This is critical…. [It] could result in a potential $500-million annual tax transfer from Canada to the U.S. for every point reduction in the Canadian tax rate.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Election 2011, a dark fiction
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
Apr. 20, 2011
A vacuum cleaner salesman comes to your door. “You must buy this vacuum cleaner,” he says. “Why?” you say. “Because I know what’s good for you,” he says… You believe it’s your right to query: It’s your money and, come to think of it, you pay this guy’s salary. “Stop bickering,” he says… “I get the feeling you don’t like me,” you say. “Is it because I’m a girl? Or because I don’t want you to run up huge debts without telling me what the money is for? What happened to accountability? It used to sound so great!”
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, participation, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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