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Pardon politics
Friday, August 17th, 2012
4 August 2012
When I was the chief of staff to solicitor-general Herb Gray, the task of issuing pardons was the purview of the National Parole Board and such decisions were taken at arms length and without any consultation with the government. I can only surmise that the arm is getting shorter, that the Prime Minister has given himself new powers that we didn’t know about – or was this hidden in Bill C-38 as well?
Tags: ideology, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
My day as a ‘mental patient’
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
1 August 2012
It is a sad truth that in Canada these days, psych wards are only for people who are so desperate they are about to kill themselves (or someone else). The rest of us suffer in the community without any real resources. Even though time on a psych ward can be a great help to someone like me, giving me a breathing space in a supportive environment, hospitals frown on this.
Tags: disabilities, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
New delivery models, not talk, are key to health-care reform
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
1 August 2012
Although per-capita health costs are already relatively low compared with other provinces, a structural deficit is forcing Ontario to try to drive them lower still… Among the advantages of a federation in which our challenges are similar, but not exactly the same, is that we can learn from each other. When one province experiments with new delivery models, others can be counted on to take notes, if not to outright cheer them on.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Bill Blair: A police chief looking beyond the easy answers
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
1 August 2012
Chief Blair offered a strikingly nuanced take on how to make troubled neighbourhoods safer… he dismissed the idea – propagated by federal and municipal politicians seeking to score law-and-order points – that the criminal justice system alone will make streets safer. As he put it: “You can’t arrest your way out of this.”… Through measures such as recruiting new officers from at-risk communities, and setting up a summer employment program for kids who live in them, Toronto’s force is already making considerable efforts.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, poverty, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | 2 Comments »
Health-care iceberg
Friday, August 10th, 2012
30 July 2012
Persistent poverty and inequality are the most powerful determinants of health status and, therefore, health-care expenditure… poverty accounts for at least 20 per cent of all health-care costs. The premiers ignore this at their peril. No one remembers the crew of the Titanic for making service more efficient by reorganizing deck chairs, but rather for causing a disaster by ignoring reality.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | 4 Comments »
Provinces must stand together on drug purchases
Friday, August 10th, 2012
31 July 2012
As the Council of the Federation’s own report suggests, bulk purchasing is not an option any more, it is a necessity… Every new drug in Canada should be purchased through a national bulk-purchasing agency to maximize savings for the benefit of all Canadians. In fact, the smartest path would be to establish a national drug plan with no deductible or co-insurance payment, which will ensure equity of funding and access to essential medicines for all Canadians.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Small numbers are a hard reality for first nations
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
25 July 2012
Sheer math would suggest that aboriginals are over-governed, with too many chiefs for very small populations. But then that is part of the Indian reality: very small populations on scattered reserves, with different cultural traditions, struggling to keep native languages alive… on land bases that range in size and quality. No matter the rhetoric of self-affirmation, populations of a few hundred people, or a few thousand for that matter, will struggle to provide even some of the services of a modern state, which is what the word “sovereignty” is all about, in practical if not rhetorical terms.
Tags: budget, Indigenous, participation, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Premiers forge own health-care path
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
26 July 2009
We run the health-care system,” said Mr. Ghiz, adding that the “only thing” the federal government does is “provide a cheque for about 20 per cent of the costs.”… Late last year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper granted provinces more autonomy to reshape health care as Ottawa moves to end 50 years of using its funding power to coerce provinces to adopt national standards. Mr. Harper essentially asked provinces, with some federal guidance, to do as they see fit in their own jurisdictions while inviting them to co-operate in establishing national benchmarks for delivering health services.
Tags: budget, Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Premiers’ health-care report is just the start of what’s needed
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
26 July 2012
The premiers’ long-awaited health-care report… outlines several helpful measures to save money. Among them are identifying three to five generic drugs that provinces can purchase in bulk by this fall; harmonizing guidelines for the treatment of chronic illnesses; and sharing training capacity and work force projections, so they’re not stealing nurses or doctors from each other…. the provinces also need to establish whether they are getting value for money before the system becomes unsustainable.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Canadians have little confidence in governments to solve issues that matter most: Study
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
25 July 2012
“When we look at transformative issues such as health care, such as the aging population…there’s not a lot of confidence in our ability to find solutions… But there tends to be a higher level of confidence in public policy issues that are more transactional.”… developing Canada’s natural resources, policing the border, trading with other nations, and improving infrastructure, such as roads and bridges… On improving the quality of life for Canada’s first nations, most Canadians appear not to care and not to believe anything can be done.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »
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