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Tax-cut debate almost laughable
Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
February 8, 2011
… corporate income taxes aren’t paid by corporations nor are they paid by fat-cat corporate executives. They’re simply passed on by corporations in the form of lower salaries for workers or higher prices for consumers. On the other hand, corporate income taxes have very little to do with employment… Corporations left with a bit more money in their pockets will spend on exactly the mix of equipment and labour that boosts their fortunes the most, boosting both competitiveness and wages, but doing very little to change employment over the long run…
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
Ignatieff pitches $1-billion family care plan
Saturday, January 29th, 2011
January 28, 2011
a much more fruitful alternative to the “fighter jets, jails and corporate tax cuts” proffered by the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper…. Ignatieff wants to defray the costs of home care with a new, six-month family care employment-insurance benefit-vs. sixweeksof parental leave now available to some -in addition to a new family care benefit of up to $1,350 a year, tax-free. That $1 billion “is a gesture,” he said, to support family caregivers… an aging population -and the current piecemeal, fragmented system…
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, poverty, standard of living, women
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Harper government has done little for women
Saturday, January 29th, 2011
January 28, 2011
Women could have done with government help during the past five years. They continue to be penalized in the workplace for having children. They are under-represented in public office and increasingly frozen out of government appointments. The social safety net no longer offers as much safety as it once did. Women’s-rights groups, including those representing missing native women, are struggling as their state subsidies are cut.
Tags: ideology, participation, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Poverty: ending the cycle
Sunday, December 19th, 2010
December 18, 2010
Everybody knows that poverty is tough, that it is often at the root of lack of education, drug abuse, even violent crime. But everybody doesn’t know why. Peeling back the layers of poverty has been a career’s work for psychologist Lisa Serbin and her colleagues, the drivers behind Concordia University’s 34-year Longitudinal Risk Project… “They’re without proper housing and quality of food, and there is an effect on nutrition and on brain development.”… “Parental support of children is so important for positive outcomes, as is social support of parents.”
Tags: ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Debates | 1 Comment »
We’re ‘not in bed with big tobacco’: federal health minister
Saturday, December 11th, 2010
December 09, 2010
Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq… pledged to unveil an aggressive anti-smoking communica-tions strategy within weeks that may include bigger and more graphic health warnings on cigarette packages… after a rough day of testimony at parliamentary hearings on why the Conservative government has yet to follow through on a long-running plan – first conceived in 2004 and almost unveiled earlier this year – to force tobacco companies to update health warnings.
Tags: Health, ideology
Posted in Health Debates | 1 Comment »
Guaranteed income: an idea worth rethinking
Sunday, November 28th, 2010
November 27, 2010
Such handouts, the assumption runs, would create a work-resistant underclass prepared to milk the state for all it’s worth. But the time has come to rethink the idea, without preconceptions. A guaranteed annual income (GAI) might well allow us to sweep away the burdensome, confusing, inefficient, intrusive, overlapping tangle of current federal and provincial programs for income support. And a number of pilot studies seem to suggest that the disincentive to work is not enormous, while immediate benefits, notably in improved nutrition and health, are significant for the individuals and for the whole economy.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Poorly housed Canadians face same challenges as homeless: study
Sunday, November 21st, 2010
November 20, 2010
People who don’t have a healthy place to live -regardless of whether they are homeless or housed in substandard conditions -are at high risk of experiencing hunger, physical and mental health problems and hospitalization, the study says. They also have problems accessing needed health care. “The real gulf in health outcomes doesn’t lie between people who are homeless and people who aren’t homeless. It’s between those who have continued access to healthy housing and those who don’t.”
Tags: Health, homelessness, housing, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Canadian seniors living longer, better, report says
Sunday, October 31st, 2010
October 30, 2010
Canada’s seniors are living longer and are vastly less likely to struggle with poverty than they were three decades ago, but there’s work to be done in areas such as diagnosing and treating mental illness, reducing social isolation and combating the “mythology” of aging, Canada’s chief public health officer said… Life expectancy continues to rise, sitting at 78 years for men and 83 years on average for women, and along with enjoying longer lives, there’s evidence of rising quality of life… Still, aboriginal seniors in Canada fare more poorly both in terms of life expectancy and poverty.
Tags: Health, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Canada failing to support ill, disabled: study
Saturday, October 2nd, 2010
September 30, 2010
anada’s unique form of federalism has resulted in an overly complex, cumbersome and inadequate support system for the sick and disabled that makes them even more incapacitated and dependent… The federal and provincial governments need to launch a major reform initiative that should include consideration of a devolution of federal support programs to the provinces, the OECD said. “Poverty is already an issue for persons with disabilities and could become a major challenge for Canada as the effects of the crisis continue to unfold,” concludes the report
Tags: disabilities, Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Can Canada avoid European-style immigration backlash?
Sunday, September 26th, 2010
September 24, 2010
The conservative [Fraser Institute] think-tank has presented economic analyses arguing the current high immigration rate is a drain on the Canadian economy and, contrary to what most politicians argue, does next to nothing to offset problems dealing with the aging population… [But] B.C. political scientist Ken Carty… noted that Canada was the only country in a major 2003 international survey where a majority viewed immigration positively and didn’t want cuts… “To the extent that continues, it suggests that the immigrant nature of the country is widely understood and appreciated,”
Tags: immigration, multiculturalism, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | 1 Comment »
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