Here’s what happens when the gender-gap index is adjusted for bias
Wednesday, January 9th, 2019
The researchers propose a truly gender-neutral set of metrics for calculating equality scores, named the Basic Index of Gender Inequality (BIGI). BIGI focuses on three factors: educational opportunities (literacy, years of primary and secondary education), healthy life expectancy (years expected to live in good health), and overall life satisfaction which, taken together, are the “minimum ingredients of a good life.” These metrics can be applied anywhere, regardless of income level, cultural paradigm or national economic development tier.
Tags: globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Ontario’s bureaucracies continue to fail the most vulnerable
Monday, October 15th, 2012
Oct 15, 201
Who among us hasn’t known someone forever changed by a head injury, or seen a relative transformed by the ravages of dementia. It’s a major problem in our healthcare system, and one that isn’t getting any better… If Ontario can afford to put Ms. Arthurs in the wrong facility, it surely can afford to keep her in the right one. Bureaucratic silos and institutional fiefdoms must not be allowed to deny patients and families the care they need.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, mental Health, poverty, rights, standard of living, youth
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
UN slams Canada’s ‘excessively punitive’ justice plan, accuses authorities of widespread discrimination
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
Oct 9, 2012
The federal government’s tough-on-crime agenda is “excessively punitive” for youth and is a step backwards for Canada’s child rights record, says… The UN committee on… Rights of the Child. The Harper government’s Bill C-10 — an omnibus crime bill that includes stiffer penalties for youth and makes it easier to try them as adults — no longer conforms to the child rights convention or other international standards.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, rights, standard of living, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Don’t blame prescription drugs for increased healthcare costs
Tuesday, October 9th, 2012
Oct 9, 2012
Prescription drugs accounted for only 9.0% of total government spending on health in 2010, down from 9.6% in 2005. Excluding prescription drugs, all other health spending categories are growing faster than both GDP and total available provincial revenues, while accounting for 91% of all government spending on health.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, pharmaceutical, privatization
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
For addicts, harm reduction works
Friday, September 28th, 2012
Sep 28, 2012
Put simply — the set of policies and programs that fall under the harm reduction model aim to reduce the negative health, social and economic consequence of drug use… harm reduction does not in any way conflict with rehabilitation. Insite, for instance, is connected to a detox centre, and use of its supervised injection facilities is often the first step towards recovery.
Tags: crime prevention, Health, ideology, mental Health
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Addiction is a ‘disease’ … of choice
Friday, September 28th, 2012
Sep 26, 2012
Most addicts stop using by an act of will, and are motivated to do so by simple cost-benefit calculations. Heyman points to age 30 as the usual cutoff, the age when people get serious about careers and mating… Heyman agrees that addicts are genetically predisposed to addiction, but he gives great credit to voluntary control over inclinations.
Tags: disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health
Posted in Child & Family Debates | 2 Comments »
Trade deficit Canada’s new economic hobgoblin
Sunday, September 23rd, 2012
Sep 19, 2012
While no one would mistake these for boom times, the reality is that the Canadian economy remains in relatively good shape. Unemployment is at 7.3%: a percentage point higher than it was at its pre-recession low, but lower than at almost any other time in the last 40 years… Poverty, even when measured against a moving target like Statistics Canada’s Low Income Cut Off, is at its lowest level in at least 40 years, perhaps ever…
Tags: economy, globalization, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Real governments don’t stuff important non-budgetary policy changes into bloated omnibus budget bills
Thursday, September 20th, 2012
Sep 20, 2012
Budget bills used to be about tax changes — nothing more, nothing less. The Tories should return to that model, saving measures on unrelated topics for separate bills that can be scrutinized and voted on independently. It’s a fairer, more transparent way to govern. And it’s but a small sacrifice of convenience for governments with nothing to hide.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Question isn’t where conservatism is going, but where has it gone
Monday, September 3rd, 2012
Mar 10, 2012
… principles having to do with the freedom of the individual, the usefulness but not infallibility of markets, and the legitimate but limited role of the state… that is, government should only do what only government can do… It isn’t just that you failed to do the things you should have. It is that you did things you should not have. And, what is worse, you did them, not reluctantly or shamefacedly, but enthusiastically. You didn’t just sell out. You bought in.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology
Posted in Governance Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Feeding the illness industry machine thanks to DSM5
Monday, August 27th, 2012
18 August 2012
The medicalization of everyday life is progressing with astonishing speed… Habitually, the DSM volumes lead to over-diagnosing and over-prescribing. Grief, for instance, receives special DSM attention. Humanity traditionally regards sorrow as a part of life but in the DSM it indicates depression… It’s been credibly estimated that in the U.S. about 80% of drugs for mood disorders are prescribed by non-psychiatrists, usually GPs.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
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