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Ontario woman entitled to sympathy, not benefits, court rules
Friday, September 9th, 2011
Sep 9, 2011
An Ontario court has scolded the province’s Social Benefits Tribunal for giving disability benefits to a mother of four who did not even try to work, and had only minor or easily treated ailments… Under the law, a person is disabled if and only if they have a continuous or recurring physical or mental impairment, verified by an expert and expected to last a year or more, that results in a “substantial restriction” in their ability to function in the community and workplace.
Tags: disabilities, Health, mental Health, pensions
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | 4 Comments »
Medicare can’t heal itself
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
Sep 1, 2011
No discussion of ethics can ignore the distinction between coercion and voluntariness. Coercion is the very essence of socialized medicine. Under Canadian medicare, extra billing is verboten. User fees — verboten. Competing with the government’s monopoly health-insurance plan — verboten. Withholding your tax payments until you get the promised services — verboten. Forcing people to pay for services and then not providing them is tantamount to theft or fraud. It is the state system of coercive public health care that is unethical.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Cut immigration during recessions: study
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
Sep 1, 2011
Canada should reduce immigration during deep economic recession, say the authors of a detailed analysis of the earnings of immigrants over their first 10 years in the country that also touts the benefits of selecting newcomers based on earning potential. Canada should emphasize skill-assessed immigrants because their earning power “consistently and substantially” out-performed other classes of newcomers, the study says.
Tags: economy, ideology, immigration
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
U.S. tax debate approaches battle over billionaires
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
Aug 30, 2011
The congressional “supercommittee’ is beginning its efforts to reduce the deficit and one of the key points of dispute will be the Republicans’ insistence that a bigger tax on billionaires is bad. Republicans are against taxes on anyone at the moment, mainly due to fear of the tea party’s continued clout. But while it’s easy to justify opposition to tax hikes on the lower and middle classes, it gets trickier when the people affected have lots of money to spare.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Is clinic’s $1,000 member fee innovative health care or an erosion of medicare?
Monday, August 29th, 2011
Aug 27, 2011
Dr. Dockrill said she knows of 106 primary-care physicians’ offices in Ontario that are running similar practices with mandatory “block fees” levied in exchange for enhanced service, while versions of the concept are running more or less openly in at least three other provinces… To those who believe in a strong public health care system the creeping prevalence of such semi-private practices is nothing to celebrate… It’s one thing for a physician to offer additional or enhanced services for a voluntary fee, it is quite another to make the charge for such services mandatory
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Look abroad for health-care reform ideas
Saturday, August 27th, 2011
Aug 27, 2011
What coverage has there been on the four critical queuing phenomena of occupancy, variability, pooling of resources and prioritization? Despite spending a bit less than $200-billion on health care in Canada in 2010, most administrators tasked with improving wait times are not familiar with these four concepts. To the best of my knowledge, we still graduate doctors without a single hour’s exposure to congestion issues. Yet doctors have to deal with it on a daily basis throughout their careers. Both of these situations have to change, and the media has a role in making it happen by starting to cover this issue.
Posted in Health Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Politicians should scrub up on health care
Saturday, August 27th, 2011
Aug 24, 2011
… instead of calling for government leadership, the report concludes that politicians cannot be expected to act because the situation has become “too toxic.” “Given entrenched beliefs, as well as the current fiscal challenges in Canada, the ability of governments to lead fundamental health-care reform may be seriously compromised.” The CMA implores its members, as well as citizens and other professionals, to work for change. On this point, the CMA is dead wrong.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
McGuinty puts unions first in debate over arbitration
Friday, August 26th, 2011
Aug 26, 2011
Although it appears rigorous and fair-minded on paper, in practice it works to feed a relentless spiral in public sector wages, while backing municipal governments into a corner. Local politicians find themselves in a trap: once an arbitrator anywhere in the province rules that one union group deserves a raise, every other union in the same job category demands an identical package. The local council can either resist and face labour disruption, or cave in and scramble to raise the money through higher taxes.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, rights
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Welcome upgrades to Canada’s democracy
Sunday, August 21st, 2011
Aug. 19, 2011
The Internet and social media tools that enable the instant electronic transmission of local results resulted in many absurdities in the recent election… When a law can be so easily flouted that it has literally become a joke, it’s time for that law to go… The willingness of Elections Canada to consider how to bring voting online is also welcome… a secure-voting system would do much to address the accessibility concerns of Canadians with disabilities and deployed members of the armed forces, and is a logical progression for a society where citizens are already comfortable using the Internet…
Tags: participation
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
The right balance: How your level of control affects your child’s level of anxiety
Thursday, August 18th, 2011
Aug 18, 2011
A mantra of modern mothering has it that kids should be independent and self-sufficient, and that’s all to the good. But unless that goal takes into account the personality and self-control level of the child, an unforeseen result could be increased anxiety and depression… Children with low levels of so-called effortful control of their feelings and actions who did not get the direction they needed from mothers exhibited twice as much depression and anxiety… Kids who are over-controlled when they are already good at independently managing their emotions and behaviour also showed symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Tags: child care, disabilities, mental Health, women, youth
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
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