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Canadians’ unpaid tax bill grows to $25-billion
Monday, December 13th, 2010
Dec. 13, 2010
The $25-billion figure, the amount owing as of March 31, represents an increase of more than 35% over the total owing five years ago, when overdue taxes stood at $18.5-billion. the Canada Revenue Agency wrote off $1.9-billion in taxes as uncollectible in the most recent fiscal year. Such write-offs have been relatively stable in the past five years. The battle against delinquent taxpayers comes as Ottawa looks for ways to tackle the federal deficit, projected to hit $45 billion this year.
Tags: budget, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Four ideas for a better Canada and a better world
Saturday, December 11th, 2010
December 11, 2010
… imprisonment is an insane, archaic and self-defeating treatment of non-violent offenders… Apart from those with a propensity to violence, and those who have committed other crimes on a Madoff-scale, felons should receive a government insurance bond for their employers, and contribute work to society pro bono… and treatment for substance abuse. Recidivists would have to be confined, but in prison or workshop facilities. Disused prison facilities could then be spruced up and reconfigured as housing for the indigent.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, immigration
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Meditation as good as drugs for depression: study
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
December 7, 2010
Evidence suggests that major-depression patients will often discontinue their medication far too soon. So a team at Ontario’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health looked at whether mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) would work as a replacement. It teaches patients to regulate their emotions, monitor possible relapse triggers and adopt lifestyle changes that help maintain mood balance… For that sizeable group of patients who are unwilling or unable to tolerate maintenance antidepressant treatment, MBCT offers equal protection.
Tags: disabilities, Health, mental Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Money can’t fix a family
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
Dec. 6, 2010
…the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study… followed 5,000 children and their urban, primarily minority, parents since the kids were born in the late 1990s… kids growing up with single mothers have more behaviour problems than those with two parents; those problems worsen with every “transition,” that is, every new relationship and breakup. There’s even evidence that instability affects children’s cognitive performance. Worst of all, children growing up with a boyfriend or stepdad in the house are at greater risk of abuse…
Tags: poverty, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
The Liberals shall rise again
Sunday, December 5th, 2010
December 4, 2010
… I have plumped for a modest and self-liquidating wealth tax that would go to poverty-reduction projects that could be devised and administered by the taxpayer, and regulated in the same manner as charities. This would put the most agile financial minds behind poverty reduction and give the wealthiest an interest in addressing the issue. It would also make at least a modest start on income disparities, which should be attacked mainly by lifting the lowest, rather than tearing down the high earners.
Tags: ideology, poverty, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Tax cheats reveal themselves in record numbers
Sunday, December 5th, 2010
Dec. 4, 2010
Canadians have been confessing in record numbers to having dodged income taxes, iPolitics has learned. The most significant increase is among those who have stashed money and assets in offshore tax havens. Figures obtained from the Canada Revenue Agency show that 12,128 people came forward in 2009-10 to declare unpaid taxes — the largest number of people since the voluntary disclosure program began in 1973. In 2009-10, the agency identified $1.8-billion in unreported income, resulting in $550-million in federal taxes.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, globalization, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Digitizing the law
Sunday, December 5th, 2010
Dec. 4, 2010
The provincial and federal governments funded the fully wired model courtroom. Researchers plan to stage trials in which electronic document filing will replace the mountains of paper usually generated and witnesses will be able to testify via video. They will even experiment with holographic technology to project a three-dimensional image of a remote witness into the courtroom. The biggest obstacle to moving the courtroom into the 21st century is not the technology but the legal profession’s aversion to change.
Tags: participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
Canada leads in happiness research
Sunday, November 28th, 2010
Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010
… if you just make everyone wealthier, especially among the wealthy countries and wealthy people, people are going to have higher standards of living but not necessarily feel better about life. Everyone’s deriving their happiness in part relative to material standards set by others. Measuring progress solely by growth in GDP is an outmoded idea because we have better ways to measure our social objectives. Q What are the things that actually make Canadians happy? Social factors… explain a good fraction.
Tags: participation, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Suspend health act: think-tank
Sunday, November 28th, 2010
Nov. 25, 2010
“By taking a temporary time out on enforcing the act, provincial governments would have the option to experiment with new policies without fear of financial penalties. The trial period would allow us to test different options to improve the delivery and accessibility of health care for ordinary Canadians by emulating the policies used in other countries”… The report says many countries within the OECD have health-insurance systems that include variations of three policies that are either limited or outlawed under the Canada Health Act
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, rights
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Five Things to Know about the big chief paycheques on native reserves
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
November 24, 2010
Conservative MP Kelly Block’s pending private member’s bill that aims to require aboriginal chiefs to publicly disclose their salaries may not change the way many First Nations are governed. As appalled as many people may be when chiefs help themselves to colossal paycheques, the reality is there is frequently a widespread consensus in a lot of native communities that chiefs are entitled to make their own rules… Even if a majority of members are outraged at their chief’s salary, they won’t necessarily protest.
Tags: budget, Indigenous, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | 1 Comment »
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