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Beware ‘pensioncare’
Saturday, May 8th, 2010
May 08, 2010
The main argument at work here is the belief that large institutions such as the CPP Investment Board and major state agencies such as the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan can investment money more efficiently and at lower costs than a private mutual fund or other market-driven investment firm. Individual Canadians are apparently too dumb to manage their own money in a market setting, and it is the role of the state to intervene to save investors from themselves.
Tags: pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Tories revive mandatory sentences for drug crimes
Friday, May 7th, 2010
May 07, 2010
Two studies prepared for the Justice Department, one in 2002 and the other in 2005, say that mandatory minimums do not work. Mr. Nicholson said his bill is designed to “send a message” that “if you sell or produce drugs, you’ll pay with jail time.”… The Harper government’s bill comes at a time when several American states have retreated from mandatory minimum sentences, saying they are a glaring symbol of the failed U.S. war on drugs.
Tags: crime prevention
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Building better things, living better lives
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
May 06, 2010
Economics has a philosophical dimension, and because it deals with human action, its roots are in moral philosophy. Economics often forgets this… A useful distinction is often drawn between a market economy and a market society. The latter is the consequence of the financialization of everything. And if financialization weakens the economy, it wreaks havoc in society.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
The ongoing corporate welfare scandal
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
May 03, 2010.
…the report cites several examples from 2009 where ministers obfuscated when announcing these loans by publicly employing the term “repayable investment” (which makes it appear as though the company will have to repay the money)… the recipient may or may not have to pay it back… And taxpayers are none the wiser.
Tags: economy
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Canada’s high-cost public service
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
May 04, 2010
If the incomes of public sector workers were equal to those in the private sector, fiscal deficits of governments would be lowered by at least $19-billion. …the existing gap is due entirely to the higher levels of unionization of the public sector and to the disproportionate power the public-sector unions have in raising the incomes of their members.
Tags: budget, standard of living, women
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
New warning on health records
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
April 26, 2010
In summary, the report concluded that Canada’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) program, as implemented so far by Infoway and the provinces, has no overall cost controls, no total cost estimate, no numbers on total costs to date, no way of measuring benefits, no way of determining whether budgets are being met, has lacked strategic planning, has a high risk of not achieving objectives, and there are questions about how the project will be funded through to the end.
Tags: Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
On native reserves: big spending, fake democracy
Monday, April 26th, 2010
April 21, 2010
…the law currently does not require aboriginal bands to submit to the same standards of accountability and transparency as all other senior Canadian officials — an absolutely unconscionable loophole whose only conceivable function is to spare aboriginal leaders embarrassment… The problem is that “self-government” is a contradiction in terms when someone else is paying the bill: Without the political discipline that comes with being accountable to taxpaying voters, politicians operate in a world without constraints.
Tags: Indigenous, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | 1 Comment »
Conservatives should get weak on drugs
Monday, April 26th, 2010
April 26, 2010
Excessive drug law enforcement and mandatory minimum sentences for drug law violations channel tax dollars from health and education, increase drug violence in the short term and will create negative impacts in the long-term by turning petty drug offenders into hard-core criminals. Conservatives should look at this ongoing legacy in light of their traditional commitment to stronger families, economies and societies, and act accordingly.
Tags: crime prevention, Health
Posted in Health Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Dalton McGuinty’s pretend economics
Monday, April 19th, 2010
April 19, 2010
Mr. McGuinty and Ms. Matthews aren’t dealing in reality. Rather than give the industry time to adjust to the massive change being forced on its finances, the province prefers to grandstand, announcing sudden changes and then pretending there won’t be any pain. Mr. McGuinty’s government has increased its own expenditures every year its been in office because it is incapable of even the most basic restraint on spending, yet expects drug chains and landlords to swallow millions in revenue cuts at the drop of a hat.
Tags: Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
High noon for pension reform
Sunday, April 18th, 2010
April 15, 2010
The president of KPA Advisory Services Ltd. is pushing for a supplement to the Canada Pension Plan that would benefit the 75% of Canadians who don’t have employer pensions. His focus on improving prospects for middle-income Canadians earning $30,000 to $100,000 makes it one of the leading contenders for reform.
Tags: pensions, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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