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On supervised-injection clinics, Ontario Liberals discover a convenient ‘division’
Friday, April 13th, 2012
Apr 12, 2012
In her response to the release of a report that called for supervised drug-injection sites in Toronto and Ottawa on Wednesday, provincial Health Minister Deb Matthews said the McGuinty government was happy to receive good advice and that “we make our decisions based on evidence.” The next sentence: “Experts continue to be divided on the value of the sites.”… a spokeswoman for Ms. Matthews offered this explanation: “As the Minister said in her statement, experts continue to be divided on the value of the sites — these experts include police, medical experts and other community leaders.”
Tags: crime prevention, Health, mental Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
A beginners guide to conservative philosophy
Sunday, April 1st, 2012
Mar 15, 2012
For the conservative, society is the word we apply to aggregated individuals… Conservatives want to remove limitations on free, responsible and productive citizens. To achieve this end… There must be stability and order, so that the individual is protected from the harmful actions of others; this calls forth the rule of law. The rule of law, set forth and enforced by the state, must be as extensive as is necessary for order, and as limited as necessary for responsible individual freedom… Conservatives, in other words, have a rather pessimistic view of human nature and the potential of human beings to evolve.
Tags: crime prevention, economy, featured, ideology, poverty, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Opportunity (finally) knocks for the Liberals
Sunday, March 25th, 2012
Mar. 13, 2012
The “disengagement” story – Mr. Rae terms it “the politics of abandonment” – is a potentially powerful description of not only the government’s style, but its overall policy agenda. Since taking power, the Harper government has arguably dismantled Ottawa’s environmental policy, energy strategy, broadcasting framework, and telecommunications agenda, to name a few. With a majority, it can now be said to be perhaps disengaging from health care and retirement security… The conservative agenda… has been a smaller Ottawa – both in the federation and in the economy.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Tories use majority to pass omnibus crime bill
Sunday, March 25th, 2012
Mar 12, 2012
Comprised of nine bills, many of which failed to pass in previous Parliaments when the Conservatives had a minority, C-10 also cracks down on pot producers, young offenders, Canadians imprisoned abroad who are seeking a transfer to a Canadian institution and ex-cons seeking a pardon. It also provides for victims of terrorism who are seeking to sue the perpetrator and eliminates house arrest for a number of different crimes, something Canada’s budget watchdog estimated will cost the provinces $145 million a year.
Tags: budget, corrections, crime prevention, ideology, participation
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Learning a lesson from America’s failed war on drugs
Friday, February 24th, 2012
Feb 23, 2012
… we need tougher sentences for repeat offenders and truth-in-sentencing provisions (no more get-out-of-jail-free cards after serving 1/3 of an already lenient sentence). But giving pot growers harsher sentences than child rapists is unconscionable, and shows that the law is completely devoid of any moral relevancy… learn a lesson from the experience in the United States, and do away with the mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug crimes, including marijuana offences.
Tags: budget, corrections, crime prevention, ideology
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Get Ontario to work
Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Feb. 22, 2012
Drummond got it wrong. Indeed, while MPPs are literally debating his proposed cuts right now, they should be considering a different type of cut: to Ontario’s long list of barriers to job creation and economic growth… Drummond dismisses any hope of robust growth, claiming that the province can’t beat 2% annually in the coming years… It’s true that Ontario wastes billions, but cuts alone won’t save it… Ontario needs a systematic attack on job-killing labour laws, time-consuming approval processes, and overly strict regulations.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
It takes two to raise a child
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
Feb 15, 2012
… the U.K. government announced its intention to amend the 1989 Children’s Act. Changes will include a “presumption of shared parenting” to ensure that children’s relationships with both parents continues after separation. Under the current adversarial system, as in Canada, legal custody battles almost invariably end with mothers gaining sole custody… ESP is objectively fair to both sexes and to children, and thus a win-win-win policy. Over 70% of ordinary Canadians prefer it.
Tags: ideology, rights, standard of living, women, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Harper’s incoherent crime policy
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
Feb 14, 2012
it would be easy to miss the real significance of the Prime Minister’s crime policy… It squanders resources that could be used to reduce crime. Making it more difficult for people to get out from under the shadow of their much earlier offences (through a pardon or “record suspension”) makes it harder for millions of Canadians with criminal records to reintegrate into society… it tells us that the government is committed to ignoring evidence about crime, and does not care about whether our criminal-justice system is just and humane.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, ideology, rights, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Where are Canada’s new immigrants settling?
Saturday, February 11th, 2012
Feb 10, 2012
According to the 2011 census, two-thirds of the people added to the Canadian population since 2006 were immigrants. The breakdown of where they came from will come in later releases, but the 2006 census offers a strong indication of the trends. The National Post’s graphics team takes a look:
Tags: immigration, multiculturalism
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Census Canada 2011 infographic: How the new population stats break down by province and city
Friday, February 10th, 2012
Feb 9, 2012
There are now 33.5 million people living in Canada, and our population is growing faster than that of any other G8 nation, results of the 2011 census released on Wednesday show. Click through the tabs to see figures for the population overall and breakdowns for the provinces, territories and urban centres.
Tags: economy, immigration
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
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