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Justice system should focus more on victims’ rights, not criminals: ombudsman
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Feb 2, 2012
… Noting victims have few legislated rights and entitlements compared to offenders, Sue O’Sullivan called for an “Omnibus Victims’ Bill” to address the lack of access to offender information, meaningful participation at parole hearings and financial support for victims… “restitution is under-utilized and poorly enforced in Canada” where determinations about loss of income or property damages are made at the time of sentencing…
Tags: corrections, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Stephen Harper’s long overdue talk about Canada’s pension crisis
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
Jan 30, 2012
We can try to offset the demographic arithmetic directly, whether through increased immigration, longer working lives, or even — to the extent policy can — encouraging people to have more children. And certainly there is much room for improvement in our anemic national productivity performance: just a half-a-percentage point faster growth in productivity, compounding year after year, would make the next generations wealthy enough to bear those projected higher costs without having to endure the implied rise in taxes.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, pensions, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Barack Obama is right — wealth inequality is a threat to capitalism
Friday, January 27th, 2012
Jan 25, 2012
Income inequality in the United States now stands at its highest rate since the Great Depression… this fact usually is cast as a social justice issue, which is why too many conservatives snidely dismiss it. In fact, free market capitalists are the ones who should be most concerned about inequality. A mass market consumer economy cannot function when earners cluster at the poles: Poor people buy very little, and wealthy people spend only a small fraction of their income on retail goods and services.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
A historic moment for the federal government and First Nations
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Jan 23, 2012
Working with willing partners, we have signed five tripartite education agreements between federal, provincial and First Nation governments in New Brunswick, Manitoba, Alberta, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. We also introduced a new Specific Land Claims Action plan which has successfully resolved a significant backlog of specific claims. In addition, our government has committed to providing new investments to the First Nations Land Management Act which provides First Nations with self governance over their lands.
Tags: economy, Indigenous, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Innovative ideas for protecting dementia patients
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Jan 23, 2012
… the Halifax Regional Police force… is launching a trial program to affix GPS tracking bracelets — which look similar to digital wrist watches — to dementia patients at risk of wandering off. Such a program, once implemented, will allow the police to rapidly locate, and one hopes rescue, any dementia patient who is able to slip off unattended. The technology has the potential, not only to save resources required by a traditional search operation, but also to save lives.
Tags: disabilities, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Same-sex marriage law to be changed to recognize gay tourists
Friday, January 13th, 2012
Jan 13, 2012
… we will change the Civil Marriage Act so that any marriages performed in Canada that aren’t recognized in the couple’s home jurisdiction will be recognized in Canada.” The legislative change will apply to all marriages performed in Canada regardless of the laws of the jurisdiction in which the couple live, the official said.
Tags: ideology, rights
Posted in Equality Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Equality. Who needs it?
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Jan 11, 2012
Poverty, of course, is a bad thing. But is inequality? After all, if we doubled everyone’s income tomorrow, we would eliminate an enormous amount of economic hardship. Yet, inequality would actually increase… we need people who are ambitious, skilled risk-takers. We need people to be ever striving for more. That means that they must be rewarded for their efforts, their skills, their ambitions, and their risks. Such rewards inevitably lead to greater inequality.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, rights, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Roy Romanow’s one-note tune on health care
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
Jan 10, 2012
Mr. Romanow insisted that if the PM does not take an aggressive leadership role in talks about the future of medicare, public health care will weaken, private care will spread and the very fabric of our nation will be imperilled… But so what if the provinces don’t all offer identical services and delivery models? Let them devise blended public-private systems that work best for their residents or for their budgets — and let provincial governments live with the political consequences of those choices. How does that threaten “national unity”?
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Caledonia proves some criminals are more equal than others
Sunday, January 8th, 2012
Jan 7, 2012
If it was a worthy policy to treat the white citizens of Caledonia one way, and the aboriginal protestors and blockaders another, why would he or his Attorney General not take pride in explicitly justifying such two-tier criminal-justice policies to the world? … it is simply because the Ontario authorities, including the Premier himself, recognize that with Caledonia they were not applying any bold principle. They were making it up as they went along, motivated by pure political cravenness and a desperation to avoid another Ipperwash… No such system of law can own the respect of a citizenry.
Tags: crime prevention, Indigenous, participation, rights
Posted in Equality Debates | 1 Comment »
Conference Board makes pitch for guaranteed annual income
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
Dec 20, 2011
… a guaranteed annual income would provide a minimum level of income for every individual or family, with dollars earned above that level taxed at a relatively low marginal rate… “It would be a means of providing material income support without governments telling people how to run their lives… it could help reduce the disincentives to working and break down the “welfare wall” on earned income for the working poor as it could be taxed at lower marginal rates… if a GAI reduced the prevalence of poverty, it could create better health outcomes and help slow the rising costs of publicly-funded health care
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
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