We’re Seeing How Badly Harper Misread Canadians
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
October 10, 2011
It was never true that Canada was “conservative,” and the Ontario election wasn’t the only proof of that. Harper got elected with just under 40 per cent of the vote… Canada remains, in its values, much more social democratic than conservative, if by that we mean they support government intervention to ensure a level of fairness, equity and economic security… with Liberal and NDP incumbent governments defying the odds and Alberta’s Conservative grassroots demanding more than just a management committee for capitalism, it is arguable that the long period of Canadian drift into disinterested cynicism is ending.
Tags: economy, ideology
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Why Hospitalizing Sexual Predators Is Not Mollycoddling
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
Oct. 3, 2011
Is this mollycoddling? Hardly, since the offender may never be released. Moreover, no release is permitted unless and until a board of psychiatrists judges the offender is no more likely to offend than any other citizen. He stays in custody, and that decision is supported by a committee of the provincial cabinet followed by an order-in-council from cabinet as a whole… The issue is whether we’re going to let a sexual molester back on the streets without any therapy, or let him out only after he has been treated and found safe to release…
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, mental Health, rights
Posted in Child & Family Debates | 1 Comment »
Is Capitalism Preparing to Bury Itself?
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
Sep. 26, 2011
Fordism. It was the foundation of a high-wage economy, it lasted a very long time and it produced incredible real wealth for decades.
Until something called neoliberalism decided to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. And the perpetrators of this ideology — and the catastrophic damage it has done to the global economy, nations, communities and workers — are so wedded to it that they seem determined to pursue its goals and accept its preposterous assumptions until the ship truly does go down.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, poverty, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Suppressing Schizophrenia
Monday, August 29th, 2011
August 29, 2011
The failure of the Mental Health Commission of Canada to thoroughly support a science-based approach for understanding and responding to schizophrenia is not just a disappointment for people who live with this catastrophic illness and their families. Given the enormous financial and social impact of this brain disorder, the positioning of the MHCC in relation to schizophrenia will have negative consequences for the rest of society as well.
Tags: ideology, mental Health, rights, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
You’re Poorer than You Think
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
2 Aug 2011
Shaw Communications chief executive officer Jim Shaw recently retired at the age of just 53. His pension is $16,000. A day. Every day of the year. That’s almost $6 million annually… ordinary folks depend on the Canada Pension Plan, which pays a maximum of about $11,500 a year and an average of just $6,000, and any personal savings for their retirement. But a third of working-age Canadians don’t have a Registered Retirement Savings Plan or similar investments. And those with an RRSP will only get on average less than $300 a month when they finish working.
Tags: economy, ideology, pensions, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Mapping a New Course to Defeat Tuberculosis
Monday, August 8th, 2011
Canada’s TB incidence rate was 4.8 cases for every 100,000 people in 2009, a bit better than Australia (6.4 per 100,000) and a bit worse than the U.S. (4.1 per 100,000). …TB in some of Canada’s First Nations communities is far more prevalent. The rate among Aboriginals living on reserves, in fact, is 31 times higher than among non-Aboriginal Canadians, while among the Inuit the rate is 185 times higher… “Tuberculosis is fundamentally a flag for poverty… and that it’s highly prevalent among the reservations and among the Inuit is just the most graphic evidence of the extent of the disparity.”
Tags: Health, Indigenous, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Canadians Should Make the Rules, Not Big Telecom
Monday, August 1st, 2011
Aug. 1, 2011
… the hearing showed a break in the CRTC’s longstanding practice of shielding big telecom at the expense of the Canadian public. The commission finally admitted that there is an Internet affordability problem in this country, and that change is required to fix this dire situation. It appears that when the CRTC takes the time to listen to Canadians, they see things clearer… one thing is clear: the best way to safeguard the open and affordable Internet is for Canadians to stay informed, engaged and active on these issues.
Tags: participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
Poverty status quo costs twice as much as ending it: CCPA
Friday, July 29th, 2011
July 14, 2011
…a report released today by the CCPA. The Cost of Poverty in BC argues that… B.C. is spending between $8.1 and $9.2 billion per year to maintain the status quo of poverty. That’s more than double the $3 to $4 billion needed to implement a comprehensive poverty reduction plan. Purely on economic grounds, it makes more sense to tackle poverty directly than to continue to pay out year after year for its long-term consequences. The real question is not “Can we afford to reduce poverty?” but “Can we afford not to?”
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
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