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What’s behind Canada’s housing crisis?
Wednesday, November 6th, 2024
Canada had a strong housing welfare system in the 1960s and 1970s, but this changed in 1993 when the federal government stopped funding social housing programs. It shifted toward a commodified system that emphasized individual responsibility… This shift was driven by two neoliberal beliefs. The first is that the private market is the most efficient way to provide housing… The second belief is that homeownership promotes autonomy and reduces reliance on governments by building property assets, although the reality defies this belief.
Tags: economy, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights
Posted in Debates | 5 Comments »
What’s behind Canada’s housing crisis? Experts break down the different factors at play
Friday, October 4th, 2024
The market is most likely to respond to the housing needs of those with strong purchasing power, leaving behind low and moderate income families whose housing needs cannot generate effective market demand. The consequence is growing housing inequality, with many low-income families trapped in precarious living conditions… De-commodifying and de-financializing housing is key. This means expanding community housing, prioritizing community-based solutions and ensuring long-term security for all.
Tags: economy, homelessness, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Only the United States benefits from renegotiating the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal
Monday, September 30th, 2024
Ideologically, the U.S. is no longer the free-trade champion it was… concessions are highly unlikely to convince the U.S. — regardless of which party is in power — to surrender the most potent weapon it has in its arsenal to pressure its neighbours to adopt its preferred policies. Policy reform, simply put, leads to U.S. market access… The 2018 CUSMA didn’t preserve free trade in North America. It signalled its demise and the return of power politics to our most important economic relationship.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, jurisdiction
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario’s closure of youth detention facilities has not resulted in more support for young people
Sunday, September 29th, 2024
The move to shift youth in the justice system away from confinement and towards community is a positive one. However, without investment in community-based service providers to support youth being transitioned out of custodial settings, it is unlikely that youth will thrive. Such failures are likely to increase acute mental health crises and demands on ambulatory care within general medicine and psychiatric hospitals… [and] increase the number of youth who will come into conflict with the criminal legal system as adults.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, Indigenous, jurisdiction, poverty, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | 8 Comments »
Dementia risk factors identified in new global report are all preventable – addressing them could reduce dementia rates by 45%
Sunday, August 18th, 2024
… our team proposed an ambitious program for preventing dementia that could be implemented at the individual, community and policy levels and across the life span… The key points include: In early life, improving general education. In midlife, addressing hearing loss, high LDL cholesterol, depression, traumatic brain injury, physical inactivity, diabetes, smoking, hypertension, obesity and excessive alcohol. In later life, reducing social isolation, air pollution and vision loss.
Tags: mental Health, participation, Seniors, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Paramedics treating patients’ palliative needs at home benefits everyone
Monday, August 12th, 2024
… paramedics, with some extra training, can provide patient-centred care in the homes of people living with cancer and other life-limiting conditions. It is intended to make patients as comfortable as possible as they spend their last days at home, which is where most Canadians say they’d prefer to die… evidence clearly shows that enabling paramedics to provide home-based palliative care when appropriate creates a substantial benefit for everyone involved — classic win-win-win for patients, health-care providers and health-care systems.
Tags: disabilities, Health, jurisdiction, Seniors
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Debunking myths about community housing: What governments and the public should know
Thursday, May 9th, 2024
Canada’s Housing Plan… includes noteworthy new funding programs and policies to preserve and expand community housing, including social, non-profit and co-operative housing… Canada’s ongoing housing crisis extends beyond affordability and supply challenges. It also involves homelessness, risks to tenancy, shortage of accessible units, financialization and the lack of culturally adequate housing. Community housing is poised to effectively tackle these insidious problems in ways the market cannot.
Tags: economy, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Economic growth tops the priority list for Canadian policymakers — here’s why
Thursday, April 25th, 2024
We should be making room for measures of personal and collective well-being other than GDP. But we also need economic growth — not just so we can consume more, or generate more revenue for governments, but so we can take better care of one another… growth could include better housing, better food and better health care, or even a better defence posture. And it need not require consuming more natural resources.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Pierre Poilievre’s proposed mandatory minimum penalties will not reduce crime
Tuesday, March 5th, 2024
… with MMPs [mandatory minimum penalties], Parliament removes judicial discretion for any sentencing option other than imprisonment and imposes a minimum term of incarceration, regardless of the facts of the case… The evidence shows that MMPs are ineffective at reducing crime, may actually increase recidivism, are highly vulnerable to being struck down by the courts as unconstitutional, can increase delays in an overburdened system, and perpetuate systemic racism.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, ideology
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Beyond the cafeteria: The economic case for investing in school meals
Monday, March 4th, 2024
In the long-term, universal free school lunches can also improve children’s health, academic performance and subsequent economic outcomes throughout life… Our new research summarizes the strong economic rationale for investing in school meal programs in Canada. Universal school meals can not only provide immediate relief to families, but also build a legacy of improved public health and economic prosperity for generations to come.
Tags: economy, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living, women, youth
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
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