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CERB is dead, but a new EI will live, as the pandemic leads to more lasting policy changes
Wednesday, July 15th, 2020
the Liberals are looking to morph the CERB into a new EI… But melding CERB into EI won’t be simple… in a normal year, employment insurance pays benefits to less than 40 per cent of the unemployed. Some don’t work enough hours to qualify, but a lot more are ineligible because they never paid in, probably because they were self-employed or considered contractors. CERB covers far more people.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
First Canadian clinical trial of any COVID-19 vaccine is launched in Quebec City
Tuesday, July 14th, 2020
On Monday, six volunteers rolled up their sleeves to receive shots at a study site operated by Syneos Health in Quebec City, officially launching the first Canadian clinical trial of any COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine, developed by Medicago Inc., a Quebec biopharmaceutical company, has shown positive results in animal studies. But this is its first test in humans.
Tags: Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Ottawa should listen to police chiefs. Drug use is a health care problem, not a crime
Monday, July 13th, 2020
There is a cresting wave of support for decriminalization, and its benefits for society. 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy backed decriminalization… Canadian health officials have also long worked towards these changes… Decriminalization and a safe supply (prescribed by doctors, to address the deadly toxicity of street opioids) were also key recommendations last year from an all-party House of Commons health committee.
Tags: crime prevention, Health, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Parents, trapped: Lack of child care could undermine economic recovery and hurt women, but the solution is expensive
Sunday, July 12th, 2020
In normal times, daycare is much like a throttle for the engine of the economy. Increase the supply of spaces, and more women are able to work. Productivity rises, household incomes grow and consumer spending ticks up.
But the coronavirus threatens to throw that dynamic into reverse. A mass exodus of women from the work force would be unprecedented in recent decades… an enormous chunk of economic activity is at risk
Tags: budget, child care, economy, Health, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living, women
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada needs to start taking long-term care more seriously
Saturday, July 11th, 2020
There is a consensus developing among provincial politicians and advocates for senior citizens that only Ottawa can provide the funding needed to better train and better pay care workers… But if Ottawa is going to pony up, then it can and should set national standards.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, housing, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
I was Stephen Harper’s criminal justice adviser. But I now think Canada should decriminalize drugs
Saturday, July 11th, 2020
Conservative politicians bear much blame for demonizing people who use drugs – derisively calling them “junkies” and “addicts” – opposing life-saving measures such as supervised drug-use sites and “safe supply,” and fearmongering for votes about drug decriminalization. Politicians must know that their action and inaction is continuing to cost lives. History will judge them for it.
Tags: crime prevention, featured, Health, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada updates law to allow non-biological legal parents to pass on their citizenship to children
Friday, July 10th, 2020
…in the past, children born abroad to Canadians were automatically granted citizenship if they met one of two conditions: If there was a genetic link between the parent and the child or if the parent gave birth to the child. From now on… the government will allow non-biological legal parents to pass on their Canadian citizenship… including the LGBTQ+ community and parents experiencing infertility issues
Tags: child care, ideology, rights
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Police chiefs call on Ottawa to decriminalize simple drug possession
Friday, July 10th, 2020
The group, which includes the chiefs of most police forces in the country, said a shift in federal drug laws is urgently needed to divert these users away from the courts and into the hands of health care and social-service providers. This is a long-standing demand of activists, scientists and public-health officials from across the country… less than two Canadians die per day of homicide and we have 11 Canadians a day dying of overdose
Tags: crime prevention, featured, Health, ideology, pharmaceutical
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
COVID-19 could change the way we feed Canadians
Monday, July 6th, 2020
In responding to the challenges brought on by COVID-19, government, food producers, and the charities that support Canadians with food came together with unprecedented urgency – and now is not the time to lose the progress we’ve made… The most effective interventions during this crisis have been the boldest ones – the system-wide changes that strike at the heart of the problem, instead of efforts that tinker around the margins.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
There will be no ‘V-shaped recovery.’ But here’s how we can ensure the post-pandemic economy works for everyone
Sunday, July 5th, 2020
… well-directed public spending, particularly investments in the green transition, can be timely, labour-intensive (helping to resolve the problem of soaring unemployment) and highly stimulative – delivering far more bang for the buck than, say, tax cuts. There is no economic reason why countries… can’t adopt large, sustained recovery programs that will affirm – or move them closer to – the societies they claim to be.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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