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It’s time to expand Canadian medicare, and make it truly universal
Saturday, June 6th, 2020
Canadians have cradle-to-grave insurance for services from a doctor or hospital. But dentistry? Drugs? No. Denticare and pharmacare aren’t part of medicare… Getting to truly universal health insurance, covering all required health services, doesn’t necessarily mean doing it on medicare’s government-runs-it-all model. A number of countries with more extensive and successful health systems rely on a regulated private sector to ensure that everyone is covered.
Tags: Health, ideology, participation, pharmaceutical, poverty, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
It’s time for a massive reset of capitalism
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2020
The Great Reset agenda would have three main components. The first would steer the market toward fairer outcomes… The second… would ensure that investments advance shared goals, such as equality and sustainability… The third and final priority… is to harness the innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to support the public good, especially by addressing health and social challenges.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Engineering a ‘green recovery’ is a terrible idea
Monday, June 1st, 2020
The Liberals… should resist the temptation to design a conventional economic stimulus package until it is absolutely clear that one is necessary. As for any planned green recovery, they should avoid costly policies that involve picking winners and rely instead on a rising carbon price to do its job.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
To overcome racism, we must raise our voices
Monday, June 1st, 2020
So many of you are asking: What can I do? There is a sense of helplessness, but that must not paralyze us. Your voice matters, especially when you are a leader or influential figure, and especially if you are white. Leaders have to be bold enough to state the obvious and call out racism. The conversation can no longer be avoided because it is hard. We have to have it. Now.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, multiculturalism, participation, rights
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Canada’s soldiers have provided a wake-up call for our long-term care system
Thursday, May 28th, 2020
Our inaction, founded in deep societal ageism and persistent under-funding, cumulatively sowed the seeds of the tragedy we have been witnessing. Canada currently spends, on average, 30 per cent less of its gross domestic product on long-term care than the other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, and prioritizes its limited funds on warehousing older adults rather than helping them stay in their own homes.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Federal government plans to accelerate investments in high-speed internet for remote parts of Canada
Tuesday, May 26th, 2020
The federal government is preparing to launch an online portal where communities can track the progress of broadband infrastructure projects as it looks to accelerate its investments in rural internet in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The website… is an attempt to increase accounta-bility and transparency as Ottawa faces growing pressure to bring faster, more reliable internet service to Canadians living outside of major cities.
Tags: economy, globalization, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
The CERB is nothing like a basic income, but it might be the platform we use to build one
Friday, May 22nd, 2020
the possibility that today’s pandemic-induced mass unemployment may continue for longer than anticipated makes reform of income support both more likely and more urgent. And the general idea of a basic income – a single, unconditional transfer, without the intrusive and bewildering eligibility requirements that demean its recipients and leave many others without – remains as valid as ever… The CERB, for all its limitations, has created the precedent for a federal benefit of this kind. Maybe there’s an opening here, after all.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Five Eyes allies urged to lessen dependence on China
Thursday, May 21st, 2020
Canada depends on China for 367 categories of goods, such as pharmaceuticals and food additives, of which 83 are used to supply critical national infrastructure, including rare-earth minerals, industrial products and electronics… as China has become more authoritarian under President Xi Jinping, it has increasingly shown a willingness to threaten and punish countries that question its actions… Canada must at a minimum diversify its supply chains.
Tags: economy, globalization, Health, ideology
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Let’s admit it – online education is a pale shadow of the real thing
Wednesday, May 20th, 2020
… the massive and sudden shift in teaching at all levels exposes social and economic faultlines that pre-date the current pandemic… Even at places where in-person teaching will resume in the fall, the social and cultural aspects of campus life will be almost entirely absent… Given physical distancing, the in-person option will presumably be available only for small classes… online education is what we are forced to accept… that we’ve been forced willy-nilly into this viral-virtual corner is no solace, or solution.
Tags: participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
A recession is a great time to go back to school. Governments must help make that possible
Tuesday, May 19th, 2020
… unlike previous recessions, postsecondary education has itself been partly shut down… For the sake of Canada’s future, governments need to encourage young adults to keep pursuing their educations, and older and unemployed adults to consider a return… The pandemic presents an opportunity for educational innovation, born of necessity.
Tags: budget, economy, participation
Posted in Education Debates, Equality Debates | No Comments »
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