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Never mind the GDP. How are the people doing?
Saturday, December 14th, 2019
“Economic growth accompanied by worsening social outcomes is not success”… the movement toward a well-being index is a long-term, intergenerational program – completely in contrast to the short-term political frenzy that comes with chasing certain economic goals. As Ms. Sturgeon said, GDP “values activity in the short term that boosts the economy, even if that activity is hugely damaging to the sustainability of our planet in the longer term.”
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
How doctors discovered the true causes of drug addiction
Saturday, December 14th, 2019
The tenets of personal responsibility, prosperity and an obligation to avoid harm that make up the prevailing American ethos have been eclipsed by the reality that systemic racism, a self-protecting oligarchy and political structures resistant to change… We know it matters less whether someone could take the nipple as a baby as whether they were born into poverty.
Tags: Health, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Equality History | 2 Comments »
People who live in Ontario’s poorest neighbourhoods more likely to suffer avoidable deaths: study
Thursday, December 12th, 2019
Researchers at ICES, a non-profit research institute that uses population-based health information, found 124,000 avoidable deaths in the “most materially deprived areas” between 1993 and 2014. That’s compared to 66,000 avoidable deaths in the most well-off areas, where average income, education and employment levels were highest… progress is being made [but] people living in the most well-off neighbourhoods seem to be benefiting the most.
Tags: Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Is a national pharmacare program any closer to reality?
Wednesday, December 11th, 2019
it’s delusional to think the Liberals will act anything other than slowly. While the purported savings are compelling, shifting spending from private drug plans to the public treasury is much less so. Not to mention that the provinces are, at best, lukewarm about the idea… The premiers want the escalator to increase to 5.2 per cent before they even consider pharmacare.
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Liberals’ ‘middle class tax cut’ is not a tax cut at all
Wednesday, December 11th, 2019
What we are left with is a $6-billion handout to just about everybody except those who need it most. And all of it is borrowed. With the deficit already in excess of $20-billion and headed higher, the government is proposing to borrow another $6-billion annually, and give much of it to people in the top half of the social register… Unthinkable: Tax cuts for the rich! Maybe. But it sure beats handouts to the rich, doesn’t it?
Tags: budget, economy, featured, tax
Posted in Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Care for Canada’s seniors shouldn’t be offloaded onto foreign multinationals
Wednesday, December 11th, 2019
There are areas in which the federal government should undoubtedly play a role in this country. Senior care is not one of them… Surely, this needs to be the sole purview of the province. Why are private care homes protected from facing fines when they fail to live up to their obligations? They can only be temporarily taken over or closed down permanently… Maybe if they were fined they’d clean up their act before that was necessary.
Tags: globalization, Health, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada is rich – and cheap
Monday, December 9th, 2019
Canada is the third-richest country in the G7 and the best in class with government finances… [On military spending or Official Development Assistance] Whether Ottawa likes or doesn’t like input or output measures, or GDP or GNI ratios… these are measures of burden sharing… That was the essence of Mr. Trump’s criticism of Canada this week at the NATO Summit.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario using new law to suppress suits alleging negligent government conduct, lawyers say
Monday, December 9th, 2019
By making the government immune from lawsuits for negligence… the law sets a dangerous precedent: it harms the individual right to hold government accountable, and permits government “to circumvent the rule of law and deny access to justice.”
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
A tricky operation: Finding a place for private health insurance in a public system
Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019
Every health insurance program in the developed world, public and private, is struggling with a daunting triple challenge: An aging population, the soaring cost of new technologies and rising consumer expectations… private sector efficiency is a myth. Private hospitals keep patients longer, order more tests, prescribe more drugs and provide a lot of low-value or no-value care. They overtreat and overcharge… private hospitals are not going to solve the woes of Canadian medicare
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Canadian high school students among top performers in reading, according to new international ranking
Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019
… we are in the … position where we can focus on the small improvements that will impact the struggling students, rather than having to focus on the majority of these students not even having basic literacy skills… Among the 79 countries that participated, five outperformed Canada in science. Meanwhile, nine outperformed Canada in math… governments and teacher-training programs have started focusing on the math skills of educators.
Tags: jurisdiction, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
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