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The same old stories: How the narratives around Canada’s political parties become pathology
Sunday, October 6th, 2019
Parties and their leaders are encumbered and shaped by their histories and internal and external expectations. Even if there have been some unexpected twists at times, each occupies a distinct space in the Canadian political system. And each is prone to following its past patterns and pathologies.
Tags: ideology
Posted in Governance History | No Comments »
Internal trade barriers make Canada less attractive for foreign investment
Thursday, October 3rd, 2019
Internal trade barriers cost the Canadian economy between $50-billion and $130-billion… They prevent Canadian businesses from gaining economies of scale through access to a whole-of-Canada market, which are critical to developing global competitiveness. This, in turn, means fewer international export opportunities… These trade barriers between provinces and regions also impede greater pan-Canadian social and political cohesion.
Tags: economy, globalization, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada shouldn’t welcome birth tourists
Thursday, October 3rd, 2019
Birth tourism rankles the public because it feels like cheating… The way to do that is to adopt visa restrictions – denying visas to women who are coming to Canada expressly to give birth, and to crack down on both brokers and birth houses… Canada should remain a welcoming country but not one whose citizenship is for sale.
Tags: globalization, immigration, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | 2 Comments »
Your health is important…
Thursday, October 3rd, 2019
Both fact-finding exercises came to the same conclusion: Canada should establish a universal, publicly funded pharmacare program that does for prescription drugs what medicare did for medically necessary services offered in hospitals and doctors’ offices… Mr. Trudeau unveiled a health platform that promised only a “down payment” on national pharmacare − and a relatively small down payment at that, considering the numbers thrown around in a national advisory council’s report. So what, exactly, are the parties promising on pharmacare?
Tags: budget, disabilities, economy, featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, participation, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
What Bermuda’s 50-year-old gun ban can teach Canada
Saturday, September 28th, 2019
Unlike Bermuda… Canada seems unwilling to acknowledge its failings and pursue anything but a gun-violence strategy centred on police action and blunt restrictions. “Don’t focus on the gun,” Mr. Caines offers up as advice. “Focus on society’s challenge … and put mitigating factors and life-changing factors that allow our young men to get connected to society.”
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, participation, poverty
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
The major federal parties are promising a stampede of tax giveaways, with no policy plan
Wednesday, September 25th, 2019
… Canada is operating with an antiquated tax system that was devised in the 1960s and implemented (decidedly imperfectly) in the early 1970s. It was built for a Canadian economy that isn’t even recognizable any more, in a global economic landscape that is utterly transformed… It needs a massive rebuild… rethought from the bottom up, if it is to be a catalyst for Canadian competitiveness this century rather than an impediment.
Tags: budget, economy, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Canada needs more workers, and political supports for children and seniors can help
Sunday, September 22nd, 2019
In 2018, for every 100 people between 15 and 64 years old, there were 50 people younger or older than them, dependent on those working people for their work and their tax revenues to pay for social programs. By 2068, that ratio will rise to anywhere between 63 and 73… in order to maintain the income supports that we already have… The more people in the workforce, the easier that becomes.
Tags: child care, economy, immigration, participation, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
I live in Quebec, and wish I felt connected to the rest of Canada. Here’s how we can come together
Sunday, September 22nd, 2019
TheGlobeandMail.com – Opinion September 22, 2019. Fabrice Vil Fabrice Vil is founder and executive director of Pour 3 Points, an organization that transforms sports coaches into life coaches for youth in low-income neighbourhoods in Montreal. He is also an Ashoka Fellow, a columnist at La Presse and was a lawyer in civil and commercial […]
Tags: Indigenous, multiculturalism, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
The debt, the deficit – and other things this election isn’t about
Thursday, September 19th, 2019
Canada has the lowest debt burden in the Group of Seven. The weight of federal debt is not heavy and increasing; it’s light and shrinking…. Relative to a $2.3-trillion economy, deficits of roughly $20-billion or less are small enough that the federal debt-to-GDP ratio will continue to steadily fall… Ottawa’s tax take today is smaller than at any other time in recent history…
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Smart health-care policy must include affordable housing
Tuesday, September 17th, 2019
The link between housing and health is clear: You can’t live a healthy life if you don’t have a roof over your head. Without stable housing, people die younger, suffer more and have more severe chronic illnesses, make far more emergency room visits, are more likely to be hospitalized and readmitted, and stay longer in hospital when they are admitted.
Tags: featured, Health, homelessness, housing, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
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