« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Canada’s vanishing health care crisis
Saturday, February 18th, 2023
Health care spending is actually declining this year on average, once population growth is factored in… Only the three Maritime provinces are planning to boost health care spending faster than the increase in the federal transfer… the contrast between the urgent rhetoric of the premiers and the tepid growth of spending underscores, again, the need to firmly place the responsibility for health care funding on the provinces.
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Ottawa’s new health funding is tied to better data. What will that really mean?
Monday, February 13th, 2023
… as with all data, the devil is in the details. What exactly are health outcomes? Are they the same as health indicators? How will they be measured, and how can we ensure they are reported meaningfully and transparently for all Canadians? And most importantly: Will new health data meaningfully improve health care for Canadians?
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario court rules encampments can stay if there’s a shortage of shelter beds
Monday, January 30th, 2023
In a precedent-setting decision that will have implications across the province, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has denied a municipality’s request to remove a homeless encampment on the basis that doing so – when there is no adequate indoor space – would violate the residents’ Charter rights.
Tags: homelessness, ideology, rights
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Quebec basic income program begins, but advocates say many low-income people excluded
Sunday, January 29th, 2023
The program, aimed at 84,000 Quebecers with a “severely limited capacity for employment” such as a chronic illness or mental health condition, will provide an increase of more than 28 per cent for a single person, the government says… they will also have the ability to earn about $14,500 a year in wages – up from $200 a month – and have up to $20,000 in savings, all without losing benefits.
Tags: disabilities, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, pensions, poverty
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
How Ottawa can help fix health care: first, send less money
Friday, January 27th, 2023
When one level of government is raising the money, while another spends it, it makes it hard for the public to know who to hold to account for any of the system’s ills. That, too, dulls any lingering incentive for reform… without Ottawa to share the blame for underperformance, provincial governments would have a stronger incentive to organize the delivery of health care so as to achieve greater quality and public satisfaction per dollar spent.”
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, mental Health, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
I was a victim of random violence on the TTC. Throwing money at the problem won’t make us safer
Wednesday, January 25th, 2023
My story is just one of many that reveals the systemic failure of our social infrastructure, and the ways in which we need to redirect our energies, efforts and money toward social programming and mental-health supports… to confront issues and traumas deeply rooted in our failure to meet the needs of marginalized people, and a system where a lack of support allows insecurity and mental illness to grow.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, featured, ideology, mental Health
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario does not need more for-profit surgery
Wednesday, January 18th, 2023
Repealing Bill 124, for example, would be a first step in attracting nurses back to hospital ORs, and moving surgeries to dedicated community facilities could increase volumes by 30 per cent for roughly the same cost. But investing more broadly in for-profit surgery providers – which has enormous risks for hospital staffing, and will increase the costs passed on to patients and taxpayers – should not be on the table.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
We can’t view health as an exclusively personal matter – it’s a collective endeavour
Monday, January 9th, 2023
… health care, including hospital capacity, testing and biomedical treatments, or individual behaviours… are critically important. But what gets overlooked… is… the political economy of health… In a wealthy country, everyone should have the material and social foundations needed to have a good life and participate with dignity in society… “We have more than enough money and capacity to make that happen, but we haven’t.”
Tags: Health, ideology, Indigenous, mental Health, participation
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
To avoid future ‘freedom convoy’ protests, we need an economy built on hope
Sunday, January 8th, 2023
… the rise of authoritarian (or what we call ordered) populism; the collapse of institutional trust; and the burgeoning role of disinformation transmitted largely, but by no means exclusively, by social media. All of these forces are fanning the flames of discontent in ways we could not have imagined a decade ago… The roots of these new forces are complex but ultimately initiated by the collapse of shared prosperity and inclusive economics.
Tags: ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
In vilifying safe supply, Pierre Poilievre has picked the wrong target
Wednesday, January 4th, 2023
Pierre Poilievre… states that the opioid crisis is the result of “a deliberate policy by woke Liberal and NDP governments to provide taxpayer-funded drugs – to flood our streets with easy access to these poisons.”… the Canadian Police Association and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police have both supported the use of replacement drugs. Using a safe supply to save lives is key to what we should all be doing – taking care of some of our most vulnerable citizens.
Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Recent Comments