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Ottawa can easily fix sex discrimination in the Indian Act – but we’re still waiting
Friday, May 24th, 2019
It only requires a cabinet decision to pass an order-in-council. Cabinet simply has to decide to bring into force the provisions that were included in the 2017 amendment at the insistence of the Senate. These provisions would finally entitle women and their descendants to full status on the same footing as their male counterparts, and at last remove the discrimination against the maternal line.
Tags: economy, ideology, Indigenous, rights, women
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Don’t fear Canada’s economic transition – our new economy is already here
Friday, May 24th, 2019
Oil and gas have never really defined Canada’s economy. Crude oil, for example, accounted for just 2.6 per cent of Canada’s GDP as of 2017… Canada’s clean-energy sector employed 298,000 Canadians as of 2017… It spans industries – electricity, efficient buildings, clean vehicles – and unlike some sectors, such as auto manufacturing in Ontario, clean energy is spread across the country.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Federal government will implement Senate proposals to strengthen accessibility law, Minister says
Thursday, May 23rd, 2019
the Senate committee on social affairs, science and technology adopted several amendments that nearly a hundred disability organizations said were necessary to make the law effective. Chief among them was a call to set a timeline requiring the act to be fully implemented in all areas under federal jurisdiction by 2040, as well as recognition of sign language as an official language among deaf Canadians.
Tags: disabilities, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Why Canada saw a 60% increase in foreign direct investment last year
Thursday, May 23rd, 2019
… even more important to global capital flows is talent – the new currency attracting more and more investors. Again, Canada is leading the way. Our universities, colleges and vocational institutions continue to produce top-tier talent that fuels this country’s growth…. in 2018 a record high 572,415 international students came to Canada. These students can now fast-track to permanent residency and continue building Canada’s status as the world’s most educated work force.
Tags: economy, globalization, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
The Senate should do its job – and respect Canadian voters
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019
Killing a government bill that was part of an election platform that elected a majority government, and which was passed in the House with multiparty support, is simply not in the Senate’s job description – not as long as Canada is a parliamentary democracy, premised on the British model, as specified in our very Constitution.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, Senate
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Actually, this federal government has raised taxes on Canada’s middle class
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019
This week, the Trudeau government announced that it will soon increase the Canada Child Benefit, a tax-free monthly payment to eligible families. It’s now clear the government has abandoned its promise to provide tax relief to middle-class families – and it continues to confuse government transfers with taxes, something that should worry all Canadians.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
No, professors shouldn’t collect a six-figure pension – on top of a six-figure salary
Friday, May 17th, 2019
Nearly one in 10 Ontario university professors is over the age of 65. As of 2016, these professors were earning, on average, $184,947 a year. Moreover, because federal legislation requires all taxpayers to start drawing down their retirement savings at the age of 71, septuagenarian professors can collect a six-figure pension on top of a six-figure salary… No one is stopping senior scholars from writing academic papers, or teaching ECON 101. The debate is over how much they should be paid for doing so.
Tags: economy, pensions, rights
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Ontario’s top court rules religious doctors must offer patients an ‘effective referral’ for assisted dying, abortion
Wednesday, May 15th, 2019
The Court of Appeal for Ontario is now the highest court in the country to have ruled on the thorny question of how the conscience rights of doctors should be balanced against the rights of patients to access publicly funded health services – a question that became more pressing after the legalization of assisted dying three years ago.
Tags: Health, ideology, mental Health, rights, women
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
New proposal from Doug Ford government would force senior professors to work for no salary
Wednesday, May 15th, 2019
Under regulations proposed in the budget bill, the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities would be given unprecedented power to unilaterally cut the salary of anyone employed at a postsecondary institution who is also drawing a pension. But in order to do so, the ministry would likely have to override collective agreements and essentially force professors who are still working past 71 to do so for no pay, except for the pension to which they’re already entitled. .
Tags: budget, pensions, rights
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Canadian Jean Vanier’s charity work helped improve conditions for people with disabilities
Tuesday, May 7th, 2019
Vanier argued that the Western culture of individualism which values beauty, money and success, also creates a gap between the healthy and the disabled. ”We have a fear of accompanying people who are weak … They are seen as a financial and social liability,” he said… He argued that the greatest threat to peace is a widening gap between rich and poor, between strong and weak. But rather than urging people to open their wallets to the less fortunate, Vanier asked them to open their hearts.
Tags: disabilities, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion History | No Comments »
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