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Doug Ford’s math on social assistance doesn’t add up — and doesn’t solve the problem of legislated poverty for people on ODSP
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022
… none of the increases noted above come anywhere close enough to lift people on ODSP to a livable income, especially in the face of rampant inflation, years of stagnated rates and various “clawback” rules that reduce other sources of income… Doubling ODSP rates wouldn’t just mean more money in the pockets of clients — it would mean more money spent in local communities. It would mean reduced reliance on food banks and other public supports.
Tags: budget, disabilities, economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
A catalyst to mend child welfare
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022
… youth transitioned out of Ontario’s child protection system… experience low academic achievement, unemployment or underemployment, homelessness or housing insecurity, criminal justice system involvement, early parenthood, poor health and deep loneliness… The inquest presented the opportunity to change that approach, as it focused on the flaws in the system… and suggested how they could be fixed.
Tags: Indigenous, jurisdiction, mental Health, poverty, standard of living, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Insiders say Justin Trudeau ready to freeze out Quebec and other provinces in federal health-care deals
Friday, October 28th, 2022
… if Ottawa needs to sign deals with only some provinces and leave others… it’s a move the federal government is prepared to make… Government sources suggest there will be money — but with “light” conditions. Ottawa won’t allow federal cash to offset provincial money, they say. If the provinces choose to reduce their level of health-care funding, the federal government wants to reduce its transfers by the same amount.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, jurisdiction, mental Health
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Payouts to parents are a sorry replacement for investing in Ontario’s schools
Tuesday, October 25th, 2022
The Ontario Ministry of Education has chosen to spend $365 million in one-time, nontargeted $200 payouts to parents across the province. This money will not address any of the challenges in Ontario’s schools and could be better used for targeted, in-classroom supports proven to be effective.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, participation, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Why voting for municipal action on affordable housing is in everyone’s interest
Monday, October 24th, 2022
Many people with mental illness and addictions, older adults, people with disabilities and victims of violence can only maintain housing with help. Encampments are a symptom of inadequate supportive housing. And demonstration projects have shown that supportive housing for high-need clients is cost effective, reducing service use in other sectors like hospitals, emergency services, policing and the criminal justice system. But this type of supported housing is woefully undersupplied.
Tags: housing, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
The toll of police work
Monday, October 24th, 2022
Due to tears in the social safety net, many vulnerable people fall through the cracks, and it then falls to police to pick them up. Police therefore become, by default, de facto doctors, nurses and social workers, as they have to deal with issues for which they’re neither qualified nor equipped: homelessness, addictions and mental illness. This adds enormously to operational stress — and to trauma — for overpoliced, vulnerable people who need care, not cops.
Tags: crime prevention, homelessness, ideology, mental Health, poverty
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Tackling the opioid crisis
Tuesday, October 11th, 2022
… statistics point us to two solutions: First, we need to regulate, rather than criminalize, all psychoactive drugs, and second, we ought to provide a safe supply of drugs to users. Those two solutions were, respectively, the “core” and “urgent” priorities identified by an expert task force last year, but so far, Ottawa has done relatively little toward making them a reality.
Tags: corrections, Health, homelessness, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario science table details plan to improve primary care
Wednesday, October 5th, 2022
… family doctors want to work as part of a primary care team, with other healthcare professionals such as nurses, pharmacists and social workers. The brief urges a comprehensive strategy to deal with some of these concerns, suggesting primary care delivery is currently a patchwork. And it urges action to develop primary care teams.
Tags: featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
The new villain? Workers fighting for better wages. Don’t fall for it
Wednesday, October 5th, 2022
This is an important chapter in the history of workers’ struggles for decent work, a moment of fighting not only inflation but long-standing systemic inequalities. It has the potential to pit unionized worker against non-unionized worker, and private sector worker against public sector worker. Or it has the potential to pave the path toward decent work, through fairness and equity
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Seeking clarity on Ontario’s autism therapy
Monday, October 3rd, 2022
According to the government’s own statistics, more than 56,000 kids are now registered with the program, and the vast majority have not received funding for core clinical services… Given the understandable lack of trust families have in the program, it’s important the government seek to repair the relationship by increasing, rather than decreasing, transparency and outreach.
Tags: disabilities, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
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