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Pandemic proves value of guaranteed incomes
Saturday, May 9th, 2020
We know that we will emerge from this crisis with higher levels of unemployment than we have seen in two generations. We should be prepared for a winter ahead into which millions of Canadians will be headed broke, unemployed and close to despair… It might lead to the most transformational changes in today’s rich but increasingly divided and unequal economies since Bismarck invented the public pension system, nearly 140 years ago.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, mental Health, participation, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Neo-liberalism may be another COVID-19 victim
Friday, May 8th, 2020
Overall, neo-liberalism seemed to be working. The developed world got its foreign-made goods at bargain basement prices. The workers of the developing world were usually exploited. But at least they had jobs… Now we have a pandemic that strikes right at the heart of globalization… Global supply chains may work in neo-liberal theory. But in the real world of disease, fear and sharp practices, these supply chains are strikingly vulnerable.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, Health, ideology, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Gun control is a Canadian value I was proud to adopt
Friday, May 8th, 2020
… the science is clear: jurisdictions that have more stringent restrictions on access to guns — including bans on assault weapons — have less gun injury and death. Canada’s assault weapons ban is backed by 15 medical associations, two national women’s organizations, survivors’ groups, mayors, police chiefs, and the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime… Let us not fall prey to hollow arguments about “gun rights” and “self protection” or opportunistic political posturing.
Tags: crime prevention, Health, rights
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
This is the model for long-term care we need and deserve
Friday, May 8th, 2020
… all organizations need adequately paid and trained staff to accomplish their mission… Another prerequisite is non-profit personal care… we want to minimize the incentives for underservicing… There are two major strategies for LTC reform. The first is a different LTC institution. The second is to move LTC to the community… the Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly… PACE provides all needed health services at home 24/7… let’s save billions of dollars in bricks and mortar with a Canadian version PACE.
Tags: budget, disabilities, economy, featured, Health, participation, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Debates, Equality Debates | No Comments »
Don’t grandfather machine guns, eliminate them
Wednesday, May 6th, 2020
Trudeau’s subsequent reference to “grandfathering” rules after a post-ban two-year transition period is alarming… A ban means no guns; it doesn’t mean keep the ones you have. It shouldn’t mean large payouts to gun owners…
Tags: budget, crime prevention, ideology, rights, women, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
It took a deadly pandemic to get Toronto to embrace a faster way to build affordable housing
Wednesday, May 6th, 2020
Toronto council endorsed a plan to build 250 units of housing for people in the shelter system. The units, funded by a combination of municipal and federal cash, will be built using a modular process, constructed off-site then shipped to Toronto where they can be hoisted up by cranes and snapped together like Lego pieces.
Tags: budget, Health, housing, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates, Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
Mike Harris expanded the privatization of long-term care. Doug Ford is discovering that wasn’t a magic cure
Tuesday, May 5th, 2020
There is a contradiction in the criticisms of long-term care: We want to have it all for nothing — better beds but more of them; more quantity and more quality; single rooms with private bathrooms but without the wait lists; more for less… Today, in a pandemic cycle, beware the panaceas.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | 3 Comments »
Canada bans military-style firearms, but what about handguns?
Sunday, May 3rd, 2020
Trudeau rightly sees that “you don’t need an AR-15 to bring down a deer.” Well, you don’t use a handgun to shoot one either. Nor does a farmer need a handgun to kill pests. But every year handguns are used in hundreds of shooting incidents in communities across the country… Banning a range of military-style firearms is an important first step for Canada. But our biggest gun problem remains handguns and without banning those Trudeau’s Liberals aren’t doing enough to truly limit gun violence and death in this country.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
COVID-19 creates opportunities for Canada’s centre-left
Sunday, May 3rd, 2020
The Parliamentary Budget Officer predicts that the federal deficit will hit a staggering $252 billion this year thanks largely to a fall-off in tax revenues. Yet few predict fiscal doom. Indeed, many analysts argue that in an economy where the private sector has shut down, more government is needed not less… By comparison, a universal public pharmacare plan would be a bargain. It would cost Ottawa only $20 billion a year… an amount that would be more than offset by savings to individuals and provinces.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Ontario expands emergency child care to include families of grocery-store workers, truck drivers
Thursday, April 30th, 2020
“While our front-line workers are looking after us, we need to make sure we’re looking after them and their families,” Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday… The workers now to be covered also include those employed in meat packing and other food supply businesses, members of the armed forces, truck drivers, cooks and cleaning staff in health-care facilities and nursing homes, and on-site staff in Ontario’s courts.
Tags: budget, child care, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
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