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CERB is done, and it’s not coming back. Staring down the barrel of a recession gun, how are we going to fix this?

Wednesday, May 4th, 2022

… why not just bring back CERB when recession hits next time? Because it was too generous to be fiscally sustainable over the long run and not politically sustainable due to sectoral labour shortages. But today’s EI is not fit for purpose either. With less than four in 10 jobless workers able to access it, it’s too stingy. However, there is a lot of consensus on how to fix EI…

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How Baby Boomers will change the way Canadians die

Wednesday, May 4th, 2022

Expanding access not only to doctors and nurses but also to counsellors, social workers and grief experts, as well as special management of medications in the home environment where more people want to die is key, Sumner says… “One thing that members of my generation have taken for granted is that they’re in the driver’s seat as far as their lives are concerned,” he says. “I want to hope that they can drive a lot of this change as well.”

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Liberals promise to end for-profit long-term care in Ontario

Thursday, April 28th, 2022

Calling the warehousing of seniors in long-term-care homes “one of the greatest mistakes” of the last century, Ontario’s Liberals are pledging a multibillion-dollar shift to caring for the elderly in their own homes as long as possible… The $2-billion “home-care-first” plan would provide more supports to seniors who could move on to smaller, more-homestyle facilities when they need higher levels of care…

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Health Canada lifts ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men

Thursday, April 28th, 2022

Health Canada on Thursday lifted the ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men, putting an end to a practice long criticized as discriminatory and homophobic… The new policy — which is expected to take effect by Sept. 30 — will screen all donors, regardless of gender or sexuality, for “high-risk sexual behaviours.”

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Too many dangers in promised privatization of care economy

Tuesday, April 26th, 2022

People with complications are too costly… They’ll end up in an underfunded public not-for-profit system.  More access to care through for-profit providers does nothing to address the shortage of health care and eldercare workers and early childhood educators. Cheaper, more equitable, high-quality care that creates good jobs won’t happen by expanding for-profit care. Here are 10 advantages of investing more in public and not-for-profit care. 

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The freedom of some not be vaxxed undermines the freedom of everyone else

Tuesday, April 26th, 2022

… “freedom” cuts many ways. And in particular, it shows that the freedom exercised by some not to shoulder the collective responsibility of vaccination puts in danger the freedom of many others to live healthy lives. In some cases, tragically, to live at all.

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Inflation is back to 1991 levels, but that doesn’t mean the federal budget should be a ’90s remix

Friday, April 22nd, 2022

The focus on boosting innovation and investment is a waste of time and money. Since the 1990s, evidence shows governments don’t know how to goose productivity or growth.  But we know governments maximize potential when they invest in the foundations for everyone (affordable and accessible high-quality health, education, housing and communication, as a bare minimum). 

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Protecting domestic generic drug manufacturing is vital to national pharmacare plan

Friday, April 15th, 2022

The federal commitment to national pharmacare presents an opportunity to improve prescription drug coverage for Canadians, reduce costs to taxpayers and patients through increased use of generic medicines, and to strengthen our domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing sector and international supply chain.

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Convoy protesters talked a lot about freedom. But here’s the real threat to Canadians being free

Tuesday, April 12th, 2022

On the left we need to hear people’s concerns on freedom of speech and individual autonomy. And on the right, there must be openness to talk about how true freedom is contingent on everyone having the basics needed to make a real go at life.  We can wave our flags and fight for our causes but let’s also step up to the moment and have real dialogue about what freedom truly means.

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This tax ‘loophole’ has helped rich Canadians avoid millions in taxes for their private corporations. Now the government wants to shut it down

Sunday, April 10th, 2022

The government said this amendment to the Income Tax Act would increase federal revenues by an estimated $4.2 billion over five years, according to the budget tabled on April 7… It appears the CRA only began in recent years cracking down on this technique of shifting a private company’s status for tax purposes, although the strategy emerged as early as 2010… the government did not address several broader tax loopholes that it was expected to.

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