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Child care is an integral part of our post-pandemic recovery. Let’s go big and act now

Monday, May 24th, 2021

Provinces will need to meet two tests of credibility in response to the federal offer. The first is one of commitment… because previous efforts haven’t built an accessible system, new commitments need to be significant… The other test is one of detail, of viability. Does the plan actually build up a high-quality, accessible child-care system in the province, led by well-trained and well-paid workers?

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Bill 251 puts everyone in Ontario at risk of being unduly policed. This is not just a privacy and profiling issue for some — it is a human rights issue for all

Saturday, May 22nd, 2021

Bill 251 empowers police to continue their problematic legacy of conflating sex work and human trafficking… Bill 251 would insidiously enshrine a bloated law enforcement model that — true to this Ontario government — deflects attention and resources away from real, sustainable solutions that tackle poverty, precarious immigration status and lack of access to affordable housing, health and social services and labour protections.

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National child-care system must support child-care workers

Thursday, May 20th, 2021

ECEs are the heart of the child-care system; without them, there is no system. Women’s economic empowerment can only be realized through policy that aligns the interests of working parents with those of child-care workers. The well-being of children, the quality of the care they receive, and the ability of parents to work all depend on the essential child-care workforce.

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Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | 1 Comment »


Government must follow report finding and invest in home care

Tuesday, May 18th, 2021

Without an immediate investment of $600 million, Ontario’s home care system will fail. Queen’s Park seems more focused on institutional care, having announced billions for hospitals in its spring budget. This is missing the mark; seniors want the government to help them age with independence, in their own homes.

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Broadcast Act changes are not about freedom of speech

Wednesday, May 12th, 2021

Free speech is not the same as freedom to broadcast or freedom from accountability. Advocates for an absolutist definition of free speech that includes the freedom to exploit modern technology without consequence ignore the deleterious effects of this world view on broader society… It could be used for the benefit of humanity, but not without some dramatic changes to current terms of acceptable use. Unrestricted access to the most powerful broadcasting platform in history is nobody’s right.

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Trudeau government throws travel ban back into Ford’s lap as Ottawa-Ontario pandemic split widens

Tuesday, May 11th, 2021

… if Ford wants to lock down his province at the borders, he has to shoulder his own responsibility for those measures.“… Doug Ford asked me to restrict international students. There’s been about 30,000 international students come into Ontario over the past months because they were approved by the Ontario government,” Trudeau said.

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All in this together? Greedy CEOs and corporations abuse our trust

Tuesday, May 11th, 2021

… many top Canadian CEOs saw their compensation soar in pandemic year 2020… Companies that got CEWS money when they didn’t really need it may well have followed the rules as they were written. But the government shouldn’t simply ignore abuse. It should call out companies, especially big ones, that violated the spirit of the program. It should see if any of those millions that went to companies that didn’t need them can be recovered. And it should tighten the rules for the remainder of the life of the program.

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Free speech is not at risk by supporting changes to the Broadcasting Act

Tuesday, May 11th, 2021

… the outcry over Bill C-10 is being sustained by people whose ultimate goal is to kill the entire idea of Canadian cultural policy in the internet age. Yet, these self-styled martyrs for democracy are pushing fringe views that run counter to the values and preferences of the overwhelming majority of Canadians, who support sensible updates to Canada’s main media law… Conservative voters are among the most likely to believe that Facebook weakens Canadian democracy…

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Trudeau should join Biden in rejecting suffocating ‘trickle-down’ economics

Thursday, May 6th, 2021

Trudeau has shown some spine against the deficit hawks, but he has been timid about joining Biden’s campaign to tax the wealthy… Too bad. We could sure use the money to pay for needed programs. Besides, when nations co-operate, corporations have a hard time playing us off against each other in pushing for ever-lower taxes… if other countries follow the U.S. in policing their corporations this way “it’s the end of tax havens.”

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‘Not vaccine hesitancy but inequity.’ Organizers take us inside Toronto’s northwest pop-ups where lines form everyday at 5 a.m.

Tuesday, May 4th, 2021

… thousands lined up in rain and snow make it clear that low vaccination rates in these communities aren’t products of vaccine hesitancy. Rather, the situation unfolding has everything to do with structural inequities that starve communities of key resources, and in this case, life saving vaccines in the midst of a deadly pandemic… If vaccines are made accessible in trusted spaces, through trusted relationships, people will come.

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