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For Ed Broadbent, socialism meant providing for average people — and fighting for the cause
Sunday, January 28th, 2024
For Ed, democratic socialism meant waging a constant battle against the inequality-producing tendencies of the market. It meant institutions that were democratically accountable shaping markets to serve the needs of people not private interests… The right to affordable housing and dental care, for example… ought to be guaranteed rights of citizenship. Being rights, not privileges, they should be available to everyone
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance History | No Comments »
The risks of ending safer supply drugs programs
Sunday, January 28th, 2024
21 of 24 federally funded safer supply programs are in jeopardy, as their contracts will expire in March. And with just two months until then, the feds have given no indication that they’ll renew their commitment to any of them. Ottawa’s silence on the matter is all the more disturbing given the recent, dramatic increase in overdose deaths — and the mounting evidence in support of safer supply.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Swelling CEO salaries highlight income inequality
Monday, January 22nd, 2024
The average worker received an average wage increase of three per cent in 2022 while prices rose by more than twice that amount… The financial disconnect between CEOs and the employees who work for them underscores broader issues of income inequality and affordability. We need quality research and robust debate on how to address income inequality and stagnating wages for those not privileged to work in the c-suites.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Canada unveils new restrictions on work permits for international students, spouses
Monday, January 22nd, 2024
Starting on Sept. 1, the federal government will stop issuing postgraduate work permits to international students who graduate from programs provided under so-called Public College-Private Partnerships, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said… “I’m not the minister of post-secondary education underfunding. I’m the minister of immigration. Clearly in the last decade or so or even longer, post-secondary institutions in Canada have been underfunded by provinces.”
Tags: economy, featured, immigration, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Ford government’s controversial plan for private medical clinics will begin this spring
Sunday, January 21st, 2024
The Ontario government will approve more privately owned clinics to provide diagnostic services like CTs and MRIs and surgeries starting April 1… critics fear will bleed the public health system of doctors, nurses and other resources at a time when patients face record waits in hospital emergency rooms… Ontario currently has more than 900 private clinics in operation, mainly providing X-rays and other diagnostic services, and many of them predate [this] government.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Could this project help address our housing crisis — and put a roof over refugees’ heads?
Wednesday, January 17th, 2024
Refugee Housing Canada’s home-sharing platform connects refugees in need of a safe and welcoming home with Canadian hosts who want to help and also earn some income… “It’s not unprecedented. After the Second World War, there was a big shortage of housing and people took in boarders. I know the world is a very, very different place today but it’s time to do that again.”
Tags: homelessness, housing, immigration, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
No end to the ER crisis without investments and addressing workers’ concerns
Wednesday, January 17th, 2024
We recently estimated that dealing with those pressures and bringing back the quality of care in our hospitals to an acceptable standard would require a $1.25 billion annual investment after offsetting costs of inflation. But so far, the Ford government is letting the hospitals deteriorate while it sits on $5.4 billion in contingency funding. If this government is serious about addressing the hospital crisis, it must commit to historic investments immediately.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Welfare rates now $200 a month below the Harris cuts of 1995
Saturday, January 6th, 2024
… inflation over two PC tenures since Bill Davis and Frank Miller has risen 35.2 per cent with no increases to Ontario Works and a total of just 12 per cent for ODSP. The last PC Premier to raise OW rates was Bill Davis 39 years ago in 1985… The cumulative effect of multidecade inaction — whether on housing or climate change — is now coming home to roost. Just look at food bank usage.
Tags: budget, featured, housing, ideology, poverty
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario has an accessibility crisis. It’s time Queen’s Park acted with urgency
Thursday, January 4th, 2024
First, avoid gathering any data that might indicate the scope of the problem, as well as how to solve it. Second, don’t put anyone in charge of remedying the problem. Finally, avoid employing any enforcement mechanism, so no one’s ever held responsible for failing to do anything. That… is precisely what the province has been doing for the past 17 years. The review, which is mandated by the act, found that more than three quarters of the province’s 2.9 million people with disabilities (PWD) reported negative experiences.
Tags: disabilities, featured, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Canadian schools are accepting international students by the thousands — but nearly half aren’t being allowed into the country
Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024
The Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association has made a submission to the federal government on the international student program and recommends overseas education agents be regulated by provinces and designated learning institutions be accountable for their agents’ activities and conduct. It urges Canada to mandate the institutions to employ overseas agents directly and release their names, citizenship and location of work.
Tags: economy, immigration, jurisdiction
Posted in Education Policy Context | No Comments »
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