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It took a disaster for Doug Ford to abandon Mike Harris’s destructive legacy
Saturday, June 27th, 2020
Never mind the rhetoric about cutting red tape, slashing taxes, unplugging photo radar, downsizing government and downloading welfare, its underpinning is simply this: Politics shall henceforth be transactional. Not transformational. Ask not what you can do for your country or province. Ask what your government can do for you to keep more money in your pocket… But it took the COVID-19 crisis to truly unravel that revolution — at least for now.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Governance History | 1 Comment »
Police shouldn’t be answering mental-health calls
Thursday, June 25th, 2020
At this point… there’s no excuse for politicians to refuse to act… there are models elsewhere that could usefully provide direction. One that’s receiving lots of attention… involves teams of medical professionals and crisis workers responding directly to calls involving people in mental crisis, and rarely has to resort to police backup.
Tags: mental Health, multiculturalism
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
It’s time for proper police oversight
Monday, June 22nd, 2020
In the area of police budgets and staffing levels, municipalities are supposed to call the shots, but that is not what happens. Defund the police? In Canada, it is more a case of trying to rein in salary increases… There will be no meaningful reform unless politicians and police boards fulfil their oversight responsibilities, including legislative changes at the provincial level.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, featured, ideology, jurisdiction
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Clean clothes, decent food: Ontario’s inmates deserve this much
Monday, June 22nd, 2020
… decent water to drink; food that’s not expired or mouldy; clean clothing delivered on time and not covered in feces, urine and blood stains; books from outside; adequate time for phone calls so inmates aren’t left to fight among themselves for the chance to talk to family, friends and lawyers; some video visits; access to rehabilitation programs and exercise. Those are pretty basic standards that any jail in Ontario should be able, and expected, to deliver.
Tags: budget, corrections, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Ottawa urged to earmark billions for child care as provinces reopen
Monday, June 22nd, 2020
“It has taken a public health crisis for the essential role of child care to be widely recognized, and for the fragility of child care services in Canada to be laid bare”… “The priority is to make sure (federal) money for child care is used to ensure capacity returns to pre-COVID levels… If you do it right, you are going to build more spaces that become a platform to begin building out a public system,”
Tags: budget, child care, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, women
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Why Canada exploits temporary foreign workers
Saturday, June 20th, 2020
As long as free trade rules, farmers will be under pressure to pay their workers less than Canadians are willing to accept. That in turn will lead to more temporary foreign workers… the government is being urged to provide such workers with a path to citizenship that would give them the same rights (and presumably the same wages) as other Canadians… But who then will pick the asparagus?
Tags: economy, globalization, immigration, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Here’s one simple — and relatively cheap — thing Ottawa needs to do to kick-start our economic recovery
Saturday, June 20th, 2020
Business closures have pounded women across the country, hitting service-oriented sectors that tend to be female-dominated harder than others. Parents who were able to arrange to work from home quickly realized that caring for young children at the same time is unsustainable… “There’s no way our economy can reopen, reboot and recover if 40 per cent of its labour market cannot engage the way it did before”
Tags: budget, child care, economy, featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, women
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Argue against the CERB all you want — this is why you’re wrong
Thursday, June 18th, 2020
If the government’s experts are able to repair EI’s weaknesses and blend that system with pandemic income supports to nurse a full recovery, they’ll be providing a crucial backstop for the middle class for years to come. But for now, the focus on emergency help for the pandemic’s most vulnerable victims is a necessary priority.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Stephen Lecce’s letter to parents doubles down on the Ford government’s half-baked child care plan
Monday, June 15th, 2020
… if Premier Ford and Minister Lecce are scratching their heads and wondering why so many child care centres are refusing to open their doors until this hot mess is fixed, perhaps they should put their listening ears on. Instead of doubling down on the current child care reopening plan, it is time to think hard about how we could create a better child care system for Ontario.
Tags: budget, child care, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, women
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
COVID-19 has changed us forever. Has it really changed Doug Ford?
Saturday, June 13th, 2020
All his core beliefs — disruption, deregulation and deficit reduction — have been upended by a more powerful disrupter in COVID-19… A good clue to Ford’s true thinking comes from his stubborn refusal — against all evidence and advice — to restore the paid sick days he eliminated before the pandemic… Never mind the serene rhetoric on the surface, it is Ford’s underlying actions that count.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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