« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
There’s no shortage of labour. Employers just need to improve their offer
Saturday, June 13th, 2020
Employers’ complaints of “labour shortages” are not credible; and a more universal approach to income protection (as partly reflected in the CERB) should be maintained. Ultimately, we must find a better “incentive to work” than compelling people to accept low wages, uncertain hours, and risk of infection on pain of destitution.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, immigration, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Let’s save some outrage for treatment of Indigenous people
Saturday, June 13th, 2020
… Indigenous children under 15 make up 4 per cent of the provincial population but 30 per cent of children in foster care. There’s a straight line from those figures to family poverty, inadequate housing, untreated addictions and a woefully underfunded child welfare system… why is the response so muted when it comes to the racism faced by Indigenous peoples?
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, Indigenous, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
Less crime, more policing: This disconnect must be fixed
Wednesday, June 10th, 2020
The bottom line is that we spent decades constructing police forces that are expensive, over-militarized and not best suited to the tasks they face in the third decade of the 21st century. In too many situations, they are making things worse, not better. Reformers have been calling for change for a long time, and public pressure may now finally give the politicians the courage to start fixing the problem.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, featured, ideology, Indigenous, multiculturalism
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Why for-profit nursing home operators will likely leave the sector of their own accord
Tuesday, June 9th, 2020
Reinventing LTC means a restoration of the minimum staffing levels scrapped by the Mike Harris government in the 1990s. It means replacing or retrofitting nursing homes according to 21st century design standards. It means “in-sourcing” housekeeping, cooking and other services that have been outsourced to part-time and casual workers and contractors, the use of which impairs teamwork and continuity of care… What’s required is a multibillion-dollar megaproject.
Tags: budget, Health, housing, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Unpaid sick days are what ails Doug Ford’s recovery plan
Tuesday, June 9th, 2020
It makes no sense to expect the working poor to become poorer if they come down with COVID-19. Nor is it fair to demand they sacrifice their individual wages, in poor health, so as to benefit society’s collective health… By penalizing sick workers, we will only make more people sick. The premier is right to preach that workers should stay home when unwell. But he should put his money where his morality is, rather than demand that those who can least afford it bear the burden
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, rights
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
On child care, politicians are doing exactly what they said they wouldn’t. Women are paying the price
Saturday, June 6th, 2020
Despite all the goodwill of officials and the commitments from politicians and business leaders, they’ve done exactly what they said they wouldn’t do: opened the doors to recovery without opening the doors for parents, especially mothers. It doesn’t work for families, it doesn’t work for employers who need a broad range of employees to come back, and it certainly doesn’t work for a fair recovery.
Tags: child care, economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Canada has a racism problem, and it’s uniquely ours
Saturday, June 6th, 2020
As individuals, we are perfectly capable of descending into racism or intolerance indistinguishable from what we see elsewhere. By accident of history and geography, we have developed a culture of accommodation and compromise. But we also benefit from a political inheritance that sets us apart. Sociologists often make reference to Canadians’ deference to authority. To me, it’s our preference for collectivity that counts.
Tags: featured, ideology, Indigenous, multiculturalism
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
How Canadian businesses can ‘Own the Podium’
Saturday, June 6th, 2020
Make a green renovation wave for our homes and workplaces the cornerstone of the recovery package, with strings attached to ensure provinces and municipalities commit… Dedicate $5 billion in research and development and piloting over the next five years to fund technological breakthroughs in bitumen-based carbon fibres, green hydrogen, renewable jet fuels and batteries… Attract major investment from around the world by topping up the current federal Strategic Investment Fund’s $1.6 billion budget over five years to $40 billion.
Tags: economy, globalization, Health, ideology, Indigenous, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
‘What white privilege?’ ‘Why can’t you be more civil?’
Thursday, June 4th, 2020
Denial is essential to keep any supremacist system running for the benefit of some, to the detriment of others. By keeping the public discourse focused at the level of “does racism exist?” denial demands no change, no reflection, no accountability. Denial is complicity. When it comes to anti-oppression, none of us has all the answers; we are all at different points on the continuum of knowledge and experience.
Tags: ideology, immigration, Indigenous, multiculturalism, participation, rights
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
What COVID-19 has taught us about the nature of the way we work, and what we must do to fix it for the safety and betterment of us all
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2020
… the important lessons of this pandemic, which is people doing even the most humble jobs in society — the cleaners, the care aides and the retail clerks — actually have a critical role in public health and public safety, and we have to recognize that and start to value that properly.” … “A key ingredient in building a better future for work after the COVID-19 pandemic must be a stronger role for mechanisms of voice, representation and bargaining power for workers in all industries and all statuses,”
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Recent Comments