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Cuts to legal aid continue to harm vulnerable families and youth
Tuesday, February 11th, 2020
Last spring’s devastating cuts to legal aid impacted a wide swathe of programming, including efforts to support families challenging school suspensions and expulsions far too often meted out to racialized youth. The repercussions continue to reverberate… fewer people are eligible for support… That makes it harder for vulnerable families to find help addressing poor housing conditions, unjust treatment at work or school, or other legal issues.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, participation, poverty, rights
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Is medically assisted dying a choice if persons with disabilities aren’t given the necessary supports to live?
Wednesday, January 29th, 2020
MAiD without a “foreseeable death” restriction, combined with significant shortcomings in health and social care for persons with disabilities, raises questions about what it means to live a dignified life, and for whom — and what role the Canadian Government has in supporting people with disabilities in the context of legalized MAiD. It raises issues of systemic marginalization and violence as persons with disabilities are not adequately protected or valued.
Tags: disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health, rights, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Ontarians deserve proper oversight of their government
Wednesday, January 29th, 2020
You need at least two ingredients for oversight offices to operate effectively. First, you need to have the right person in the job, who is not afraid to speak truth to power and be models of transparency. The person needs to fearlessly flash the spotlight on problems… The second ingredient to the Ombudsman’s success is having a properly constituted infrastructure and the resources to fulfil its mandate.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Governance Delivery System | No Comments »
Ottawa must tackle the tragic overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prisons
Wednesday, January 29th, 2020
Every conceivable measure we have to judge how a population is doing shows Canada is failing Indigenous peoples: child welfare, poverty, addictions and mental health, housing and clean water, education and employment, and incarceration… Indigenous inmates are disproportionately placed in maximum security and have been held longer in solitary confinement. They serve a higher proportion of their sentence behind bars before being granted parole, and are poorly prepared for their release back into the community.
Tags: corrections, Indigenous, standard of living
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
Taxing the rich is but one tool for economic transformation
Friday, January 24th, 2020
Stakeholder capitalism and slight tax increases on the wealthy are, in effect, a glossy sales pitch to maintain the status quo, with slight concessions made to avoid bigger, more fundamental changes… Changes beyond tinkering will require more democratic control of the economy. For one, that means reversing the trend of privatizing of public services… New and bigger workers’ co-operatives and credit unions can also contribute to democratizing our economy.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada can end poverty and shrink inequality by adding an annual basic income of $22K, new report says
Thursday, January 23rd, 2020
“Basic income in Canada is not a question of possibilities, but of priorities… It is clear from child and seniors’ benefits that basic income works for many Canadians already. The federal government’s priority now must be to take leadership to make it work for everybody”… “We say we want to do something about poverty. And yet we give away $122 billion worth of tax expenditures every year to people who aren’t anywhere close to the poverty line…”
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, homelessness, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Fear and division really are bad for our health
Monday, January 20th, 2020
If you take fear and division and add a dose of cynicism about experts and government you produce an excellent culture medium for anxiety. Anxiety is bad for our health. A smoker loses on average 8.5 years of life. Anxiety can decrease your life expectancy by 7… When things seem more predictable, we feel more in control and we are less anxious.
Tags: crime prevention, Health, homelessness, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Here’s why men still get paid more than women
Sunday, January 19th, 2020
… older men and women are almost equally engaged in caregiving of some kind, but when it comes to working-age caregivers, women are spending more time than men helping those close to them, and handling far more of the tasks that are not compatible with work… The easy government policy responses to confront the wage gap have already been implemented, says Schirle, and the impact for many women is barely perceptible.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, women
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
A shocking report details how Ontario’s most vulnerable youths are shuttled from child protection to the justice system
Sunday, January 19th, 2020
The researchers developed protocols and best practices for key players in the child protection and justice system, all designed to break the child-welfare-to-prison pipeline… [including] more reasonable bail conditions, trauma-informed training for group home caregivers, “anti-oppressive” practices, the use of restorative justice, and encouraging police to simply caution youths in care when called for an incident or send them to “diversion” programs… rather than lay charges
Tags: child care, corrections, featured, ideology, Indigenous, mental Health, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario hospitals ask for nearly $1 billion to ease hallway health-care problem
Saturday, January 18th, 2020
“Ontario hospitals are the most efficient in the entire country”… the additional $922 million sought for 141 publicly-funded hospitals represents an increase of 4.85 per cent. “You can’t expect to end hallway health care and keep asking hospitals to cut their expenditures and become more efficient given what the data shows. Our backs are against the wall here.”
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
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