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Embracing good will this Christmas
Tuesday, December 24th, 2019
In some sense, our schools, libraries, hospitals, public parks, social housing, legal and social assistance programs all speak to a type of structured good will. These are all places that promote collective caring. These are some expressions of the social dimensions of good will toward all, not just those who can an afford the finer amenities of life.
Tags: featured, globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Only the Ford government could double autism funding and still not fix anything
Thursday, December 19th, 2019
If they had simply doubled the funding and made a few administrative tweaks to the existing program they could have had a real win on their hands, not to mention actually providing children with the care they desperately need.
But Ford… spread the existing money more thinly through childhood budgets, and made things far worse.
Tags: budget, disabilities, mental Health, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
How $15 billion in bonuses leaves bankers gloomy
Wednesday, December 18th, 2019
The country’s six largest banks are dishing out $15 billion in bonuses this year. But, in the eyes of some, this isn’t enough… It… reveals how misleading media reports can be, particularly about high finance, with insiders allowed to peddle their self-serving agendas unchallenged… Canada’s big six banks have gotten away with paying extremely low taxes — the lowest in the G7.
Tags: featured, globalization, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Doug Ford wants his Mike Harris moment. Teachers won’t give it to him. Taxpayers will pay for it
Wednesday, December 18th, 2019
Under the pretext of an inflated deficit, Ford’s Tories pre-emptively imposed a legislated salary cap of one per cent on the public sector, just in time, coincidentally, for teacher negotiations. They did this knowing that the courts overruled such overreach when a Liberal government abrogated collective bargaining rights in 2012 (during a real fiscal emergency, unlike today’s imaginary crisis)
Tags: budget, ideology, rights, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
My brain tumour has returned, my drug plan has not
Tuesday, December 17th, 2019
… in its current form, our country will remove a tumour and leave the medication on the back of the patient (to say nothing of teeth, vision care and mental health, which are curiously not covered by our “universal” system)… To those of us directly affected, it’s a crisis and daily failure of a country that prides itself on socialized medicine to step up and protect us. We don’t need this in 2027 — we have prescriptions that aren’t being filled now.
Tags: Health, ideology, participation, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Raising taxes to build Toronto is not just good — it’s necessary
Tuesday, December 10th, 2019
In recent years, our leaders have tried every trick in the book… to avoid collecting the revenues needed to build the country. They’ve sold off profit-making public assets, giving up long-term revenue streams for one-time capital gains. They’ve embraced public-private partnerships (P3s), paying extra to build infrastructure but hiding the cost off the public books. They’ve taken on more debt.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
The mathematical truth about Toronto property taxes: raising them is the best option
Tuesday, December 10th, 2019
The average annual residential tax bill across the GTHA and Ottawa for 2018 came in at $4,773 per household. In Toronto, it was $3,906… The mathematical truth says Toronto’s residential property taxes are low. The mathematical truth says there is room to raise them to pay for the things the city desperately needs.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Toronto should move to a ranked ballot
Tuesday, December 10th, 2019
Council recently voted 14-11 to direct city staff to start the process of moving toward a ranked ballot for the 2022 municipal election… No one likes how our system encourages negative campaigns, focuses on wedge issues and personal attacks, and gives incumbents at the municipal level where there are no political parties such an unfair advantage. Or that councillors can be elected with so little support from the electorate.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Employers keep breaking safety laws — and government enforcement isn’t stopping them, auditor general finds
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
“The ministry’s enforcement efforts are not preventing many employers from continuing the same unsafe practices,” the report says… The auditor general report also highlighted issues with the ministry’s enforcement capabilities: its information system, which informs inspection strategy, only contains details of 28 per cent of all business in Ontario — leaving “many workplaces uninspected.”
Posted in Delivery System | No Comments »
More than a million Ontario workers do not have drug coverage. These groups are the most likely to be left out
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
“These gaps in coverage are worrisome, since prescription drugs play an essential role in preventing and treating disease and in helping us stay healthy,” the report says… highly concentrated in the retail trades, accommodation and food services industries… part-time work’s share of total employment rose from 13.5 per cent to nearly 20 per cent between 1976 and 2015… a significant portion of part-time work is low wage, without benefits, and has scheduling uncertainty which creates stress…
Tags: Health, ideology, participation, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
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