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Nova Scotia is showing the way on organ donation
Wednesday, April 10th, 2019
This is the first time what’s known as “presumed consent” legislation will become law anywhere in Canada or the United States. But it’s far from new elsewhere in the world… The fact is about 4,500 people are on waiting lists for organ donations in Canada in any given year and the wait for a transplant can be up to six years. Sadly, about 250 people die each year waiting for such organs as hearts and lungs.
Tags: disabilities, Health, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Changing disability definition a dangerous mistake that will harm thousands
Monday, April 8th, 2019
The government is holding consultations on these changes right now. We do not know who has been invited. And we have no commitment that what they are told will be made public… it should leave anyone who cares about those who suffer from arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, mental illness, addictions, and many other conditions that can disable people intermittently, or from which they may recover in a few years, extremely worried.
Tags: disabilities, economy, Health, mental Health, participation, poverty
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
NDP pharmacare plan sets a new standard
Monday, April 8th, 2019
… families now enjoying private drug insurance would save $550 a year on average under a universal public scheme. Employers that offer drug coverage to their workers would pay on average $600 less per employee. In short, Canadians would pay more in taxes for pharmaceuticals but less overall. The NDP is sketchy on the politics of its plan, particularly on how to get the provinces to agree.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Ontario should get tougher on raising vaccination rates
Friday, April 5th, 2019
The numbers gathered by the Star from public health units around the province show vaccination rates vary considerably, but are too low to provide so-called “herd immunity” for the general population… The province should move toward eliminating non-medical exemptions for the vaccinations that children must have in order to attend school… Better to act now than to put health and lives at risk.
Tags: Health, ideology, participation, rights
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Students across Ontario walking out of class Thursday to protest Ford’s education cuts
Thursday, April 4th, 2019
Students across the province are planning to walk out of class Thursday to protest the Ford government’s proposed changes to public education… as part of the student-led action dubbed #StudentsSayNo… [to]mandatory e-learning for high school students, a ban on cell phones in classrooms unless used for educational purposes and increased class sizes from Grades 4 to 12, which would result in the elimination of teaching jobs.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
As usual, Doug Ford has it wrong on carbon tax
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019
… the real threat to our long-term future is precisely what the carbon tax is designed to head off — climate change… Economists of all political stripes agree that a carbon tax is the most effective way to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions… the way the government has structured it, most people stand to come out ahead once they’ve collected their tax rebate. The idea… is to raise the price of carbon-intensive activities and give people a financial incentive to reduce them.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
New Ontario law allows less pay for overtime
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019
Time-and-a-half pay in Ontario is usually mandatory when employees work more than 44 hours a week, unless an overtime-averaging agreement in place. Under Bill 66, employers will have expanded use of these agreements and will be able to average workers’ hours over the course of a month rather than two weeks, resulting in less overtime pay… the new measures will encourage employers to assign erratic schedules to workers in order to minimize overtime payments.
Tags: economy, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
‘White hot’ angry youth ready to protest education cuts
Friday, March 29th, 2019
Throughout Ford’s tenure as premier, he has attacked education from every available angle. First, he slashed the sexual education curriculum; then, he cancelled an updated Indigenous education plan; lately, in what almost feels like a show of gratuitous violence, he’s been taking aim at special needs funding, class sizes, phone usage, teacher jobs, and more. It’s infuriating and… for our province’s most vulnerable students, catastrophic.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Canada’s national strategy on dementia must break the cycle of shame
Friday, March 29th, 2019
The recent federal budget contains a $50-million, five-year commitment for a strategy to support Canadians with cognitive decline, their caregivers and the health professionals who manage or research the disease. Details will be announced later this spring, and the Public Health Agency of Canada is to oversee the roll-out of the strategy. It had better be worth the wait.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Doug Ford will axe the tax — except his own stealth carbon tax
Thursday, March 28th, 2019
Ontario will mark April Fools’ Day with a few strange stunts… shuttering the office of Ontario’s environmental commissioner, ending a quarter-century of independent oversight… paying more than $30 million in legal bills out of the pockets of Ontario taxpayers to fight the federal government that also represents them… Our premier is waging a loud battle against the federal carbon tax in court, while simultaneously proposing his own stealth carbon tax at home.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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