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Ryerson hosts international conference on Mad Studies
Saturday, May 19th, 2012
May 19 2012
Through their medical faculties, universities conferred “power and legitimacy to enforce imposed practices ranging from lobotomy, ECT insulin-coma shock, excessive drug treatments, discriminatory labels. “Now that some of us are in these elite positions within academia, it is essential to ensure we use this power and privilege to organize, to promote, research, write and engage the public about a topic that has too often in our history been interpreted through the views of medical-model academics.”
Tags: disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health, participation, standard of living
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Stephen Harper’s stealth EI changes are a worry.
Saturday, May 19th, 2012
May 18 2012
The Harper cabinet intends to spring a new set of “stealth” rules on us by way of regulation, months from now, after it has amended the Employment Insurance Act to strip away existing rights to refuse lousy jobs… But hurrying skilled people into menial jobs out of some misplaced sense that any job will do is a waste of resources. They should have the time to canvass for jobs that make productive use of their know-how. The current rules reflect that reality.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
MPPs should heed advice from youth who survived the care system
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012
May 14 2012
… whether they need to stay with their parents or be put into care; who their foster parents will be; or when they are ready to fly on their own, finally and forever — none of these decisions they make themselves. They’re all made by others. So their recommendation: The Province of Ontario should recognize that the current system needs to fundamentally change to better prepare young people in care to succeed. [It] should work with young people in and from care and other stakeholders to complete an ACTION PLAN FOR FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE…
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario’s Youth Leaving Care hearings call for fundamental change to child welfare system
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012
May 14 2012
The goal is to make Ontario a better parent to roughly 8,300 children and youth in its care and make their transition to adulthood more secure. The report being released Monday at Queen’s Park, says the government should act immediately to raise the age of financial and emotional support from 21 to 25; allow youth to stay in foster care beyond age 18; and declare a “Youth in Care Day” to raise awareness and reduce stigma.
Tags: rights, standard of living, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Why Ontario’s doctors won’t win fight on fees
Sunday, May 13th, 2012
May 12 2012
… doctors can’t complain of falling behind: payments have increased by 75 per cent since the Liberals took power in 2003. They remain the best-paid in the country… threats of another brain drain are contradicted by the quiet return of émigré doctors from the once-promised land of America… technological advances have bolstered the government’s case for fee reductions… expert opinion — and a strong all-party political consensus — is pushing to reallocate spending to long-term care and home care, freeing up acute care beds.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
From one battlefield to another
Sunday, May 13th, 2012
May 12 2012
Every generation updates and renews the values that make us who we are. I once found it hard to truly understand what those in my grandfather’s generation meant when they spoke of making the ultimate sacrifice in wartime to allow their loved ones back home to live in a democracy… The Canada I went overseas to fight for was a tolerant and open society, always striving to do the right thing, and to bring to the world a sense that tomorrow can be better than today. Today, though, the government in Ottawa seems to want to throw all that out the window.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Stephen Harper promised accountable government but hasn’t delivered
Sunday, May 13th, 2012
May 12 2012
Harper used the words “accountable” and “accountability” no fewer than 10 times on the first page of the manifesto…. This is political sleight-of-hand and message control, and it appears to be an accelerating trend. These shabby tactics keep Parliament in the dark, swamp MPs with so much legislation that they can’t absorb it all, and hobble scrutiny. This is not good, accountable, transparent government. It is not what Harper promised to deliver.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Why not put all Ontario doctors on salary?
Friday, May 11th, 2012
May 11, 2012
In spite of doctors’ initial misgivings, fee-for-service medicare turned out to be a bonanza. They could still charge piece-work rates. But their payments were guaranteed by government… Ontario’s government, for instance, began by negotiating overall financial settlements with the Ontario Medical Association, leaving physicians to divvy up the pot. But that proved unsatisfactory since it allowed the most politically powerful factions within the OMA to reap the bulk of the rewards. This in turn left some areas — particularly general practice medicine — woefully underfunded.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, tax
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Norway using oil money wisely
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
May 09 2012
The paradox is that Norway does not use the benefits of its oil reserves to fund the costs of government and of social programs, including education… The Norwegian government, with citizen support, has decided to fund its social programs with high levels of taxation. At the same time, as McQuaig indicates, Norway manages “to compete effectively in the global economy.” Norway, using proportional representation and electing large numbers of women, has good forward-looking government. Canada does not. Norwegian students and citizens benefit, Canadians do not.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
It’s tougher than ever to enforce your human rights in Ontario
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
May 09 2012
Six years ago, to speed up a slow, backlogged system that needed reform, Bill 107 privatized human rights enforcement. It took the Human Rights Commission out of screening, investigating and prosecuting individual discrimination cases. It makes discrimination victims investigate and litigate their cases at the tribunal without the commission’s help. Does Bill 107 make lives better for victims of discrimination? Far from it… We hope this current Human Rights Code Review will recognize these amply-documented problems, and make strong recommendations to improve Ontario’s troubled human rights system.
Tags: crime prevention, disabilities, featured, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
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