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Approaching the tipping point [corporate interests]
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
Dec 12 2011
Governments in the “Western” world need to wake up and start working with corporations and labour to create general prosperity. Corporations that send jobs to countries with cheaper labour not only undermine their own workers but also themselves. As the “corporate” world eliminates decent wages in their countries of origin, they also eliminate potential customers of their own products.
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
A Scarborough clinic for those with no health insurance
Monday, December 12th, 2011
Dec 12 2011
Care for the uninsured in the GTA occurs largely under the radar — administered through an uncoordinated mix of community health centres, emergency rooms and free clinics. But an increasing number of front-line health-care workers and advocates are pushing for better access to care for the uninsured, amid concerns the patchwork system in place is not only unethical and costly to the system but is putting the lives of the most marginalized and vulnerable at risk.
Tags: Health, immigration, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Charities under pressure
Saturday, December 10th, 2011
Dec 09 2011
Food Banks Canada reported a shocking 851,014 people received sustenance from a food bank in March 2011, virtually identical to 2010, and 26 per cent higher than before the 2008-2009 recession. Reported cases for social assistance in Ontario also jumped more than 30,000 in the past 18 months, proving that despite the economic recovery, there are many in need… More troubling, the economic prospects ahead are not going to alleviate the current heightened demand for charitable services.
Tags: economy, philanthropy, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Recession, what recession? Company directors see pay soar 33 per cent during downturn
Thursday, December 8th, 2011
Dec. 7, 2011
A survey by the Conference Board of Canada suggests remuneration for directors on boards of publicly traded companies rose significantly between 2008 and 2010, when the general economy was struggling and unemployment was mostly on the rise. The findings of the semi-annual survey show the average total compensation companies paid to outside directors soared to $112,651, a 33 per cent jump from the $84,452 average in 2008.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
A $2 daily head tax on children
Thursday, December 8th, 2011
Dec 07 2011
Ford and his penny-pinching backers insist Toronto is in a financial crisis and has no alternative but to cut costs, raise taxes and impose higher fees. At the same time, city hall is looking at an estimated surplus of almost $140 million at the end of this year. And it has no intention of using that to save services or spare the public from painful new costs. Money isn’t what’s ultimately lacking at Toronto city hall. What’s absent is a fundamental respect for public services and the benefits they provide.
Tags: budget, child care, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Why the gap between rich and poor in Canada keeps growing
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
Dec 05 2011
Information technology has eliminated some middle-skill jobs, such as filing and administration, while globalization has seen high-paid manufacturing jobs outsourced to lower-paid countries… Globalization has given top talent the ability to command higher compensation… At the same time, globalization has weakened the lowest earners’ bargaining power as their jobs are outsourced to cheaper countries… Taxes and benefits used to offset 70 per cent of the rise in the income gap in Canada. Now, they offset just 40 per cent…
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, rights, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Child poverty easing in Ontario, report says
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
Dec 04 2011
A 2009 decision to boost the Ontario Child Benefit to cushion struggling families during the recession helped pull 19,000 children out of poverty, advocates say in a new report on the province’s anti-poverty efforts. But on the third anniversary of Ontario’s Dec. 4, 2008 pledge to cut child poverty by 25 per cent by 2013, more action is needed… “Targeted action is urgently needed, including expanding poverty reduction targets to include adults — especially singles — and addressing equity for groups more at risk of poverty”…
Tags: budget, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | No Comments »
Better service for disabled key goal of new policy
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
Dec 04 2011
Under the new standards, it will be mandatory as of Jan. 1, 2012, for all businesses to have a plan to train employees to provide services to those with disabilities… The core goal of the AODA, created in 2005, is to make the entire province accessible to the disabled by 2025… For example: • Accommodating a customer’s service dog. • Writing answers to questions for someone who is deaf. • Using simple language and speaking slowly and in short sentences when helping someone with a developmental disability. • Accommodating those who accompany someone with a disability.
Tags: disabilities, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
Choices for First Nations
Sunday, December 4th, 2011
Dec 01 2011
One solution, for instance, might be for the federal and provincial governments to provide remote First Nations with special funds (either through a one-time grant or a low-interest loan) to invest or partner with larger First Nations to pursue economic development opportunities in the south… A more radical solution would be to provide lucrative incentives for indigenous members to move out of remote communities and into places where standards of living are higher, costs of living lower, and economic opportunities more available.
Tags: economy, Indigenous, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
When did compassion become unaffordable?
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
Dec 01 2011
It has become the mantra for an era of tumbling expectations. “We will protect health care and education,” Premier Dalton McGuinty assured anxious Ontarians… What hasn’t received much attention is what this mantra means for the province, the nation and the value system Canadians once shared… • It strips the disadvantaged of their last vestiges of bargaining power… • It puts to rest the tradition that Canadians take care of vulnerable citizens in good times and bad…
Tags: budget, ideology, rights, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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