« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Affordable housing deal between Ottawa and Queen’s Park finally signed
Thursday, November 10th, 2011
Nov 08 2011
A new $481 million program to bring new or renovated affordable housing units to about 7,000 Ontario families will only put a dent in the problem, but is nonetheless welcome, a Toronto city councillor said Tuesday… Housing advocates say about 152,000 Ontario households are on waiting lists for affordable housing and an estimated 20 per cent of tenants are paying more than 50 per cent of their income on shelter.
Tags: homelessness, housing, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Middle class is key to economic recovery, Rae says
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
Nov 09 2011
“The Occupy movement is a powerful reflection of what happens when trust breaks down. But it’s more,” Rae says in his speech. “While it’s often seen as just a protest movement of the marginalized, it’s also speaking to a clear sense among the middle-class people around the world that the government is not in their corner; that it has stopped fighting for them.”
Tags: economy, housing, ideology, participation, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Jungle medicine for drug addiction
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
Nov 08 2011
Made from two plants mashed, cooked and juiced, ayahuasca looks deceptive, a watery spinach soup in a cup. But its effect is extraordinary, hyperactivating the parts of the brain where emotional memory is stored and processed. Rather than revisiting the same old neural connections, it forms new ones, letting people look at a painful event they could not normally contemplate without agony and altering the way they see it.
Tags: Health, mental Health
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Set national standards for EI
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
Nov. 8, 2011
… losing a job can cause laid-off workers similar hardship regardless of where they live… the bulk of the Canadian labour market, through its EI contributions, redistributes income toward seasonal workers and industries. Variable entrance requirements are the opaque screen through which this redistribution takes place. As a consequence, the EI program leads to under-coverage for some workers in certain areas of the country, weakening EI’s effectiveness as a social safety net.
Tags: economy, ideology, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Stereotype of ‘menial worker’ is obsolete
Monday, November 7th, 2011
Nov 06 2011
… it would make sense for policy-makers to think differently about how to train workers for the largest – and fastest growing – segment of the labour market. It would also make sense to Ontario to allocate more of its education dollars to training the 48 per cent of the adult population that lacks the skills to fill out an online application or compete for an entry-level job in the digital economy.
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Tough but not smart on crime
Monday, November 7th, 2011
Nov 06 2011
There are three problems with the suggestion that offending by youths (or adults) can be reduced by imposing harsher sentences. First, decades of research has demonstrated that harsher sentences for youths (or adults) do not reduce reoffending. Nor would harsher sentences deter others. These are not ideological statements; they are based on evidence from numerous studies. The results are quite consistent: one cannot punish away crime.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, ideology, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | 2 Comments »
Setting education priorities
Sunday, November 6th, 2011
Nov 04 2011
The most intractable educational challenge is not really an educational issue at all: it is the enduring problem in Ontario (and Canada) of poverty. Schools and teachers cannot resolve this deep social problem (they have no control over unemployment, low wages and inadequate housing)… The impact of a caring, perceptive mentor on the life of a struggling student (whether poor or middle class) can be immense and the government should support this practice across the province… [and] encourage every creative attempt to deepen student “engagement” in elementary and secondary classrooms.
Tags: ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Education Policy Context | No Comments »
Building an economic floor under the poor
Friday, November 4th, 2011
Nov 03 2011
… the United Nations called for the creation of a worldwide social protection floor to prevent the poor from falling into deeper deprivation… The report does not prescribe a one-size-fits-all approach or a universal standard… But it does suggest four key principles: • Build on what already exists… • Aim to move people from income support to opportunities for decent employment… • Ensure that non-government groups are fully involved in setting the social protection floors and delivering the benefits and services. • Anchor the process in sustainable domestic funding sources…
Tags: featured, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | 2 Comments »
New charity, same old cant
Friday, November 4th, 2011
Nov 03 2011
The Globe say these methods “could revolutionize” social programs by creating “a world in which profit motives and the greater good move in tandem.” That would revolutionize us all the way back to Dickens’ time… As for Philanthropy, it literally means love of man, or humanity. You don’t sense much of that in the New version, though there’s lots of self-praise, and a sense of power through the ability to micromanage the effect of your donation.
Tags: economy, ideology, philanthropy, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
Business elite gets a reality check
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
Nov 01 2011
The era of visionary politics is long gone. With an aging population, expenditures on government services will grow faster than government revenues. In a globalized economy, Canada will keep losing jobs to lower-cost countries. And in a protracted period of slow growth, the gap between rich and poor will widen… But all that could easily lead to a politics of divisiveness. There is a risk we will bequeath to our children and grandchildren a world of ‘us against them.’ Such politics leads inevitably to everyone being worse off.”
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Recent Comments