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Queen’s Park frugal with information, audit reveals
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
Sep 27 2011
The study found that requests in Ontario made by media and other groups that tend to hold government accountable were more likely to be flagged as contentious and take much longer than requests made for private reasons. While nearly four out of five requests filed by businesses, individuals and lawyers were completed within 60 days, only one in two filed by “accountability” requesters — such as reporters, politicians, academics and special interest groups — was completed in that time.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights
Posted in Governance Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Poor go to the back of the line for housing
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
Sep 27 2011
Families living in poverty are being bumped down on the first-come-first-served municipal lists by families escaping domestic abuse, who leapfrog to the front of the line because of a provincial policy that gives them priority. Overall, the system is so broken that, according to a new study, up to 70 per cent of applicants just give up when they can’t find housing within four years and drop off the list… fewer than half of the subsidized units in the GTA go to the low-income residents who have signed on to social housing wait lists in good faith. On average, their names will languish there for a minimum of five years before getting a unit.
Tags: budget, homelessness, housing, poverty, tax
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
What became of the plan for aging at home?
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
Sep 27 2011
Asked what happened to his government’s Aging at Home Strategy, McGuinty looked uncomfortable but told the truth. The health ministry had diverted some of the money to hospitals. (Although they had signed “accountability agreements” guaranteeing balanced budgets, many hospitals ran multi-million-dollar deficits.) It won’t happen again, McGuinty stressed. “This time, it (home-care funding) won’t be gobbled up by the health system.”
Tags: budget, Health, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | 1 Comment »
The health system we need
Sunday, September 25th, 2011
Sep 24 2011
Illness prevention, earlier intervention and home care cannot be seen as add-ons to the regular health-care system. They are just as essential as a hospital emergency room if we want a system that can properly and affordably cope with the needs of an aging population. But the idea that these new and enhanced health services should receive substantial money from within existing health budgets is something few politicians are ready to embrace.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Why scrapping stimulus was a bad move
Saturday, September 24th, 2011
Sep 23 2011
With the Great Recession consigned to the history books, austerity became the mantra among the advanced economies that had suffered most from the epic downturn… What a difference a year makes… the “Arab Spring” has been led not by religious ideologues or ethnic nationalists. It has been spearheaded by university-trained youth who’ve known only joblessness and underemployment since graduation… Earlier this month, Harper appeared to abruptly switch his focus to job creation after the latest employment report showed Canadian job creation has gone into reverse, with the country losing a net 5,000 jobs in August.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Why Harper’s ringing economic alarm bells
Saturday, September 24th, 2011
Sep 23 2011
… why the unusually inflammatory language? The kindest interpretation is that Harper is just being frank. The more realistic one is that he is trying to prepare the country for an unpopular change in course — specifically for a retreat from his election promises… indications are that his new approach to any economic slowdown will be the precise opposite — that the Conservatives will use fear of debt to make spending cuts that, during the spring election campaign, they promised to avoid.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
Modest new thinking on health care
Saturday, September 24th, 2011
Sep 22 2011
If health means having enough to eat, a decent place to live, safe drinking water, an income that allows wholesome choices, a non-toxic environment and the opportunity to be a productive member of society, medical spending is the wrong yardstick. Ontario does a relatively good job of patching people up after they get sick. If does a relatively poor job of keeping people — especially disadvantaged people — out of hospitals and long-term care institutions.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Midwives push childbirth as campaign issue
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
Sep 21 2011
… both the Liberals and New Democrats say they support the notion of freestanding birth centres. The centres would be run by midwives and give women who have low-risk pregnancies the option of delivering babies in a more natural setting away from hospitals… Birth centres were not part of party platforms released previously by either party. But in response to the midwives’ survey, the Liberals said they “support piloting birth centres in Ontario and are open to exploring the possibilities for this model.”
Tags: Health, women
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Polarized economy, polarized politics
Sunday, September 18th, 2011
Sep 17 2011
Years of grinding away at middle-class lifestyles, and years of accumulating debt to try to maintain those lifestyles, have taken their toll on the core optimism and hope that characterized the middle-class outlook and informed its political judgments. Few people now believe their children will lead better lives than they have, in a complete reversal from the ethic that built this country… fear has become a much stronger motivator than hope. The polarization of economic outcomes will lead to a polarization of political choice. From “a rising tide will lift all boats,” we are moving to a zero-sum game.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Real issue for election campaign [mental health]
Sunday, September 18th, 2011
Sep 17 2011
Undiagnosed and inadequately treated mental illness and addiction costs Ontario billions a year in increased health-care costs and lost productivity. Children cannot succeed in school, adults lose their jobs, families are destroyed and lives are cut short. One in five Ontarians will experience a mental illness or addiction. Add in their family and friends and that means most voters will be affected by this one issue. But it’s not an issue that lends itself to catchy slogans in a political leader’s stump speech or easy attack ads against their opponents.
Tags: Health, mental Health, participation
Posted in Health Debates | 1 Comment »
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