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Why old-school teaching fails new Canada
Saturday, April 9th, 2011
Apr 02 2011
From its 19th-century beginnings, public education here was a venture in equity — another way to say fairness. The public back then was mostly white and Protestant, with British or American roots. But the rich among them had their own private schools. Public schools arose to equalize access to schooling… The question is: What happens when the “public” in public education changes? It now includes these new “racialized” groups and it includes Canada’s first inhabitants… some of them are being ill-served in the public schools.
Tags: ideology, multiculturalism, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
One-stop eye care
Saturday, April 9th, 2011
Apr 09 2011
Optometrists can now prescribe medications for their patients… One-stop care, in this case for eye patients, frees up doctors to see other patients. Ultimately it saves taxpayers from footing the bill for unnecessary medical appointments. That’s a win for everyone… In 2009, the province passed legislation to expand powers for other medical practitioners, including allowing pharmacists to renew or alter prescriptions without calling a doctor’s office; physiotherapists to order X-rays; and nurse practitioners to set a fracture. The government should monitor these changes with a view to taking bolder steps.
Tags: Health, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Ever-lower rates: Corporate tax cut doubts
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
Apr 07 2011
Statistics Canada data shows that while Canada’s federal corporate tax rate declined steadily over the past decade — from 28 per cent in 2000 to 16.5 per cent now — companies have not put more money into their businesses. Investment in machinery and equipment has actually declined steadily over the same period, as corporations have saved billions in tax. At the same time, Canadian companies have been adding billions to their cash reserves — $83 billion since 2008. Instead of investing in the technology and equipment we need to improve our lagging productivity, they’ve been stockpiling money.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Here’s $5.92 — make it last a month
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
Apr 05 2011
… an individual who is now living on $592 a month — $368 for shelter, $224 for everything else — will get $597.92, starting in November. That is 61 per cent below the poverty line set by the National Council of Welfare. A single mother raising a child will get an additional $10.14 a month, bringing her welfare cheque up to $1,024. That falls 45 per cent below the poverty line. And this is a province with an official poverty reduction plan; with a premier who challenged Ontarians in his last election campaign to “show that we care about one another…
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Shortchanged for decades: Ontario must raise its voice
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
Apr 06 2011
… they’ve accepted being shortchanged for decades, on everything from equalization payments to employment insurance benefits, and from money to settle new immigrants to the number of House of Commons seats granted the province. (Ontario was to receive an additional 18 federal seats to help provide some balance, but they haven’t arrived.) … despite a sharp decline in Ontario’s manufacturing sector, heavy job losses, soaring energy costs and a nagging provincial deficit. Ontario is in profound need of assistance. Yet it’s rarely offered a helping hand.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
How will social media affect the federal election?
Monday, April 4th, 2011
Apr 04 2011
… young people want to set the agenda on environmental protection, heath care, education and open government—the top issues identified on a survey from leadnow.ca… Why can’t we provide feedback on government services via Facebook? Why not an e-suggestion box?… We want to hashtag a proposed policy and get live updates on its legislative process, and then respond with concerns if it dies… We want to tweet questions to ministers and get an authentic response. The social media generation doesn’t know the meaning of inaccessible. They certainly won’t stand for anything less than total transparency from government.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Why old-school teaching fails new Canada
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011
Apr 02 2011
Public education was never public enough. It was too narrow and WASPy, too “informed by Anglo-Christian values and deference to the ideals of British monarchy.” Yet it contained the seeds of diversity and equity. Egerton Ryerson, who created Ontario’s schools in the 19th century, might not recognize the results, or like them, but equity is what the system he launched was meant for. It’s good for all kids, not just the neediest, to get a more complex, messier sense of the messy world they’re part of. It’s more fun.
Tags: Indigenous, multiculturalism, participation, poverty, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
Tory legacy leaves little to attract women voters
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011
Apr 01 2011
“The whole message that we can’t fund social programs, that there isn’t enough money, is really a direct attack on women and families,”… So what’s going on? Andrea Perrella, director of the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy, suggests goal may in fact be to push more men to the right, a direction in which they started heading in the 1990s as traditional gender roles began to change… If men have turned angry in larger numbers, they tend to vote for that party that best articulates anger.
Tags: featured, ideology, rights, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
How to navigate a thicket of polls
Friday, April 1st, 2011
Apr 01 2011
… here is a rudimentary guide to election polls: • Don’t assume they’re all equal… • The way polls are reported can matter as much as their content… • The way polls are interpreted can set off unwarranted stampedes… They signal important trends. They allow people to vote strategically. They’re right more often than they’re wrong. But don’t let any poll supplant your instincts and don’t let anyone tell you tell polling is a sure science.
Tags: participation
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »
Time to thaw out Ontario’s poverty reduction promise
Monday, March 28th, 2011
Mar 28 2011
We’re hoping for progress on four priorities for action articulated by the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction: • Ensure no one falls through the cracks in times of need. • Invest in people, their skills, and their efforts to secure work. • Ensure jobs are a pathway out of poverty. • Create infrastructure for opportunity… But many of the problems that poor Ontarians face can and should be fixed, right now… Ontarians want leadership on poverty reduction.
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | No Comments »
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