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Senator Art Eggleton tries a new tack in his fight against poverty
Sunday, August 26th, 2012
16 August 2012
A Call to Action on Poverty, a massive report by the Senate subcommittee on cities… was loaded with facts, figures and heart-rending stories. It made affordable recommendations… Audiences listened but they didn’t take up the cause… This spring…[Eggleton] talked about inequality. He showed how the widening income gulf between the rich and the rest of society was jeopardizing economic growth, stoking intergenerational tension, breeding urban violence and stifling hope. His message finally hit home.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Paul Ryan re-ignites old collectivism vs individualism debate
Sunday, August 26th, 2012
16 August 2012
… take the Internet, which is shredding hard-won dogmas about individual property and ownership created during capitalism’s three or four centuries. Just when you get rid of those pesky proletarian revolutionaries, along comes a new, essentially collectivist technology making similar trouble… Given the undeniable (it seems to me) collective underpinning of all our lives, what’s astounding isn’t claims for “collectivism,” which simply describes what we are; it’s the emergence of individuals and even individualism from such a powerful collective base.
Tags: economy, ideology, privatization, rights, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Mandatory voting: turning Canadians’ democratic ‘choice’ into ‘duty’
Sunday, August 26th, 2012
17 August 2012
… voting is probably viewed more as a choice than a duty these days and… like shopping — not fun when the store is busy, “due to higher-than-expected turnout.”… In Australia, voting is mandatory… all the frenzied get-out-the-vote efforts by parties in Canada simply don’t exist in Australia… Mandatory voting wouldn’t end dirty tricks in elections. Nor would it put an end to the databases and the robocalls… But… if voting was compulsory, it would be a little more difficult to steer [Canadians] away from their democratic duty.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
Good health takes more than access to doctors and hospital beds it takes wealth too
Sunday, August 26th, 2012
14 August 2012
More than 1 in 4 lower income Canadians have delayed or stopped buying prescription drugs and have skipped meals because they were short of money… the gap appears to be growing… Yet, despite all the evidence about these “social determinants” of health, governments have failed to fund accordingly… The link between poverty and ill health is well established. By not addressing the root economic and social causes of ill health we’re just adding to health care bills down the line.
Tags: Health, ideology, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Alberta makes strides against homelessness
Saturday, August 25th, 2012
13 August 2012
“Our plan appealed to people on the left who see the issue as a one of social justice. But it also appealed to the business sector because it was about a more efficient use of public money.” That’s because it was clear that homeless people are much more likely to end up in ambulances, hospitals, courtrooms, jails and shelters. All of these public services are expensive and homeless people were cycling through them yet still didn’t have a home to call their own.
Tags: budget, homelessness, housing, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
Overcrowding and overwork compromise health care
Saturday, August 25th, 2012
12 August 2012
Nurses know changes are needed. Hospitals across the country are at overcapacity. A generally accepted standard of safe hospital occupancy is 85 per cent yet most hospitals are working at a 100 per cent or higher. The results of overcrowding include compromised care, high rates of hospital acquired infections and unnecessary rates of hospital readmission. Another result is dangerous levels of workload, and the resulting vicious circle of working short.
Tags: budget, Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Ottawa grades poorly in CMA’s annual report card on health care
Saturday, August 25th, 2012
13 August 2012
“… the feds are not living up to what [the CMA] expects from their federal government,” said Dr. John Haggie, the outgoing president… “We certainly have seen over this last year particularly a trend to distance themselves from matters of health.”… the poor report card reflects a broad failure on the part of the government to resolve the nationwide drug shortage, secure a long-term care solution and make progress on the $41-billion 2014 Health Accord signed eight years ago.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, mental Health, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Unions recognize the need for a radical change
Friday, August 24th, 2012
9 August 2012
… the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union (CEP) have unveiled their blueprint for a proposed merger, creating the largest industrial union in Canadian history… They acknowledge that nothing short of a “culture change” will stem the 25-year decline in the strength and credibility of private sector unions… They aim to create a new union unlike anything labour activists or the public have seen in the past.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Napanee group home owners file human rights complaint
Thursday, August 23rd, 2012
7 August 2012
… after a contentious public meeting in October 2011… Council refused to give them a “zoning compliance letter,” effectively deeming the group home illegal… Jo-Ann Seamon, of the Human Rights Tribunal by the Human Rights Legal Support Centre, called the case “heart-wrenching.” She said she found it hard to believe there were “people who are ‘scared’ of people with developmental disabilities.”
Tags: disabilities, housing, ideology, mental Health, rights
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Toronto home-care program keeps patients out of hospital
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012
6 August 2012
The Integrated Client Care Program allows seniors at risk of hospitalization to stay in their own homes as long as possible with strong support from health-care professionals and community service providers…. [It] also provides help to the oft-overlooked caregiver… With a rapidly aging population and a $15-billion deficit, the provincial government wants to see more programs like this. The Liberals called for more home visits by doctors in the last election and they hiked spending for community health services by 4 per cent in the last provincial budget.
Tags: budget, Health, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
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