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With its 2024 budget, the Ford government is asking you to trust it. You shouldn’t

Thursday, March 28th, 2024

… it’s one thing to announce billions in new health-care spending… It’s another to admit that 1.3 per cent growth is below inflation and nowhere near enough to sustain public health care in the province, let alone sufficiently expand it. It’s another still to admit that all this program spending amounts, on balance, to real-dollar cuts… The government is going all-in on highways and roads — with a few nods to the poor suckers stuck taking inadequate, crumbling public transportation.

Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, housing, ideology
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »

How government penny-pinching makes life harder for unhoused Ontarians

Tuesday, March 26th, 2024

In Ontario, if you lose your home, you get less social assistance than someone who has a home. The government cuts your benefits in half. Why punish people when we can help them get back on their feet? If it’s simply about saving money, surely the government can find lots of other ways to do that without ruining people’s lives… Social assistance should help people, not make their lives even harder.

Tags: budget, homelessness, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »

Expanded prescribing powers for nurses makes sense

Tuesday, March 12th, 2024

Expanding prescribing powers to nurses will not present the same kinds of concerns as expanding to pharmacists did. Nurses work in clinics that have privacy, and they lack potential financial conflicts of interest. Plus, they’re currently limited to very routine prescriptions, so the danger of a blown diagnosis is minimal… the goal is not leaving any to suffer for lack of access to a safe, proven treatment. And that is absolutely the status quo that already exists today for millions.

Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »

Ontario needs to pony up more cash for colleges and universities

Friday, March 8th, 2024

A short-term, piecemeal funding plan won’t work. The Ford PCs won’t be able to solve decades of chronic post-secondary underfunding in a year or two or three. But they can begin the process of instituting stable, predictable, and sufficient funding… It’s the smart thing to do. It’s the right thing to do. And in the long run, the money the government invests in education today will return more than it’s worth.

Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »

Can Ontario Fix the Shortage of Personal Support Workers?

Wednesday, February 28th, 2024

The Ontario government earmarked almost $5 billion in funding over four years to help long-term care homes hire and retain care staff. It’s since added additional millions in incentives to attract thousands to become personal support workers over the next few years… Podcast video Episode: Can New Incentives Help Attract PSWs in Ontario?

Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, jurisdiction, mental Health, standard of living, women
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »

It’s time for OHIP to cover all forms of prescription contraception

Tuesday, January 30th, 2024

Who’s left out? Anyone older than 25 without a private health-care plan, temporary foreign workers in between contracts, people with refugee status, international students… In short: people with shifting economic and living realities and those for whom an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy would likely be especially destabilizing… Control over one’s own fertility is inherently tied to human dignity. A money-saving, life-improving policy that supports this should be a no-brainer.

Tags: budget, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, women
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »

Everything we know (so far) about the Canadian Dental Care Plan

Sunday, January 14th, 2024

The program will roll out over two years. By May 2024, everyone over the age of 65 who meets eligibility requirements will be able to apply… By the end of the year, qualifying disabled people and those under 18 should be enrolled. After that, enrollment will open to all other eligible Canadians who meet the income threshold (less than $90,000 in household take-home pay) and don’t have access to private insurance through their employer… Program eligibility will depend on the income reported on your previous-year tax return.

Tags: Health, participation, Seniors, standard of living, youth
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »

Ontario’s universities face a looming crisis. ‘Efficiencies’ aren’t the answer

Sunday, January 14th, 2024

Neither domestic nor foreign students can afford a tuition increase, yet universities can’t make ends meet without more funding. Ontario student funding is already the lowest in the country… first and foremost, the Ford government needs to increase per-student funding to institutions by at least the 10 per cent its own panel recommended and prepare for more increases down the road.

Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »

Health care is the Ontario government’s job one. Shouldn’t they be better at it?

Thursday, December 7th, 2023

… this year’s reports on the health-care system are a reminder that spending less is not the same thing as spending well and that, in some cases at least, you need to spend more public money to fix important policy problems. Ontario may be training a record number of nurses, but if we want them to stay in this province, we’ll likely need to pay them more than we currently do — not least because Ontario currently pays nurses less than does any other province… for all the billions of dollars that the government taxes and spends to keep the system running

Tags: budget, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »

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Social Policy in Ontario