« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Adequate federal transfers can help reduce poverty across the country
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
July 21, 2011
… poverty eradication is a highly effective cost-containment strategy. Simply put: Adequate transfers equals reduced poverty; equals better health for all… It appears that the federal government is considering bilateral agreements with individual provinces and territories instead of maintaining the Canada-wide approach of previous agreements. We urge the premiers to collaborate and secure adequate, predictable, accountable and sustained federal transfers of funds that are a priority for all of us in Canada.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Socialized medicine is good for B.C. business
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
May 4, 2011
… according to international research, B.C. is a better choice for enterprise than Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other commercial centres, in part because of its public health care system. Yet in the past decade, it has been B.C.’s chief rivals such as Ontario that have capitalized on medicare. Ontario’s economic development agency highlights how the province’s health care system reduces operating costs… Even with its current challenges, “socialized medicine” proves to be far more cost-efficient and reliable and provides better quality care than private, for-profit health care.
Tags: economy, globalization, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Legal system is a lousy alternative to intervention for addicts
Sunday, March 27th, 2011
March 26, 2011
Two new U.S. studies suggest special drug courts are far less effective than thought at combating addiction, reducing case backlogs and lowering the number of low-level, nonviolent offenders in jail…. Drug courts were meant to decrease the number of people in prison for drug offences, help addicts kick their habits and improve public safety. By helping non-violent offenders overcome their addictions and improve their social stability, the court programs hoped to reduce the criminal behaviour associated with substance abuse while eliminating backlogs. Nice in theory, but not in practice.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, Health, ideology, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Business on board for homeless plan
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
October 8, 2010
The social safety net that once kept the bottom from falling out from under the most poor and vulnerable Canadians is shredding. Homelessness is one of the most visible ways we see this. Solutions cost money and housing is particularly expensive -as anyone who makes a capital investment in property knows all too well. But homelessness is even more expensive. Over the past two decades, Canadians have been living and paying for the ever increasing cost of our collective failure to keep up the public investment in affordable housing.
Tags: crime prevention, Health, homelessness, housing, ideology
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Moving up — way up — the value chain
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
September 7, 2010
In the bad old days when people were sent to poorhouses for falling on hard times, there was a job called “picking oakum.” … Picking oakum is an extreme example, but it highlights the need for economic strategies that go beyond simply promoting more value-added activity… we need to fully understand that “making things” will not keep Canada prosperous… The good jobs of tomorrow and the industries where we have a chance to develop a comparative advantage are largely at the upper end of the value chain.
Tags: economy, globalization, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Targeted prevention key to helping crack users
Friday, August 20th, 2010
July 26, 2010
The study found that participants were at a “crucially elevated risk” of health problems in part due to unstable housing, illegal incomes and frequent run-ins with the law. Participants often had both physical and mental health problems and crack use tended to happen along with other legal and illegal substance use. These users also had HIV and hepatitis C rates similar to primary injection-drug users and many users with hepatitis C didn’t know they were infected.
Tags: crime prevention, Health, mental Health
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
How Canada can cash in on the U.S. economic malaise
Saturday, July 31st, 2010
July 30, 2010
Non-financial institutions in the United States have almost $2 trillion US in cash on their balance sheets but have no desire to invest there. Luring some of that money to Canada will help further modernize our economy, create jobs, generate more tax revenue and raise our standard of living. This window of opportunity won’t be open for long, so Ottawa and the provinces should launch a major marketing effort now to turn American apprehension into economic gain for Canada. What does Canada have to sell to those holding the $2-trillion US purse strings?
Tags: economy, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Decriminalize drugs, urge B.C. groups ahead of AIDS conference
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
June 28, 2010
Dr. Evan Wood, an author of the declaration and the founder of the Centre for Science in Drug Policy, said the paper urges political leaders to put ideology aside and treat drug-use as a public-health crisis rather than a law enforcement issue… Wood said HIV rates increase as intravenous drug users are literally forced into the shadows, where they are increasingly difficult to reach with public-health education and social services… “but, if we deal with this as a health issue, like we have with alcohol and tobacco, maybe we can have an impact on this problem.”
Tags: crime prevention, Health, ideology
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Supporting human rights is good business
Monday, June 28th, 2010
June 24, 2010
A decade ago, few companies saw human rights as relevant to their operations, let alone had made a public commitment to respect them. I saw this begin to change during my term as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights… Today, we are getting closer to a tipping point when private sector leaders from all industry sectors will recognize that their companies need to engage proactively with human rights issues and demonstrate they are doing so in practice.
Tags: rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
One-parent family poverty drops by half
Monday, June 28th, 2010
June 24, 2010
A decade and a half of welfare-to-work policies — some offering carrots and some dependent on big sticks — have dramatically reduced poverty among single-parent families in Canada. The percentage of single families who live in what’s considered to be poverty is down to less than half of what it was, says a new study by SFU public policy professor John Richards. But what’s been accomplished so far is the easy part, Richards cautions. Dealing now with those one-parent families who remain poor will be tougher.
Tags: participation, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Recent Comments