Posts Tagged ‘budget’
In my next teacher-parent meeting, my focus will be the teacher. Here’s why
Tuesday, December 10th, 2024
Since Premier Doug Ford came to power in 2018, school board funding has dropped a stunning $1,500 per student, on average, when adjusted for inflation. The increase in class sizes and the introduction of mandatory online courses have resulted in the province having 5,000 fewer teachers than it would otherwise… With Ontario asking teachers to do more with less and blaming them for the shortfalls of underfunded schools, recruitment and retention will only become more challenging.
Tags: budget, disabilities, jurisdiction, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
Massive tobacco settlement at risk of being misused
Tuesday, December 10th, 2024
The settlement provides financial restitution to class-action claimants and allocates funds to a vaguely defined research foundation. But where are the funds for front-line solutions? … To ensure [meaningful change], provinces must direct funds toward lung health programs, tax all nicotine products, close gaps in vaping regulation, and institute ongoing cost-recovery fees… ensuring that the funds are allocated where they’re needed most: to education, prevention, and treatment programs that advance lung health.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Canada’s international student crisis was predicted — and ignored
Tuesday, December 10th, 2024
These are days of doom and gloom at Ontario’s universities and colleges. You don’t have to have a PhD to know why… provinces outside Ontario provide universities an average of $20,772 per full-time student. Ontario coughs up $11,471. To catch up — that is to be just average — would require spending another $7 billion a year. Ontario has responded by promising $1.3 billion over three years.
Tags: budget, housing, ideology, immigration, jurisdiction
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Stream of election gimmicks and promises will violate our human rights obligations
Friday, November 29th, 2024
All of these proposals rely on borrowing money so it can be sent to many people who don’t need it… Meanwhile, homelessness, food insecurity, and poverty are on the rise, and this comes with both immediate and long-term costs. Governments would be wise to invest every extra dollar they have in proven solutions, such as a stronger income security system and non-market housing sector… our governments [are] obligated to steer our society toward the fulfillment of everyone’s human rights…
Tags: budget, disabilities, poverty, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Doug Ford needs to follow the evidence on supervised consumption
Thursday, November 28th, 2024
… harm reduction doesn’t simply prevent overdoses and infectious diseases; it eases pressure on Emergency Response Services and our crowded ER’s… all residents deserve to live in peace and security… However, community safety is not a zero-sum game. It is possible to keep our neighbourhoods safe and clean while implementing comprehensive treatment services that save lives — even if it means moving those services to more appropriate locations and improving the way we deliver them.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | 1 Comment »
Don’t have private insurance? You’re still paying for others who do — you deserve better care
Saturday, November 23rd, 2024
Health care in Canada is universal for only two things, doctors and hospitals. For everything else, from psychology to prescription drugs, care depends on your private insurance or ability to pay… public subsidization occurs through an income tax exemption. Specifically, on an employer’s contribution to private health insurance premiums… What if instead, $4 billion of public subsidies to private insurance were used to support universal pharmacare, beyond diabetes and contraceptive care?
Tags: budget, featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Is paying out-of-pocket for medically necessary care allowed? Doctors and nurses say patients need to know now
Wednesday, November 20th, 2024
… Canada has seen a rise of for-profit medical care in which patients pay out-of-pocket to access primary care through private clinics, virtual platforms or nurse practitioners, who are not covered by provincial health plans… the Canada Health Act’s silence regarding non-physician health-care providers creates a loophole “that certain health-care providers and their clinics are taking advantage of, knowing there is no legal consequence or risk of getting shut down.”
Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction, privatization
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
New Report Finds Record Increases in Child Poverty Rates in Ontario
Wednesday, November 20th, 2024
“For six years and counting, the provincial government has kept the Ontario Works rates frozen, despite record high cost of living and a 20% increase in the prices of goods and services since 2018”… The report card lays out an evidence-based, inclusive and achievable path toward ending child and family poverty in Ontario. It offers over 20 recommendations that would address gaps in income security, child care, child welfare, youth mental health, housing, food security, and decent work.
Tags: budget, featured, jurisdiction, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Why can’t we die at home? Expanding home care could reduce the financial and environmental cost of dying in hospital
Wednesday, November 20th, 2024
Primary-care teams can act as informal managers of home care through facilitating the medical, social and comfort components of care. All of this would still add up to far less than the financial and environmental cost of hospitalization. At a time when we’re pressured to cut costs and reduce harm to the environment, and when we know dying patients would rather be at home, why can’t we help?
Tags: budget, Health, Home Care, ideology, jurisdiction
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
OCUFA, Laurentian and the First (and Last) CCAA Proceeding in the University Sector
Saturday, November 16th, 2024
Laurentian University’s programs, courses, and professors were terminated without regard to their academic contribution to the University, nor with any regard to the community that the University serves. Rather, a simplistic comparison between revenues and costs was used to justify the termination of programs such as physics, geography, political science, math and philosophy… created and mandated to offer postsecondary educational opportunities to Ontario’s francophone, northern, and Indigenous communities, it was precisely these programs that bore the brunt of the cuts…
Tags: budget, ideology, Indigenous, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Education History | No Comments »