Posts Tagged ‘budget’

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The real challenge is to expand medicare, not just save it

Sunday, September 13th, 2020

While Canadians sing the praises of public care, they actually spend close to a third of their health-care dollars in the private sector — on things like prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, physiotherapy and home care… The job now isn’t just to protect medicare as it is against efforts to chip away at it, but to extend public coverage into other areas. A comprehensive pharmacare program should top the list

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The landmark Charter challenge over private health-care wasn’t about what you thought it was

Sunday, September 13th, 2020

the heart of the plaintiffs’ argument… If governments are to impose a monopoly over the funding of health care, they have an obligation to see that it is provided in a timely fashion… User fees and private insurance may not be the answer to wait times, but it is not impossible that the system could be reformed in such a way as to make more efficient use of resources, without harm to the principle of universal public funding.

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With the pandemic war still on, can we afford a postpandemic Throne Speech?

Thursday, September 10th, 2020

Team Trudeau’s original 2015 idea of using that extra borrowing to pay for a temporary surge in long-term investment fell by the wayside. There’s a strong hint it might be revived later this month. Would that make sense? The only fair answer is: It depends on what the money is being spent on… If it’s permanent, how will it be paid for?

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The Liberals seem to think they have abolished scarcity. Let’s hope they’re right

Saturday, September 5th, 2020

There was widespread public consent earlier this year to the proposal that the economy should be put into a coma, to prevent the spread of a deadly disease… Spending hundreds of billions of dollars in borrowed money to keep the lights on in the midst of a once-a-century pandemic made sense. Borrowing billions more to fulfill every Liberal dream, political or ideological, does not.

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Tinkering with EI leaves the core problems unresolved

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020

Like the Guaranteed Income Supplement for Canadian residents over the age of 65, which tops up anyone with a monthly income of less than $1,500, we have the capacity to protect those between ages 18 and 64 from living in or falling into poverty, working poor or otherwise. Tinkering at the edges or succumbing to the chimera of evasive incrementalism will solve none of the fundamental problems that were starkly revealed by the pandemic.

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A just recovery

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020

… a basic income standard for the unemployed and people receiving social and disability assistance… [would improve]… their standard of living, their hope and trust in the future would grow, and their ability to participate… would increase… we need a basic services guarantee that helps every Canadian secure affordable housing, nutritious food, pharmacare, dental care, mental health care, and specialized support for people with complex needs.

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Trudeau’s using our moment of crisis to reinvent our economy. That’s exciting

Saturday, August 29th, 2020

The Liberals are not proposing radical change. Every advance they will propose is an expansion or acceleration of existing Canadian priorities and practices… The timing is right. Interest rates are at a historic low. The government’s cost of borrowing to pay for pandemic relief, a permanently stronger social safety net, and seed capital for tech-oriented startups with export potential is therefore manageable.

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Online classes will impoverish the university experience for students

Tuesday, August 25th, 2020

Students come to university because they want to change: to become something or someone they are not yet. This transformation involves looking at the world in a new way and interacting with people who have a variety of world views and experiences. This is so much harder to accomplish virtually than face-to-face. Online education is effective for a small set of students: those who are highly motivated, mature, and who already possess considerable experience learning online. Most undergraduates do not fall into this category.

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How COVID-19 kicked virtual medicine into high gear

Tuesday, August 25th, 2020

“I have been involved in virtual medicine for many years. I thought it would be adopted quickly. I was very wrong. But then, almost overnight, it’s become mainstream. Soon it will just be part of our health system. They won’t call it virtual health care — it will just be health care.”

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Healing on the land for our people and our economy

Monday, August 24th, 2020

Investing in First Nations’ stewardship can help the country heal — from the pandemic, from the threat of climate change, from the loss of biodiversity and from the scars of colonialism… Guardians programs connected to Indigenous Protected and Conservation Areas stimulate additional investments and contributions to communities… Guardian-run wellness programs build resilience across generations.

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