Posts Tagged ‘budget’
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Millions of Canadians are now collecting a state-funded income. But what happens after the pandemic ends?
Saturday, April 18th, 2020
The advent of UBI in its pure form is unlikely. It has its champions today as never before, but UBI is likely to fade as the pandemic does. To start, the federal finance ministry, no fan of UBI, prefers to create targeted rather than universal programs. And never mind the streamlined efficiency of universal programs like Medicare… the issue isn’t affordability. It’s culture. People either embrace or reject paying the freight for ensuring that everyone has a decent, dignified way of life.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Ontario seeks more information from Ottawa on how to treat CERB for people on social assistance
Friday, April 17th, 2020
… until the province determines how to treat the CERB, case workers have been told not to record the income in Ontario’s computerized benefits system, where the extra cash may trigger automatic clawbacks and even termination of benefits, including drug and medical coverage… A coalition of more than 130 health-care workers, community agencies and Ontarians living in poverty … [are] urging Queen’s Park to boost social assistance rates and not to claw back the CERB from those on OW and ODSP.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Canada’s senior-care crisis has been long in the works
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
As a country, we need to rethink how we approach long-term care from top to bottom. And we don’t have a lot of time to do it. A 2017 Conference Board study estimated that, to meet demand, Canada needs to nearly double the number of long-term care beds available to about 450,000 by 2035. We can’t afford to do it on the cheap.
Tags: budget, disabilities, economy, Health, housing, jurisdiction, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Doug Ford didn’t protect long-term-care facilities from COVID-19. Neither did the rest of us
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
We could and should hold the current government to account — for falling behind the rest of Canada on testing, for lagging on nursing-home care, for fobbing off responsibility on to public health officials. But there is enough blame to go around — for politicians past and present, public servants and the public… Our premier has put his best face forward in recent weeks, but he still has much to answer for.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical, poverty
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
COVID-19 has exposed decades of elder neglect. Here’s how we can start to fix it
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
it is painfully obvious that we, as citizens, failed to speak up for Canada’s seniors at budget time, election -time, indeed most of the time. But in midcrisis, the imperative is to fix what we can and to vow not to let the long-term sector fall off the radar screen again, when this pandemic has passed.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Ottawa to the provinces: Don’t claw back CERB for workers on social assistance
Tuesday, April 14th, 2020
“Our government believes the CERB needs to be considered exempt by provinces and territories in the same way as the Canada Child Benefit to ensure vulnerable Canadians do not fall behind” The statement comes as some Ontarians on social assistance who have lost their poverty-level jobs are receiving as much as $3,500 in CERB payments to cover wages lost in March and April… While Ontario considers what to do, the B.C. government on April 2 exempted EI and CERB from social assistance clawbacks…
Tags: budget, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | 2 Comments »
COVID-19’s impact: not recession, but a completely different economics
Saturday, April 11th, 2020
… sectors hit first like education and child care, retail, personal services and restaurants [are] more female-dominated… They are paid less, are more likely to have part-time or temporary work, and are less likely to have or be able to enforce protections like sick leave and sick pay… the service sector’s gender-skew challenges governments to improve existing income supports to prevent desperate and counter-productive economic survival plans.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, women
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Let’s think big about what a post-pandemic Canada looks like – and let’s do it now
Friday, April 10th, 2020
How do we prepare our health-care system for the next epidemic? How do we make social welfare more comprehensive and compassionate? Do we do this by revisiting the idea of a guaranteed annual income? … Yes, it will cost money. We will incur huge deficits. But as Bob Rae and Mel Cappe wrote, “We are all Keynesians now.” … National commissions are not new to us… who should lead this national commission on recovery? Why, Mark Carney, of course.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Could the CERB program lead Canada toward offering a universal basic income?
Friday, April 10th, 2020
… it will be difficult for the government to phase out policy changes introduced with the CERB: a guaranteed minimum payment for all recipients, the inclusion of gig economy and other contract workers, and no regional variation in qualifying for payments… Right now, it’s clear that the millions of Canadians who have lost work are victims of circumstance and need help… [but] This is a suspension of the usual moral judgment that those not working have brought their fates on themselves… creating a political barrier to a universal basic income.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Universal livable basic income in times of crisis and beyond
Thursday, April 9th, 2020
Universal livable basic income could be distributed and taxed back where total incomes warrant, using the current tax system. This is one of the most simple and effective ways of distributing funds to those in need… It would allow us to build on already existing government infrastructure rather than creating additional programs to administer… Universal livable basic income can reduce financial inequality and help vulnerable people secure safe and healthy accommodation in their everyday lives and during times of crisis.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
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