Posts Tagged ‘budget’

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Ottawa commits billions to help people hit by the economic fallout of COVID-19

Saturday, March 14th, 2020

The federal government will open the spending taps to throw an economic lifeline to Canadians and businesses as the spread of COVID-19 exacts a growing financial toll, from empty restaurants and theatres to a gutted travel sector… Friday’s rate cut and the government’s promise of aggressive stimulus spending underscores how quickly the crisis is moving and how seriously federal officials view the threat to the economy.

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Shut it down: It’s time for Canada to get serious about social distancing

Thursday, March 12th, 2020

Canada needs to embrace social distancing… early implementation [of six social-distancing measures during past flu pandemics] delayed the peak in the number of infections, relieving the burden on health-care systems by spreading out the cases over a longer period of time… we can’t afford to become Italy, a country that was slow to act and is now paying a massive price, with more than 10,000 cases, 600 deaths and a collapsing economy.

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Ontario sets up locations for COVID-19 assessment centres and postpones public health cuts

Thursday, March 12th, 2020

This move “recognizes the considerable time and resources necessary for public health units to effectively respond to COVID-19”… Parts of Ontariot serviced by the assessment centres will be served by hospital emergency wards. The province is also boosting resources for Telehealth Ontario, which has seen high call volumes and long waits as people call in with questions about the new coronavirus.

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Sanders’ ‘Medicare for all’ plan isn’t Canadian-style. It’s much more radical

Tuesday, March 10th, 2020

Total health-care spending here in 2019 was $264.4 billion. The public share was about $184 billion. A Sanderian-style approach would thus bring about $80 billion in annual private spending — namely, private insurance and out-of-pocket spending — on to government balance sheets… Medicare for all may be a popular slogan among left-wing activists in the U.S, but it… goes far beyond the public insurance model in Canada and elsewhere…

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On mental health, words come easily. Action less so

Sunday, March 8th, 2020

It’s been almost exactly 10 years… since a select committee report on mental health titled “Navigating the Journey to Wellness: The Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Plan for Ontarians” was issued… Chief among the committee’s eventual recommendations… was creation of Mental Health and Addictions Ontario, an umbrella organization to ensure that a single body was responsible for designing, managing and co-ordinating the system, as well as a “core basket of services in all regions” and “access to a system of navigators.”

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AFB meet GND: What role might the Alternative Federal Budget play in fleshing out the details of a Green New Deal for Canada?

Friday, March 6th, 2020

Advocates need a clear and practical agenda to make the most of this opportunity without sacrificing either environmental or social prerogatives. The AFB can help in this respect.  Adopting all the AFB 2020 actions would mark an important shift in government policy-making and put the Canadian economy on more inclusive and sustainable foundations. It would do so without significantly adding to Canada’s debt at a time when public debt is truly the least of our problems.

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Cabinet approves $240M Mohawk settlement for 132-year-old land claim

Friday, March 6th, 2020

In 2015, the federal government offered a global settlement of just under $240 million in compensation and offered to give the community the right to have up to 18,282 acres of land added to the Akwesasne reserve, if the First Nation buys parcels on the open market. A referendum was held in December 2018… and 80 per cent of those who participated voted in favour… once they receive the money, the Mohawks of Akwesasne effectively renounce their claim to disputed land and confirm that the 1888 surrender was valid.

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Tories to inject $2 million in new funding for rape crisis centres — one day after signalling $1 million had been cut

Friday, March 6th, 2020

In an apparent communications snafu from Ford’s Tories, the centres are in fact getting a cash infusion from Queen’s Park… The confusion apparently stems from the fact that the government is planning a new strategy to curb human trafficking expected to be announced Friday… Still, last year’s one-time $1-million funding announcement by the Tories was far less than the $14 million over three years the centres had been promised by the previous Liberal government.

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Don’t Listen to Big Pharma Lobbyists: Universal Pharmacare Would Be Good for Workers and Good for Business

Thursday, March 5th, 2020

… the average Canadian employer providing drug coverage would save $750 per year per employee under universal pharmacare… a universal pharmacare plan could save Canadian businesses as much as $14 billion annually because such a plan “would eliminate much of the cost of health-care plans that business owners pay to cover employees.” … “employers, free from soaring premiums, could pay employees better or reinvest in their businesses.” … [and] save Canadians $4.2 billion in annual prescription costs.

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Ontario Increases Support for Indigenous Postsecondary Education

Wednesday, March 4th, 2020

Ontario is… investing in Indigenous students and their potential with increased funding to Indigenous Institutes to provide postsecondary education and training for hundreds of learners… “Indigenous Institutes are a critical part of our public education system because they provide a culturally holistic learning environment that prepares learners for success in the workforce… “Indigenous Institutes play a significant role in serving the learners, communities and regional areas in which they operate”

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