Posts Tagged ‘featured’

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Appointment of new Governor General demonstrates the difference between symbols and tokenism

Wednesday, July 14th, 2021

The fact that we now have an Indigenous woman in the highest position in Canada, which before this week was inconceivable, suggests that Canadian society may be ready for change… We will no longer be window dressing, invited to functions as decorations to set the stage for the authority in the room. An Indigenous person will now be the authority in the room, representing Canada and all that we stand for to the never-ending stream of dignitaries and leaders.

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Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »


Canada’s citizenship study guide for newcomers is getting an ‘unvarnished’ makeover. Here’s how it’s evolved — from 1947 to today

Monday, June 28th, 2021

… in the wake of the recent revelations of hundreds of unmarked graves being found at the site of former residential schools in Kamloops, B.C., and Marieval, Sask., the federal government now says it expects to roll out… a more “honest” portrait of the country’s past and present… the guide will include a section outlining the government’s attempts to compel Indigenous Peoples to adopt European customs through policies “designed to end Indigenous ways of life, languages and spiritual beliefs.”

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Posted in Equality History | No Comments »


Life stabilization on a welfare income is impossible

Thursday, June 24th, 2021

… people’s lives cannot be stabilized without increasing social assistance rates. While they slowly starve, recipients will be required to “participate in prescribed employment and life stabilization assistance activities.”  But there is no clear plan to show how local service delivery agents will be able to co-ordinate life stabilization services that are notoriously in short supply, such as affordable housing, counselling and mental health services. And adding names to years-long waiting lists does not stabilize anything. In fact, it can have the opposite effect.

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Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »


The success of CERB is proof a universal basic income is doable and beneficial

Thursday, June 24th, 2021

A UBI is a government payment that tops up family income so that it modestly exceeds the poverty line, or low-income threshold. As households are able to generate more income on their own, UBI payments are scaled back and eventually discontinued.  A UBI holds promise as our most powerful tool in eradicating poverty and solving the crisis of income inequality. 

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Making UN Declaration law shows Canada’s commitment to Indigenous people

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021

Bill C-15 requires regular public reporting on progress and accountability measures developed in collaboration with Indigenous peoples. Importantly, the implementation of the declaration is in line with the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice.

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Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »


Five former mayors of Toronto on why it is time for the city to decriminalize simple drug possession

Saturday, June 19th, 2021

As the death toll mounts, in Toronto and elsewhere in Canada, it is crystal clear that the criminalization of drug use has been a costly public policy mistake that must be remedied. Criminalization is costing human lives at a merciless pace. Racialized minorities and the poor are disproportionately arrested, convicted and incarcerated for possession. And taxpayers pay the costly policing, courts and corrections bills.

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Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »


Governments paid billions to help develop COVID-19 vaccines — so why is Big Pharma charging us billions more for the vaccines we helped create?

Thursday, June 3rd, 2021

If we think of war profiteers as being lower than a snake’s belly, what are we to make of the drug industry’s pandemic profiteers? … Canada, like other government funders in this global crisis, is not expecting to recover its costs in funding COVID-related medicine…  governments that fund research that is used in lucrative commercial drug production must demand a return on their investment. 

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The Care Economy Statement

Tuesday, May 25th, 2021

This statement… is a call to recognize that good care is crucial to our health and well-being as individuals and as a society; it is the critical social infrastructure that delivers overall economic stability and growth; and it is a shared responsibility, not just a personal one. This requires a shift from thinking of care as an expenditure to understanding it as an economic driver through investment in people and good jobs.

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Beware Economists Bearing Policy Paradigms

Tuesday, May 25th, 2021

The ideas dominant since the 1980s – variously called the Washington Consensus, market fundamentalism, or neoliberalism – originally gained traction because of the perceived failures of Keynesianism and excessive government regulation. But they took on a life of their own and produced highly financialized, unequal, and unstable economies that were unequipped to cope with today’s most significant challenges: climate change, social inclusion, and disruptive new technologies.

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Posted in History | No Comments »


Child care is an integral part of our post-pandemic recovery. Let’s go big and act now

Monday, May 24th, 2021

Provinces will need to meet two tests of credibility in response to the federal offer. The first is one of commitment… because previous efforts haven’t built an accessible system, new commitments need to be significant… The other test is one of detail, of viability. Does the plan actually build up a high-quality, accessible child-care system in the province, led by well-trained and well-paid workers?

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Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »


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