Posts Tagged ‘ideology’
Pharmacare and Access to Medicines in Canada: Is Bill C-64 a Step in the Right Direction?
Friday, November 8th, 2024
After years of change and advancement in healthcare for Canadian citizens, Bill C-64 still might fall short of providing at adequately and fairly providing pharmacare in Canada… because of the vague language of the bill and because of the unrelentless lobbying of commercial stakeholders, these first steps can very well end up even further entrenching the current inefficient, inequitable and wasteful mishmash of drug plans that has characterized Canadian drug coverage since the 1960s.
Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health History | No Comments »
How to quell the sharp rise in youth violence in Canada
Friday, November 8th, 2024
Major risk factors for violence include limited access to economic opportunities, family instability and neighbourhood disadvantage. Without interventions that address these risks, vulnerable youth and adults are more likely to engage in criminal behaviour or reoffend. A key vital component of violence prevention is trauma-informed case management… community-based programs… can more holistically support the needs of youth leading to better choices and coping mechanisms.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, ideology, mental Health, multiculturalism, poverty, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | 1 Comment »
What’s behind Canada’s housing crisis?
Wednesday, November 6th, 2024
Canada had a strong housing welfare system in the 1960s and 1970s, but this changed in 1993 when the federal government stopped funding social housing programs. It shifted toward a commodified system that emphasized individual responsibility… This shift was driven by two neoliberal beliefs. The first is that the private market is the most efficient way to provide housing… The second belief is that homeownership promotes autonomy and reduces reliance on governments by building property assets, although the reality defies this belief.
Tags: economy, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
The rise and fall of co-op housing in Ontario
Tuesday, November 5th, 2024
Toward the end of the last century, the construction of co-operative housing — and social housing more broadly — garnered substantial federal and provincial investments: thousands of co-operative units were built every year for a span of nearly three decades. But a nexus of political, economic, and social factors in the late 1990s ground the breakneck pace of construction to a crawl. Today, units in co-operative buildings are coveted by those looking for affordable-housing options in an increasingly unaffordable market.
Tags: economy, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization, rights, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario cannot allow a few for-profit child care owners to run roughshod over the $10-a-day child care plan
Monday, October 28th, 2024
The problem with [the cheque-in-the-mail approach or as they like to put it “fund the families directly” with a government tax credit or voucher] as a child-care plan is it’s one that works for for-profit child care owners — and absolutely nobody else. It doesn’t lower parents’ fees. Its value is almost immediately swallowed up when owners raise their fees (and then raise them again). It doesn’t improve wages for hard-working educators. It doesn’t build new child-care spaces… we must not let a small group of owners put their private interests ahead of those of our children, families and communities.
Tags: child care, featured, ideology, participation, privatization
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
The Nurse Practitioner Answer to the Primary Care Crisis
Sunday, October 27th, 2024
Another factor [to explain Canadians’ seemingly sudden disenchantment with their healthcare system]may be the reluctance of provincial governments to undertake major institutional reforms. Since the 1990s, when serious budget deficits necessitated action, most provinces have been reluctant to provoke opposition from powerful interest groups, in particular physicians’ associations… As a result of this opposition, some NPs are underemployed in rural and remote communities or underutilized in urban hospitals…
Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Why it is urgent that Ontario share health data with Ottawa
Sunday, October 27th, 2024
… every province and territory closely guard their residents’ health from the federal public health agency to varying degrees, but what’s done in the name of protecting individual privacy comes at the cost of blinding the Public Health Agency of Canada to a fuller understanding of the health of Canadians… Timely and accurate data inform sound public health policies. Their absence does the opposite, including leaving risk management to the most vulnerable.
Tags: Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, rights
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario taxpayers fork over $4.3 million to settle legal costs in Bill 124 cases
Wednesday, October 16th, 2024
In a 2-1 decision earlier this year, the Appeal Court struck down the law, saying it infringed on workers’ Charter rights. The province accepted defeat and, soon after, repealed the law in its entirety… The province has so far paid out $6.7 billion for retroactive pay increases to broader public-sector workers after the law was struck down. Taxpayers would have been on the hook for those salary bumps either way, but the additional legal costs were a waste of money, leaders of the opposition parties said.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Fully Indexing Ontario Social Assistance is Long Overdue
Monday, October 7th, 2024
October 1 was the six-year anniversary of the last inflation adjustment for Ontario’s social assistance payments. Their real value has steadily eroded ever since, made worse by inflation’s recent return… The lack of indexation of Ontario social assistance benefit levels has eroded the value of these benefits significantly and contributed to rising homelessness, hunger, and demand for social and health services. It is time to introduce a more economically efficient and fairer way of adjusting these benefits on a regular basis.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
What’s behind Canada’s housing crisis? Experts break down the different factors at play
Friday, October 4th, 2024
The market is most likely to respond to the housing needs of those with strong purchasing power, leaving behind low and moderate income families whose housing needs cannot generate effective market demand. The consequence is growing housing inequality, with many low-income families trapped in precarious living conditions… De-commodifying and de-financializing housing is key. This means expanding community housing, prioritizing community-based solutions and ensuring long-term security for all.
Tags: economy, homelessness, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization
Posted in Debates | No Comments »