Posts Tagged ‘ideology’

« Older Entries |

How come it takes a right-wing convoy for courts to uphold law and order?

Friday, August 14th, 2026

“Protesters intimidate, harass and exclude others, while claiming their Charter right to ‘free expression and peaceful assembly’ prevents police from laying charges. To date, various police forces have tacitly agreed, limiting charges to actual physical violence or threats. Lax enforcement has emboldened protesters, leading to groups marching in residential neighbourhoods, chanting hateful rhetoric.”

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Governance Policy Context | 2 Comments »


Carney government restores some health coverage it had cut for refugees

Sunday, August 9th, 2026

“The July 2026 update is expected to impact a very small proportion of current IFHP beneficiaries and will largely maintain the approximately $200 million in projected annual savings associated with the May 2026 program changes, while better aligning coverage for these select services with how they’re typically delivered through publicly funded provincial and territorial health care systems”… “When we ensure that everyone has access to the care that they need, we build healthier communities, and that’s what actually makes Canada strong.”

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Health Debates | 1 Comment »


Who were the Luddites? Their legacy ripples through politics, cultural commentary and literature

Thursday, August 6th, 2026

Along with the political radicals and the labour campaigners over the course of the 19th century, they took part in a prolonged struggle waged for rights, dignity and justice. That struggle partially succeeded, forcing the ruling classes to compromise rather than continuing to rely on brute force.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in History | 20 Comments »


Which country is richer, Canada or the U.S.? If median wealth is the measure, it’s Canada

Thursday, July 30th, 2026

The danger in the unfavourable Canada-U.S. comparisons is the distorting effect they can have on political decisions about economic strategy. Those run the gamut from irresponsible tax cuts to privatization of public services to extravagant spending on infrastructure projects — all meant in part to address the gap between rich and poor by increasing personal disposable income… “Public policy should focus on measures that truly effect our well-being, like real median income, fairness and quality of life.”

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Policy Context | 12 Comments »


Carney government makes long-awaited move to restrict social media access for children

Friday, June 12th, 2026

The Carney Liberals have introduced a revamped online harms bill that would restrict access to social media for those under 16, make AI chatbots safer, and impose new rules on digital platforms… The bill does not lay out what those safeguards must be, but suggests that some of the criteria platforms must meet could include special accounts designed for children, parental controls, and other unspecified design features… measures to reduce the addictive nature of social media and deploying safe search settings.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | 16 Comments »


Debt by design: OSAP and the political economy of student aid in Canada

Tuesday, May 26th, 2026

… students in Ontario are being asked to shoulder a growing share of the cost of post-secondary education. While these changes may appear exceptional, they are not. Instead, they reflect a broader transformation in how post-secondary education is funded across Canada, where the costs have steadily shifted from the public to the individual… restoring OSAP alone will not make post-secondary education truly affordable. That requires a broader commitment to public investment, and in turn, that means raising the province’s revenue.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Education Policy Context | 125 Comments »


Doug Ford cited abuse of OSAP as one reason for its overhaul. Here’s what new data actually shows

Sunday, May 17th, 2026

“They’re using these allegations as a way to justify gutting the financial assistance”… “What students are seeing is a government using a very limited number of cases to rationalize broader austerity measures in post-secondary education. The impact of these decisions are being felt by ordinary students who are now expected to graduate with deeper debt in a province where employment is not guaranteed.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Education Policy Context | 17 Comments »


New Ontario water and sanitation law could pave the way for the financialization of public water

Wednesday, May 13th, 2026

Whether the WCA leads to outright privatization, its proposed reforms are consistent with an insidious global push to make municipal water and sanitation systems more amenable to private investment. This essentially transforms them into tradeable assets.  This process, known as financialization, would erode the public health and social mandate of public water infrastructure, undermining the capacity of communities to cope with growing ecological and financial stresses.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Governance Policy Context | 30 Comments »


Toronto will host the world’s investors this fall. But will any investment end up in health care, education or transit?

Wednesday, May 6th, 2026

What’s most disappointing about the prevailing preoccupation with making Canada an industrial and energy superpower is that this vision of Canada’s future ignores necessary investments in social goods — namely, health care, education, affordable housing and public transit. All of those are essential to Canada’s future prosperity. And all are underfunded… Striving for greater industrial sovereignty is a worthwhile ambition. But it can’t come at the expense of social investments that underpin Canadians’ well-being.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Governance Debates | 23 Comments »


To improve literacy, Ontario should invest in students and educators

Friday, May 1st, 2026

Even when screening tools are efficient and well-designed, teachers often lack the time, class-size conditions and specialist support needed to respond meaningfully to the results… Ontario stands at a familiar crossroads: keep reaching for solutions that are quick to purchase and easy to measure, or do the harder work of building lasting public capacity… [through] smaller primary classes, restored specialist support, rich early language environments and teacher education grounded in deep literacy expertise.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Education Debates | 1 Comment »


« Older Entries |