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  • Governance Debates

    The culture war has been won, so now we fight about words

    posted November 11, 2018 / No Comments

    The long-running fight over language – in which the words and phrases of the ideologically earnest are rejected as “politically correct” – is being mistaken for some larger and more irreconcilable battle over underlying ideas and beliefs. Those who are truly intolerant and opposed to pluralism – those who think social justice is not just an awkward phrase but a bad idea – are a small and declining group. But that group is manipulating language conflicts to their political advantage.

  • Health Debates

    On safe injection sites, why can’t conservatives just let people not die?

    posted November 10, 2018 / No Comments

    Once conservatives get past the ideological hurdle of harm reduction, they ought to be impressed by its simplicity: Two volunteers in a tent with a bunch of naloxone kits and $200 in supplies from any pharmacy can provide the most basic service, which is ensuring that people do not die

  • Child & Family Policy Context

    CMHA Ontario welcomes implementation of Police Records Check Reform Act

    posted November 9, 2018 / No Comments

    … police are not permitted to disclose non-conviction mental health records, including those that stem from apprehensions under the Mental Health Act… non-conviction mental health records will no longer appear on police record checks… People have been turned down for volunteer work, jobs, school placements and cross-border travel because authorities shared non-conviction records and personal mental health information showed up on police record checks.

  • Policy Context

    OCUFA submits recommendations on Bill 47, calls for reinstatement of fair labour laws

    posted November 8, 2018 / No Comments

    Rolling back equal pay, options for consolidating bargaining units, fairer rules for joining unions, and other basic rights represent a major step backwards in efforts to address precarious work across the province… Workers on university campuses and in communities across the province are counting on these modest but important labour law improvements to support themselves and their families

  • Social Security Policy Context

    New federal law creates official definition of poverty line

    posted November 7, 2018 / No Comments

    The six-page bill sets targets of reducing poverty to 20 per cent below 2015 levels by 2020 and 50 per cent below 2015 levels by 2030. The target is based on a measure that lists 4.2 million Canadians as low income in 2015. Until now, discussions of poverty reduction have focused on three different ways of measuring poverty. Tuesday’s bill selects one of those – the market-basket measure – as Canada’s official poverty line… A third element of the legislation creates a national advisory council on poverty.

  • Inclusion Debates

    Don’t ignore Steve Bannon, Trump’s political philosopher

    posted November 7, 2018 / No Comments

    The moral capitalism that rebuilt the world after the Second World War has been replaced by new forms unlinked to the foundations of Judeo-Christian belief. These new forms include state capitalism, where rewards are siphoned off by a small elite. They also include a strain of brutal libertarian capitalism that treats people as mere commodities. The new right populism is a reaction to this. It is a revolt of the middle and working classes against what Bannon calls the “administrative state.”

  • Child & Family Delivery System

    Fixing solitary isn’t enough. Canada’s prisons need to be reformed top to bottom

    posted November 7, 2018 / No Comments

    … progress on the issue of reducing solitary confinement is halting at best, in spite of heightened public attention… the broader question of getting Canada’s prison system back on its intended course – that is, rehabilitating convicted criminals and preparing them for their eventual and in most cases inevitable release – has not been addressed. The overuse of solitary confinement is, in fact, a symptom of a larger problem.

  • Health Policy Context

    Ontario should stop stalling on making payments to doctors public

    posted November 6, 2018 / No Comments

    … it is so alarming that months after taking office the Ford government has yet to enact regulations that would bring into force the Health Sector Transparency Act passed by the previous Liberal government. It should quit stalling. The legislation would compel drug companies and those that manufacture medical devices to publicly report cash payments, free dinners, trips and other benefits they dole out to doctors, dentists and pharmacists.

  • Health Policy Context

    How do we balance rights in cases of medically assisted dying?

    posted November 6, 2018 / No Comments

    Catholic health-care facilities must recognize the vulnerabilities and full health-care needs of its diverse patient population. That means providing complete, compassionate and dignified end-of-life care, including MAID, especially when dealing with patients grappling with intolerable circumstances and imminent mortality.

  • Equality Debates

    The problem with #MeToo? The backlash

    posted November 6, 2018 / 1 Comment

    There is something disconcerting about the #MeToo movement… It’s the backlash. More specifically, it’s the assumption that women raising their voices are undermining the integrity of the justice system. In fact, it often is the opposite… The #MeToo movement isn’t about abandoning justice. It is about saying: Pay attention. We are here. It’s time to take sexual assault and harassment seriously. The legal system must be about more than just law: It must be about justice for all.

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