Posts Tagged ‘jurisdiction’

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Ford government’s budget shortfall soars to $9.8 billion as tax revenues plunge

Wednesday, March 27th, 2024

“… We are going to follow through on a plan that is working — knowing that the higher deficits, compared to what we projected last year, will be time-limited while the return on investment will be felt for decades.” … settlements with public servants after the government’s Bill 124 wage-cap legislation was found to be unconstitutional have added billions in additional costs to the treasury. Under Ford, the provincial debt has soared by $116 billion to $462.9 billion, the largest debt of any subnational jurisdiction in the world.

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Ontario budget gets failing grade from university professors

Wednesday, March 27th, 2024

“Universities are in a crisis that the province manufactured through chronic underfunding.” … OCUFA was glad to see an extension of a freeze on tuition fees for postsecondary students, but the government did not invest in universities for this lost revenue, expecting universities to continue to do much more with much less… $1.3 billion for Ontario’s colleges and universities over the next three years… is eight times less than… OCUFA’s recommendation for university funding to reach just the Canadian funding average.

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How government penny-pinching makes life harder for unhoused Ontarians

Tuesday, March 26th, 2024

In Ontario, if you lose your home, you get less social assistance than someone who has a home. The government cuts your benefits in half. Why punish people when we can help them get back on their feet? If it’s simply about saving money, surely the government can find lots of other ways to do that without ruining people’s lives… Social assistance should help people, not make their lives even harder.

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Can new approaches to medical curriculum solve the family doctor shortage?

Friday, March 22nd, 2024

Three new medical schools and an innovative family medicine program look to alleviate a crisis in primary care… Team-based or multidisciplinary care is… an approach that the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) wants provinces to adopt, and soon… While the new medical programs hold a lot of promise for alleviating the family doctor shortage… solving it entirely is a collective responsibility that extends to and beyond all medical schools in Canada.

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Under Doug Ford, Ontario’s tribunals are under severe attack

Thursday, March 21st, 2024

When Premier Doug Ford announced he wanted to appoint “like-minded” judges, critics were quick to condemn the assault on judicial independence. In contrast, a similar assault on the independence of adjudicative tribunals has flown almost entirely under the radar… In fact, connections to the Ford government or the federal Conservatives seems a much more valuable asset than experience or expertise.

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So, what expenditures should Canada cut to meet its NATO obligations?

Thursday, March 21st, 2024

About a quarter of all spending is transferred directly to Canadians, either through elderly benefits (Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement), Employment Insurance benefits and the Canada Child Benefit… Another 20 per cent of Ottawa’s spending is transferred directly to the provincial governments… Equalization payments account for about $24-billion… Interest payments on the debt account for another $47-billion… while Ottawa’s total spending is $500-billion, only $96-billion in operating spending is discretionary

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Expanded prescribing powers for nurses makes sense

Tuesday, March 12th, 2024

Expanding prescribing powers to nurses will not present the same kinds of concerns as expanding to pharmacists did. Nurses work in clinics that have privacy, and they lack potential financial conflicts of interest. Plus, they’re currently limited to very routine prescriptions, so the danger of a blown diagnosis is minimal… the goal is not leaving any to suffer for lack of access to a safe, proven treatment. And that is absolutely the status quo that already exists today for millions.

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Ontario needs to pony up more cash for colleges and universities

Friday, March 8th, 2024

A short-term, piecemeal funding plan won’t work. The Ford PCs won’t be able to solve decades of chronic post-secondary underfunding in a year or two or three. But they can begin the process of instituting stable, predictable, and sufficient funding… It’s the smart thing to do. It’s the right thing to do. And in the long run, the money the government invests in education today will return more than it’s worth.

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Pharma-Scare Tactics: Dispensing Garbage Takes

Tuesday, March 5th, 2024

There is nothing to prevent provinces from going above and beyond a federal program, there is nothing to prevent private plans from going above and beyond a federal program. The idea that increasing public funding to health care would somehow limit access to coverage is illogical and not borne out by the evidence.

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Beyond the cafeteria: The economic case for investing in school meals

Monday, March 4th, 2024

In the long-term, universal free school lunches can also improve children’s health, academic performance and subsequent economic outcomes throughout life…  Our new research summarizes the strong economic rationale for investing in school meal programs in Canada. Universal school meals can not only provide immediate relief to families, but also build a legacy of improved public health and economic prosperity for generations to come. 

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