Indigenous « Social Policy in Ontario

Posts Tagged ‘Indigenous’

Job equity has old Tory roots

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Jul 24 2010
… the Bill of Rights attempted in 1960 [but] did almost nothing to right the wrongs of exclusion in employment. That’s why the landmark report of a royal commission headed by Rosie Abella (now a Supreme Court justice) argued persuasively that affirmative action was needed to redress the imbalances — with recruitment and targeting of under-represented groups. Do Day and Kenney cling to a 1960s-era view of “equality of opportunity,” or can they accept the present-day consensus for affirmative action, which has helped make the public service more reflective of the Canadians it serves?

Tags: disabilities, immigration, Indigenous, multiculturalism, rights
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »

Fresh thinking on native policy

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Jul. 22, 2010
Shawn Atleo… the charismatic young entrepreneur, who is National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), told his organization’s annual meeting in Winnipeg this week that it was time for Canada’s aboriginals to agree to a dismantling of the Indian Act and the federal Indian bureaucracy created in the Act’s image. It was time for greater independence. But then in the next breath, he called for new federal agencies that would ensure the provision of land, health care, education and other items promised in treaties.

Tags: Indigenous, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »

First Nations’ well-being gap getting worse

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

July 13, 2010
In a report quietly released recently, the federal government acknowledged that “there has been little or no progress” in overall community well- being among First Nation and Inuit communities since 2001… Among the bottom 100 Canadian communities, 96 were First Nations… there’s what Graham describes as the “curse of aid” — that large fiscal transfers to reserves have created dependency and fostered unaccountable governance… “If this isn’t the top issue of our social policy agenda, what is?”

Tags: Indigenous, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »

It’s time to focus on healing

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

July 9, 2010
The reconciliation acknowledges that tragic negligence and affirms that such things should never happen again. But its value has been questioned in some quarters. Enough is enough already… constantly revisiting incidents of abuse is like repeatedly picking a scab… It reignites anger slowly and distorts the healing process… Promotion of the negative through the past 20-some years has led many aboriginals to blame the residential schools for all of life’s hardships and miseries… our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we ultimately become.

Tags: Indigenous, participation
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »

Path to healing includes all Canadians

Friday, July 9th, 2010

July 8, 2010
By rebuilding our families, we will rebuild our communities. By rebuilding our communities, we will rebuild our nations. The healing of our families, our communities and our nations is an enormous task, and it is a task which only we can do for ourselves. No one can do it for us. But, without the truth of what happened being discussed by all Canadians, even if we must discuss such terms as “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing,” then the reconciliation required for proper healing will remain a distant and difficult goal.

Tags: Indigenous, participation
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »

G20 Girls: Sandy Lake a world away from G8 or G20 summits

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Jun 18 2010
Aboriginal girls face more gender discrimination than their non-aboriginal counterparts. With a lack of proper health care on many reserves, young women have less access to birth control, medical help during pregnancy and pediatric attention for their babies… one in four aboriginal adults lives in an overcrowded dwelling, and 5,486 of 88,485 houses on reserves do not have sewage… Nearly 70 per cent of on-reserve Indians will not finish high school.

Tags: housing, Indigenous, poverty, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »

Ontario’s Growing Gap: The Role of Race and Gender

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

June 15, 2010
A new analysis done by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives discusses sexism and racial discrimination in the Ontario labour market. The findings within the report demonstrate a striking difference between racialized and non-racialized Ontarians.

Tags: Indigenous, poverty, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »

Cheers to a century of better public health in Canada

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Jun. 16, 2010
While medical care has improved dramatically, the vast majority of those gains are due to pretty simple public health measures… The reality is that the economic and social conditions in which we live – income, housing, education, physical environment and support networks – ultimately have more impact on our health than genetics or lifestyle choices.

Tags: Health, Indigenous, standard of living
Posted in Health History, Health Policy Context | 1 Comment »

Natives to win HST concessions from Ottawa

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

Jun. 16, 2010
Until this month, Ottawa had ignored natives’ pleas for a provincewide point-of-sale exemption from the HST after it takes effect on July 1. But with native leaders set to plan protests that could include outright blockades, federal and provincial officials engaged in a frantic round of negotiations. Sources say that an 11th-hour deal to give aboriginals the exemption is now imminent…

Tags: Indigenous, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »

HST deal with Ontario First Nations nearly done