Posts Tagged ‘poverty’

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Before COVID-19, inequity in healthcare was, in effect, a pandemic for Black communities. Here are five issues that need to be addressed

Friday, February 5th, 2021

“Race is not the determinant of health. Racism is”…it’s more to do with systemic barriers that make these illnesses more likely, such as disproportionate stress and lack of access to nutritious food… Dealing with small, daily instances of racism can overtime lead to poorer health outcomes… “This stress, whether it is daily stress or overt … can result in illness”… rates of under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed mental illness in the Black community, have “shocked” [Marshall]

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All-Party Anti-Poverty Caucus Advances Guaranteed Livable Income as Part of Economic Recovery for All

Sunday, January 31st, 2021

This week, the All-Party Anti-Poverty Caucus joined together, across the country and across the aisles of both chambers, to consider how to move forward toward Economic Recovery for All. Central to discussions was the common commitment to moving forward with guaranteed livable income, in coming budgets and other parliamentary and intergovernmental initiatives.

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Food banks don’t reduce food insecurity, so why did the federal government give them $200 million in emergency aid?

Wednesday, January 27th, 2021

… the emergency food sector… “started quite innocently and very thoughtfully and from a very caring and compassionate place, but … it has zero impact on the overall problem.” … their respective annual reports repeatedly call for policy changesto reduce poverty, from raising social assistance rates to implementing universal child care… While food charities can play a meaningful role in building community… it’s more important than ever to be clear that they’re not the answer.

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The audacity of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream

Monday, January 18th, 2021

Ending poverty… will be much harder than ending segregation, he correctly predicted. After all, “it didn’t cost the nation anything to integrate lunch counters,” but “it will cost the nation billions of dollars to get rid of poverty.” … King appealed for a national policy of full employment, a guaranteed income and a massive investment in affordable housing… Indeed, America has never shown a commitment to “genuine equality,” he said.

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CERB controversy should spur basic income development

Tuesday, January 12th, 2021

Political leaders have the opportunity of a lifetime in 2021, and Canada has the brains, capacity, and experience it takes, to create a legacy of income security for all that is comparable to universal health care. Basic income will get us a faster, more inclusive recovery and lasting progress toward a healthier, happier society for everyone.

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How a Basic Income Plan Could Save Lives in a Pandemic

Monday, January 11th, 2021

“Basic income doesn’t require empathy so much as recognition that we’re all interdependent.” “It matters what my neighbours are doing and what they can afford to do,” said Forget. “In some ways that’s very obvious when we talk about health. But somehow we don’t think that’s the case when we talk about economics.” … “it’s inevitable that we will end in a basic income in Canada.”

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National child-care plan would accelerate post-COVID recovery

Sunday, January 3rd, 2021

… while most of the initiative and fiscal support for national ELCC is coming from Ottawa, provincial governments would benefit enormously from the new system. Provincial GDP would grow, tens of thousands of jobs would be created, and provincial revenues would grow by $8-14 billion per year… In the wake of COVID-19, Canada needs the economic benefits of high-quality, universal ELCC more urgently than ever. Investing in a national plan is an economic “no-brainer” that will pay for itself.

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A broader vision of public health

Thursday, December 31st, 2020

Lying beneath the weakening of public health practice, which one can think of as the tip of the iceberg, is an erosion of these deeper values and priorities… [collectivity / social justice / upstream thinking] … The erosion manifests as cuts to the public sector, solutions packaged in individualized terms, and a deepening political polarization that erodes societal assets such as trust. 

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Our priorities must be with our most vulnerable

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020

A “colour-blind approach” to the pandemic will not suffice, especially when reports show racialized minorities suffered from higher poverty rates prior to 2020, and now experience even stronger challenges to making ends meet… [Yet] the Ontario COVID-specific contingency funds have increased to $12 billion… [and] “the Province may end the fiscal year with outstanding balances… [using remaining funds to] “reduce both the budget deficit and Ontario’s net debt.”

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The Ford government says it’s committed to poverty reduction. That’s hard to believe

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020

… this is the government that killed the planned rise to $15 in the minimum wage as soon as it was elected. It also rolled back two-paid sick days for all workers, equal pay for exploited temporary agency workers and other measures to protect precarious workers from being misclassified and stripped of their labour rights… The government cut funding for specialized school programs that provided after-school jobs for needy teens, classroom tutors and supports for racialized youth, calling it “wasteful spending.” … Soon after coming to power in 2018, the government also cut in half a planned 3-per-cent increase to social assistance.

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