Posts Tagged ‘privatization’
With big bonuses, Air Canada gives us all a $10-million slap in the face
Friday, June 4th, 2021
The airline disclosed… that it gave the bonuses last December to executives and managers “for exceptional performance” over the past year as air travel plunged during the pandemic… What surely leaves Canadians flabbergasted and furious is that this is not one firm making one bad decision… Freeland should… find a way to withhold public funding for Air Canada until the airline rescinds bonuses that stand as a $10-million insult to the country.
Tags: budget, ideology, privatization
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Governments paid billions to help develop COVID-19 vaccines — so why is Big Pharma charging us billions more for the vaccines we helped create?
Thursday, June 3rd, 2021
If we think of war profiteers as being lower than a snake’s belly, what are we to make of the drug industry’s pandemic profiteers? … Canada, like other government funders in this global crisis, is not expecting to recover its costs in funding COVID-related medicine… governments that fund research that is used in lucrative commercial drug production must demand a return on their investment.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, Health, pharmaceutical, privatization
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Beware Economists Bearing Policy Paradigms
Tuesday, May 25th, 2021
The ideas dominant since the 1980s – variously called the Washington Consensus, market fundamentalism, or neoliberalism – originally gained traction because of the perceived failures of Keynesianism and excessive government regulation. But they took on a life of their own and produced highly financialized, unequal, and unstable economies that were unequipped to cope with today’s most significant challenges: climate change, social inclusion, and disruptive new technologies.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, poverty, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in History | No Comments »
All in this together? Greedy CEOs and corporations abuse our trust
Tuesday, May 11th, 2021
… many top Canadian CEOs saw their compensation soar in pandemic year 2020… Companies that got CEWS money when they didn’t really need it may well have followed the rules as they were written. But the government shouldn’t simply ignore abuse. It should call out companies, especially big ones, that violated the spirit of the program. It should see if any of those millions that went to companies that didn’t need them can be recovered. And it should tighten the rules for the remainder of the life of the program.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, privatization
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Free speech is not at risk by supporting changes to the Broadcasting Act
Tuesday, May 11th, 2021
… the outcry over Bill C-10 is being sustained by people whose ultimate goal is to kill the entire idea of Canadian cultural policy in the internet age. Yet, these self-styled martyrs for democracy are pushing fringe views that run counter to the values and preferences of the overwhelming majority of Canadians, who support sensible updates to Canada’s main media law… Conservative voters are among the most likely to believe that Facebook weakens Canadian democracy…
Tags: economy, ideology, privatization, rights, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Throwing money at Big Pharma won’t guarantee vaccine supply
Thursday, April 8th, 2021
Now we’re poised to give Sanofi hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in the hope of ensuring a future vaccine supply… If we really want a biotech company we can rely on and that doesn’t hold a gun to our head, we should spend our money creating an enterprise that we actually own and control – a little secret learned by Cuba and, decades earlier, by the brilliant Canadians who created Connaught.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, Health, ideology, pharmaceutical, privatization
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Tax Index 2021: Line by line break-up of who’s paying and dodging taxes
Wednesday, March 24th, 2021
Canada’s top 20 billionaires made $37 billion during the pandemic, while thousands lost jobs and took pay cuts… Canada’s income gap is at its widest since the 1980s and upward income mobility has significantly reduced for most of us… A 1% tax on wealth over $20 million would raise $10 billion in the first year alone.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Compulsory licensing would allow Ottawa to authorize generic copies of the COVID-19 vaccines
Friday, February 5th, 2021
compulsory licensing would eliminate the need for constant negotiation. The government would make its decision and that would be that. The drug giants would be furious. Pfizer and Moderna might refuse to honour their pledges. They might cut back promised shipments of the vaccine.
But they are doing that anyway. And the government has been unable to use the usual methods of contract compliance to stop them. Compulsory licensing provides government with a workable alternative…
Tags: budget, globalization, Health, pharmaceutical, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
The problem with profits: As Ontario’s long-term-care homes stagger under a COVID death toll of more than 3,000, some say it’s time to shut down for-profit homes for good
Monday, February 1st, 2021
The for-profit sector isn’t one sector. It never has been, really. Instead, it’s a wild mix of large chains, family-run companies and a new breed of equity-backed turnaround projects targeted for hefty returns. The risk now, as Ontario locks in new 30-year deals with private operators for new homes… Ontario could end up creating a system that’s even worse than the one we had before.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization, Seniors, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Ending private long-term care would be an expensive mistake
Monday, February 1st, 2021
Rather than wasting money in buying back licences, we should be investing those funds in urgently redeveloping older homes, increasing home inspections, providing higher wages for more full-time providers and increasing hours of care. We should also be investing in home-care that keeps seniors independent rather than requiring admission to LTC.
Tags: Health, housing, ideology, multiculturalism, privatization, Seniors, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
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