Posts Tagged ‘privatization’
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Whose ‘Independent Thought’ Is Andrew Coyne Plugging?
Neoliberal think-tanks — Fraser Institute, Frontier Centre for Public Policy, Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, and Montreal Economic Institute — have pushed these ideas for years. The ideas moved onto the policy agenda after Harper gained control of Parliament… Aurea has given over a million dollars a year to the Fraser Institute and its allies to promote ideas like eliminating supply management, introducing private ownership on First Nation reserves, instituting right to work, and privatizing government programs and services like highways and bridges.
Tags: economy, ideology, privatization, rights
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Socialist rhetoric vs. economic logic
There is a reflexive tendency on the liberal left to condemn inequality as inherently immoral… to assume that wealth is the fruit of illegitimate power and/or refusal to pay your “fair share”… inequality-phobes retreat into “studies” that suggest that inequality somehow breeds crime, lowers life expectancy, and destroys social cohesion… Thus base envy, market demonization and power lust are elevated as moral principles
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Stephen Harper and the knowledge economy: perfect strangers
… by the broadest measure of expenditure on research and development, Canada has fallen from 16th out of 41 comparable countries in the year Stephen Harper became prime minister, to 23rd in 2011… Canada is letting its science advantage fritter away, as if that could somehow help its private-sector R&D gap close… The government has known, since its first year in office, that the private sector is not doing enough applied research. Its response has been to put the brakes on pure research in universities.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, privatization
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Resource development offers opportunity for Aboriginal communities
First, First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities are ready to participate in collaborative activities. Second, Canada already has a significant number of examples of practical and effective partnerships with Aboriginal communities… commercialization already is showing real dividends… Given their newly recognized legal and political power and authority, however, Aboriginal people can and will be a powerful obstacle to any development that does not respect their interests, their histories and their cultures.
Tags: economy, Indigenous, participation, poverty, privatization, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Social impact bonds have a downside
… people with the most serious problems being turned away… [is] inevitable when public services intended to provide a safety net for everyone are turned into for-profit enterprises… Social impact bonds also add new costs to social services… When we turn services for the most vulnerable into profit-making ventures, we are saying it is acceptable to profit from the suffering of others. That goes completely against the core Canadian values of fairness, empathy and collective responsibility.
Tags: economy, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Inclusion Policy Context | No Comments »
New research council mandate shows Conservative’s hostility to free market
To understand what governments should or should not do in the economy, you have first to understand what markets can and cannot do. Governments, that is, should do what markets cannot. They should not try to do what markets can. This is a matter of scarce resources, if nothing else: the more government spends in areas where it is not needed, the less it will have left to spend in areas where it is essential. As a maxim, government should only do what only government can do.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, privatization
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
More transparency needed in federal contracting
A study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in 2011 raised concerns about soaring costs driven by a “shadow public service” of consultants, contractors and temporary workers. All the more reason, then, for the federal Treasury Board Secretariat to take a tougher approach with balky federal departments and turn disclosure “guidelines” that contract details be made public into a formal requirement.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, privatization, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Research council’s makeover leaves Canadian industry setting the agenda
“Our businesses are not doing the research that they need to do… So something had to be done.” The move is in keeping with the Conservative government’s emphasis on a business model for public policy, such as tying foreign aid to economic development. It is also another significant foray into the science file, with critics saying the new approach is shortsighted and may shut the door on vast areas of promising fundamental research.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, privatization
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Private money, public programs? There will always be strings
It’s not a bad thing to help move recipients off welfare. But it is incorrect to assume that paid work alone will improve their lives. There needs to be a range of associated reforms, including health and dental care, improved earnings supplements and lower income taxes for these households. Any initiative supported by social impact bonds must take into account the broader context and, where possible, incorporate related reforms.
Tags: ideology, participation, poverty, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Millions in taxpayer-funded consulting work kept secret
The Star analyzed about 34,000 management consulting jobs awarded by the federal government since 2004, when it began requiring agencies to post all of their contracts over $10,000. Federal departments and agencies are required to offer only the slimmest of details in disclosing the contracts they doled out. In the majority of cases, agencies only post the vendor’s name, a reference number, the dates affiliated with the contract, the amount spent and a bare, generic explanation of the kind of work done — for example, management consulting or temporary help services.
Tags: budget, ideology, participation, privatization, rights
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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