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Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links

Apr

16

2018

Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Tom Parkin discusses the Libs’ identity politics – and how they endanger people’s substantive interests both in what the Libs fail to do, and in the predictable reaction from right-wing populists: For Liberals, identity politics is a distraction from economic policies that are very hard on many people. ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Apr

15

2018

Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Nick Falvo offers a useful summary of the federal-provincial framework on housing – including its lack of any specific mention of homelessness and supportive housing among other deficiencies. – Meanwhile, Justin McElroy reports on the Horgan government’s plan to ensure more rights for tenants, including by applying significant ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Apr

8

2018

This and that for your Sunday reading. – Michael Savage discusses new projections showing that the luckiest 1% could control two-thirds of the world’s wealth in a little more than a decade: World leaders are being warned that the continued accumulation of wealth at the top will fuel growing distrust and anger over the coming ...

Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Evening Links

Apr

4

2018

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andre Picard writes about the unjustifiable limitations and inconsistencies in Canada’s health care system: Break your leg and the X-ray and cast will be covered, but you will need to pay for the crutches. Break your jaw and it will be wired at no cost; break your teeth ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Apr

3

2018

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Amy Remeikis reports on new research showing how educational inequality translates into an even wider economic gap. – Hannah Johnston and Chris Land-Kazlauskas examine (PDF) the gig economy and the need for workers to be able to organize around it. But Rebecca Moss discusses another of Donald ...

THE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: A Couple of Things on My Mind

Mar

30

2018

Happy Easter and Chag Sameach (Happy Passover) everyone! I’ve been writing quite a bit recently – here’s what’s been on my mind. 1) Can we still be caregivers if our loved ones move into assisted living or long-term care facilities? Can we still ‘be a family’ if our loved one lives in an institutional setting? Here’s what ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Mar

27

2018

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – James Wallace calls out the Ontario Libs’ track record of consistent cuts to health care and other vital public services (with the exception of election-year promotional items). And Tom Parkin contrasts that pattern against Rachel Notley’s protection of public services from the cuts threatened by her competitors. ...

wmtc: in ontario election, the choice is clear. put down the polls and pick up your vote.

Mar

26

2018

I am very frustrated by progressive reaction to the appointment of Doug Ford as leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. People are acting as if Ford has already won an election that is three months away. I understand there is great — and well deserved — anger against Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal party. But are ...

wmtc: from the 2018 cupe ontario library workers conference: libraries and the opioid crisis

Mar

25

2018

I recently attended the CUPE Ontario Library Workers Conference, which has become a highlight of my year since I first attended (and was elected to the organizing committee) in 2015. It has eclipsed and replaced the OLA Superconference as the most relevant and enjoyable must-attend conference in my schedule. When I first got my librarian ...

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

Mar

22

2018

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Dylan Walsh interviews Jeffrey Pfeffer about his book Dying for a Paycheck, and the ways in which employer demands make people worse off: Has this connection always been there, or has there been an evolution in workplace culture that got us to this point? I think the ...

Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Evening Links

Mar

21

2018

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andre Picard notes that contrary to our self-image, Canada actually lags behind international peers in health and social spending. And PressProgress points out the same conclusion in new OECD research. – Andrew Mitrovica writes that Doug Ford’s ascendancy in Ontario politics suggests that Canada is catching the Trump ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Ten proposals from the 2018 Alternative Federal Budget

Feb

24

2018

I’ve written a blog post about this year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB). Points raised in the blog post include the following: -This year’s AFB would create 470,000 (full-time equivalent) jobs in its first year alone. By year 2 of the plan, 600,000 new (full-time equivalent) jobs will exist. -This year’s AFB will also bring in ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Panel discussion at federal NDP policy convention

Feb

18

2018

Yesterday I spoke on a panel discussion on economic inequality, along with Andrew Jackson and Armine Yalnizyan. We were guests at the federal NDP’s policy convention in Ottawa. The panel was moderated by Guy Caron. Topics covered included the minimum wage, basic income, affordable housing, the future of jobs, gender budgeting, poverty among seniors, Canadian ...

Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links

Jan

27

2018

Assorted content for your weekend reading. – David McGrane writes about Jack Layton’s five great fights – and how they continue to provide an essential framework for social democrats. – Rupert Neate reports on London’s “ghost towers”, which include tens of thousands of high-end homes sitting empty in a city facing a severe housing crisis. ...

THE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: DO FAMILIES BELONG IN HEALTH CARE?

Jan

22

2018

If you have ever been in the same room with your loved one and a health care professional, you’ll know that it’s disorienting. I say that because it’s like going to the principal’s office, or having a business meeting when what you really want to do is have tea and a fire in the grate ...

A Puff of Absurdity: The Long Wait – A Bandaid for the Emergency Room Crisis

Jan

8

2018

This is just an off-the-cuff comment, but enduring a long wait in a crowded, infection-ridden emergency room just once should be enough to spur people into action – or at least into innovation. At the time of my first extended wait, I asked a nurse if I could just take a number or somehow find ...

Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Evening Links

Dec

30

2017

Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Brian Bethune interviews Joseph Stiglitz about his longstanding recognition that an international economic system biased toward capital could lay the groundwork for Trump-style demagoguery. – Kristin Annable reports on the Manitoba PCs’ steps toward for-profit health care as an alternative to properly funding and managing the public system. ...

Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links

Dec

16

2017

This and that for your weekend reading. – Larry Elliott suggests we shouldn’t be duped into thinking that policy biased in favour of the corporate sector is a necessity rather than a choice. And John Falzon notes that inequality too is the product of political decisions rather than an inevitability, while Facundo Alvaredo, Lucas Chancel, ...

My journey with AIDS…and more!: Pill relief

Dec

13

2017

I’m awaiting delivery of my next two weeks’ worth of medications with a major change in the blister packs. Gone will be Norvir, Prezista, Truvada and Nevirapine, all taken twice a day, and they’re being replaced with ONE pill, Genvoya, ONCE a day containing 4 new-to-me drugs in combination. What a relief, other pills continuing ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Nov

12

2017

This and that for your Sunday reading. – Gabriel Zucman discusses how the wealthy currently avoid paying their fair share of taxes – and how to stop them by properly attributing income and ensuring registers of wealth. And Micah White is optimistic that the public response to the Paradise Papers may be to develop lasting ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Nov

7

2017

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Wanda Wyporska writes that increasing inequality is the main factor behind public distrust and discontent with our politics: Rising inequality is not inevitable, it is largely a result of the political and economic decisions taken by governments. This is clear from the varying levels of inequality in ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Nov

5

2017

This and that for your Sunday reading. – Andre Picard argues that Bernie Sanders’ trip to highlight Canada’s health care system shouldn’t be taken as an indication we lack plenty of room for improvement. And Margot Sanger-Katz writes that Sanders indeed learned lessons about the holes in our health coverage. – David Suzuki discusses the ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Oct

31

2017

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Ashifa Kassam writes about the elements of Canada’s health care system which call for ambitious improvement rather than imitation: “I think privatisation is a major threat to public health care in Canada,” said Natalie Mehra of the Ontario Health Coalition. Earlier this year, her organisation released a ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Oct

22

2017

This and that for your Sunday reading. – Richard Hill wonders whether neoliberalism is approaching its end, while noting the dangers of allowing progressive themes to be used to prop up elitist power structures. And Heather Boushey interviews Kimberly Clausing about the opportunity to raise revenue and reduce inequality by properly taxing corporations, while Marshall ...

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

Oct

19

2017

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Peter Whoriskey examines how inequality is becoming increasingly pronounced among U.S. seniors. And Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson discuss how inequality contributes to entrenching social divisions: The toll which inequality exacts from the vast majority of society is one of the most important limitations on the quality of life – particularly ...