Going as far back as Justin Trudeau’s leadership election, he has consistently kept his major campaign planks close to the vest. Little tidbits, like the policy on marijuana, come out in carefully crafted morsels, but for the most part we are left guessing at what his first federal election campaign
Continue readingTag: seniors
Progressive Proselytizing: Justin Trudeau’s tax plan is good policy and great politics
Going as far back as Justin Trudeau’s leadership election, he has consistently kept his major campaign planks close to the vest. Little tidbits, like the policy on marijuana, come out in carefully crafted morsels, but for the most part we are left gues…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Seniors are not a good reason for doubling TFSA limit
After years of being promised whenever the federal books got balanced, it looks like the next Harper budget is indeed going to double the contribution for Tax Free Savings Accounts. This policy has long been criticized – including by me – for being a p…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Seniors are not a good reason for doubling TFSA limit
After years of being promised whenever the federal books got balanced, it looks like the next Harper budget is indeed going to double the contribution for Tax Free Savings Accounts. This policy has long been criticized – including by me – for being a policy that disproportionately provides advantages for
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Seniors are not a good reason for doubling TFSA limit
After years of being promised whenever the federal books got balanced, it looks like the next Harper budget is indeed going to double the contribution for Tax Free Savings Accounts. This policy has long been criticized – including by me – for being a policy that disproportionately provides advantages for
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Lawrence Ezrow writes that the disconnect between the public and policymaking that’s done so much harm to the U.S. isn’t quite as severe in more equal countries. And the Equality Trust is looking to ensure that the UK’s political parties make the
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Doubling Contributions To The Tax Free Savings Account: Even Nastier Than Income Splitting
The Harper government gives five reasons why Canadians ought to be happy with its proposal to double the maximum contribution to the Tax-Free Savings Account. Examine each of its points more closely, however, and it’s clear that the TFSA carries far higher risks than rewards — for individual Canadians as
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Shabby Treatment of Our Seniors
It was just a small story but it really bothered me. And it made me fear for this country's future.For just like I can't stand the way the brutish Harperite cult treats our veterans.I cannot countenance living in a Canada where our seniors are treated like this. For that's not
Continue readingLeft Over: November Is the Cruelest month…
Unable to find affordable housing, 82-year-old living in Victoria shelter SARAH PETRESCU / TIMES COLONIST OCTOBER 29, 2014 09:58 PM All I want is a room somewhere Far away from the cold night air With one enormous chair….. Ah, wouldn’t that be loverly? I have been indulging myself in creepy
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Superfoods for Super-Seniors and Their Caregivers
By Felicity Dryer Being a caregiver is usually not easy. You have to be emotionally, mentally and physically strong so that you can support those who require your care. Your food choices can both help you excel in your line of work, as well as be beneficial to keep in
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Community Mailbox Scandal and the Doctor’s Revolt
As you probably know, from now on in Harperland if you're old or disabled, or can't walk for miles or clamber over a snow drift to get to your ugly new community mailbox.If you want home delivery, you have to get a doctor's note.Not CONada Post says because they don't
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Why I Might Vote for the Liberals in the Ontario Election.
With just two days before the Ontario election, and still not having decided whether to vote for the NDP or the Liberals, I decided to check out the lawn signs on the island, which is part of Trinity-Spadina riding.And the results were no surprise. The island is still mostly orange, with
Continue readingLeft Over: Harper: The Working Class Can Kiss My….
Minimum wage in Canada: One woman’s story No fancy meals and no vacations: ‘I am working poor’ CBC News Posted: Jan 14, 2014 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 14, 2014 7:06 AM ET This is an article that could have been written forty-odd years ago, when I arrived
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: Still not listening to cities.
The Redford Conservatives may have changed Municipal Affairs ministers but they have not changed the way they’re engaging with cities. One of the key complaints of Nenshi and urban dwellers throughout Alberta is that our tax system is fundamentally flawed for cities. We have an outdated system of collecting taxes
Continue readingParliamANT Hill: Minister sorry for remarks about hungry children
Inspired by these headlines: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/james-moore-sorry-for-remarks-about-hungry-children-1.2465666 and http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ontario-to-go-it-alone-after-cpp-reform-stalls-1.2465619
Continue readingLeft Over: More Layoffs/Less Service? Happy Holidays!
Canada Post to phase out urban home mail delivery Up to 8,000 jobs will be cut, while cost of stamps is going up CBC News Posted: Dec 11, 2013 9:37 AM ET Last Updated: Dec 11, 2013 11:53 AM ET There is something the Feds find irresistible about throwing out some
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Con War on the Canada Pension Plan
It's my nightmare vision of a Con jungle. A country full of seniors living in poverty and misery. A country where the old and the poor have no present, and the young have no future.A nightmare that became even more real today, when the Cons killed an NDP proposal to expand
Continue readingLeft Over: ‘Trade Deal’ Sure Isn’t the “New Deal”
5 ways the Canada-EU trade deal will impact Canadians By Susana Mas, CBC News Posted: Oct 18, 2013 9:16 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 19, 2013 8:03 AM ET I trust Harper even less than I trusted Mulroney, and I didn’t trust him at all… Why is something so ‘momentous’ not
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Homelessness Policy
This afternoon, I gave a presentation on public policy responding to homelessness in Canada, with a focus on the past decade. I gave the presentation at this year’s annual conference of the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association. Points I made in the presentation include the following: -Once inflation is accounted for,
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: The Eyes Have It
This summer my mother was diagnosed with macular degeneration. There is no cure. It is irreversible. It simply progresses. Science has some hope for future cures, and has some treatments to slow the progress, but a cure likely won’t come soon enough for her. At 93, one expects that the
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