The tangled web of disability governance and policy in Canada At a recent Senate committee hearing on the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) and the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP), the father of a child with autism made a heart-felt plea and a chilling statement: “We are impacted by the inability to secure our son’s future. […]
We can’t afford to ignore this Provincial Ministers of Health and Ministers of Finance seek to “bend the health care cost curve” but year after year, provincial budgets bend the cost curve in the wrong direction, adding billions of dollars to provincial health spending. In fact, we’ve doubled spending on our medical treatment system in […]
When I was an economics student many years ago, the last living student of John Maynard Keynes and noted economist Joan Robinson gave a lecture to a packed hall. During the question period, one smart aleck student asked, “Why should anyone study economics?” After a prolonged pause, her answer was simple, “So you know when […]
Fix the RDSP and close the poverty gap of Canadians with disabilities Canada’s Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is the first poverty-fighting tool for people with disabilities in the world. This remarkable example of federal/provincial/territorial cooperation, which was created in 2008, has already changed the lives of more than 150,000 Canadians with disabilities. Unfortunately, […]
A basic income guarantee has been back in the news a lot lately, thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Elon Musk and other tech giants who have been publicly endorsing the concept. But it’s not just talk in Canada. Ontario is piloting a basic income across three cities, Quebec has brought in a basic income […]
Once-In-A-Generation tax reform is not an effective path to fairness. It would be better to invest in ongoing, regular analysis of all major tax provisions. Michael Wolfson Canada Research Chair in population health modeling/populomics, University of Ottawa, joins Calgary Today to share more. Interview on Calgary Today with Angela Kokott, 770 CHQR Radio, Global News
A version of this commentary appeared in the Toronto Star, Winnipeg Free Press and the Huffington Post As the snow begins to fall and the mercury begins to drop, Health Canada has found itself in some hot water. The trouble has been years in the making — since at least 2013. That was when Canadian Plasma […]
“Medicare,” provides public funding for all medically necessary hospital and physician services.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) recently published a report outlining the expected costs and benefits of a possible National Pharmacare Program – and it’s pretty good news for most Canadians. The pharmacare program that was assessed was one proposed by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health in 2016. This committee provided the program’s […]
More resources in the community and better training for emergency services are needed Canadians routinely complain about the long wait times at hospital emergency rooms across the country — and health policy experts have long flagged the high costs associated with emergency services and the impact it has on the finances of our publicly funded […]
