October 27th, 2009 Andrew Cash
By Andrew Cash
A flash of deja vu hits me as i sit in the beautiful Victoria College Chapel at U of T on October 20 last week listening to the Council of Canadians’ Maude Barlow talk about free trade.
My first awareness of this human rights champion was during the great debate in the 80s over Canada’s free trade deal with the U.S. I can’t help feeling a little nostalgic for that simple time when the story was a bit clearer: you were either for or against closer ties with our huge neighbour to the south.
But Barlow and fellow panelist Sid Ryan tell the almost 200 people in attendance that while 20 years ago there were very few bilateral trade deals, there are now 2,600 around the world. Read the rest of this entry »
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October 22nd, 2009 Andrew Cash
Tories favouring Tory ridings with stimulus money! Should we be shocked? We should but alas we’re not. We should at least be able to trust that our government is disbursing our money in an even handed way across the country and directed where it’s needed most. Shouldn’t we…at the very least?
Reminds me of the black cats/ white cats Tommy Douglas riff.
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October 21st, 2009 Andrew Cash
The legacy of Reaganomics: historic deficits and mounting debt in the U.S.
Our Mulroney: the last year of the Mulroney reign Canada posted, a record deficit for its day of $42 billion
George W. Bush–stratospheric debt and deficits
Harper–debt and deficits as far as the eye can see.
But that doesn’t seem to worry the Reform/Conservatives who never see a tax dollar they don’t think can be used for partisan purposes. To wit, this piece which surfaced in the dailies at the top of the week. Seems those tight fisted fiscal fighters don’t bat an eye when they can drop 100k on a photo op though they could have announced their fiscal update for free in the House of Commons.
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October 20th, 2009 Andrew Cash
For a lot of folks that is a very good question. After this summer’s garbage strike in Toronto I heard many people grousing about unions. It’s understandable given that so few people in Toronto get any sick leave at all let alone 18 days…oh ya, and bankable ones at that. If you’re not in a union chances are you’re not so sure these days how a victory for unionized workers is a victory for all Canadians.
That’s why I love this little spoof–you laugh and you learn. We need more like this.
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October 20th, 2009 Andrew Cash
The tireless folks at The Stop have come up with a fairly chilling little on line tool called Do The Math that compares our ideas of what it costs to live with health and dignity in Toronto with what a person actually makes on minimum wage or receives on Ontario Works. It takes a few minutes to fill out the survey that asks you to estimate the various costs from shampoo to cable, food, rent etc that are incurred in an average month. I filled out the survey skimping on a number of things. For example I didn’t include any car costs and listed entertainment and recreation at $50 bucks a month which includes cable. My total was $1980 a month. If you want to get really basic and cut out the entertainment and recreation you’ve got it down to $1780. But, according to the site a person working 35 hours a week at minimum wage makes $1429. And that is the best case scenario for many folks. If you are a single person on Ontario Works you’re getting $572. If you are on Ontario Disability Benefits you are getting an income of $1429.
I urge everyone to go to the site and do the math. It is quite sobering.
Posted in All Blog Posts, General, Human Rights, Politics, Toronto | 1 Comment »
