Time to call out the media for uncritically reprinting 'Fraser Facts'

Claims by the market-fundamentalist Fraser Institute widely rebroadcast by mainstream media that private health insurance in the United States costs less than the Canadian taxes required to support public health care are false and omit important data that would have dramatically changed the calculation.

The news story published across Canada on Sept. 20 without balance or reaction also fudges facts, such as the typical Canadian family's size and income, to come up with a misleadingly high estimate of more than $11,000 for what Canadian families pay each year in taxes for public health care.

Of course, as CUPE economist Toby Sanger observed in an excellent Sept. 25 post on the Progressive Economics Forum, "this is all completely false, as anyone who actually takes the time to read the seven-page report and do some very basic on-line research can easily find."

Toronto’s Mayor Ford rejects road tolls, increasing taxes to fund transit

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford won’t say how the city will fund transit expansion, rejecting out of hand many of the revenue-raising options proposed by a senior bureaucrat.

In a radio interview Wednesday morning, the mayor, who ran on a platform of fiscal conservatism, was asked about options presented this week by City Manager Joe Pennachetti. He specifically dismissed road tolls or increases to income, sales, property or fuel taxes.

Students lengthen walkout to two days

About 35 students at Winona Drive Senior Public School refused to attend class for two days — longer than most student rallies — to oppose the fact their teachers have stopped coaching sports to protest the province’s unpopular wage freeze law that curbs teachers’ bargaining rights.

While most were expected to return to class Wednesday, “we’re hoping to try to do something more organized next week to show we don’t like being kids caught in the middle,” said Talia Duarte, 13, a Grade 8 student at the school near St. Clair Ave. and Oakwood Ave. Friend Sarah Kuburi, 12, said “we should get our extracurriculars back if other schools still have them.”

Ontario immigration strategy calls for more power to pick newcomers

Ontario needs to attract at least 135,000 newcomers a year, raise the ratio of skilled workers and take charge of immigrant selection to keep its economic engine running beyond 2014, says a government-appointed panel.

The findings of the expert panel will be presented to provincial Immigration Minister Charles Sousa on Wednesday, seven months after it was appointed to tackle declining immigration to the province, skill shortages and the falling economic performance of newcomers.

Baird lectures largely empty UN General Assembly hall

After what Globe and Mail columnist Doug Saunders described as the failure of prime minister Stephen Harper’s “two-year, multibillion-dollar, all-hands-on-deck bid” for a seat on the United Nations Security Council, Harper’s foreign minister John Baird lectured a largely-empty UN General Assembly hall yesterday saying, “The United Nations must spend less time looking at itself, and more time focused on the problems that demand its attention. …You measure results by measuring the results. Not by weighing best efforts. Not by counting good intentions. Not by calculating inputs.”

Sounding like a shopper dissatisfied with a purchase, Baird reminded the General Assembly that Canada is the 7th largest contributor to the UN budget.

The Harper government - which abstained at the historic UN General Assembly vote on the recognition of the human right to water and sanitation and which only belatedly signed on to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - will have its human rights record evaluated through the UN’s ‘Universal Periodic Review’ process taking place April 22 to May 3 in Geneva.

Original Article
Source: canadians.org
Author: Brent Patterson

Paul Krugman: Plan To Avoid Fiscal Cliff A 'Betrayal To The Electorate'

President Obama is leading Mitt Romney in the polls, but even if he wins in November, he’ll soon face another daunting problem: The fiscal cliff.

To avoid the series of tax hikes and spending cuts that are set to take effect in the new year, Congress will need to agree on a plan shortly after the elections and the one they may favor could put President Obama in a tight spot, according to Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.

Paul Ryan: 30 Percent 'Want Welfare State,' 70 Percent 'Want The American Dream'

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, share a similarly dim view of a very large portion of Americans, according to previously unreported remarks by Ryan. Both believe that many of their fellow citizens are dependent on government and have no motivation to improve their lives -- but they disagree over the precise number.

Romney's estimate, famously, is 47 percent. For Ryan, it's 30 percent.

"Seventy percent of Americans want the American dream. They believe in the American idea. Only 30 percent want the welfare state," Ryan said. "Before too long, we could become a society where the net majority of Americans are takers, not makers." (It's not definitively clear whether Ryan said "the welfare state" or "their welfare state." HuffPost originally transcribed it as "their welfare state." Regardless, the comment was made in reference to people on government assistance.)

Target Canada Hiring: 'Welcome To Amazing' Training Script Leaked On Gossip Site

Target Canada has started hiring for the first of its new stores set to open in the spring of 2013, but those thinking of applying for a job may want to take a look at what appear to be Target employee training materials obtained by Gawker.

According to a Target insider who leaked the documents to Gawker, the discount retail chain is running a training seminar called “Welcome to Amazing” (which Gawker describes as “hilariously childish”) that will teach employees to give customers a particularly satisfying in-store experience.

Montreal Mayor Criticized Amid Funding Allegations

Stunning allegations at the Charbonneau commission have stirred up a wave of criticism for Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay, this time from his fellow mayor in Quebec City.

Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume said he doesn't see how Gérald Tremblay can continue to run the city while he's being swarmed with allegations of corruption made at the Charbonneau commission.

XL Foods Recall: E. Coli Results In Biggest Beef Recall In Canadian History

The recall plaguing Alberta's XL Foods, and that has been tied to E. coli cases in the province, is now the biggest beef recall in Canadian history.

The fourth recall in as many days on Tuesday is taking the breadth and scale of the Alberta beef recall to even higher levels.