Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s decision last fall to put the retailing of cannabis in the hands of the private sector was a good one. The province recently held a lottery to determine who would operate as a cannabis retailer.
The use of a lottery, as opposed to an auction or a “preferred suppliers” rule, to allocate retail outlets can be defended on two grounds. One is that the government did not wish to give excessive retail power to existing cannabis interests with deep pockets, or to other retailers such as Walmart or a pharmacy chain. An auction would likely have resulted in a concentration of retail power akin to the concentration of production power that exists at present. That concentration of production power already places…
EI eligibility requirements need to be reconsidered with part-timers in mind - Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Canada’s unemployment rate remained at its lowest recorded level at the end of 2018, but it does not reveal the whole story. Although a low unemployment rate points to a strong labour market performance, it masks variations among the provinces.
The jobless rate in Atlantic Canada, for example, is significantly higher than the national rate, but the majority of unemployed persons reside in Ontario, where access to unemployment benefits is more limited because of eligibility criteria. More balanced Employment Insurance (EI) eligibility – both regionally and toward workers in non-standard jobs – would better recognize the labour market reality in Ontario.
With no month-over-month change, the national unemployment rate in…
Ontario Premier Doug Ford uses the term “hallway medicine” to describe the overcrowding in hospitals, with patients languishing outside for want of beds. The image creates a potent picture of people needlessly suffering because of an ill-organized and poorly funded non-system in which institutional interests are put before patients. This image has defined the problem to be addressed. The appointment of a thoughtful and respected membership to the Premier’s Council on Improving Heathcare and Ending Hallway Medicine, under the leadership of the distinguished Dr. Rueben Devlin, creates a real opportunity for major change in how we organize and fund our health-care system in Ontario.
Previous approaches tinkered with incremental…
