Arthur Smitherman

Discrimination

Social and Economic Challenges for Canada, the City of Toronto, and Province of Ontario:

1) Caveats:

Many of the challenges that the City, Ontario and Canada face are caused by government neglect.

Advocating to the Provincial Legislature and Federal Governments is accomplished by a “multitude of persuasive strategies” and includes community participation.

“The effects and symptoms of neglect are caused by Governments that extract more from its taxpayers than it provides in services”.

2) SOCIAL & ECONOMIC OVERVIEW:

1) According to Census Canada, 67% of the population will be over the age of 65 in twenty years. 33% of the population will be supporting the other 67% in 2030.

2) Poverty above the National average of 11.8% has increased significantly in Toronto neighborhoods in the last 20 years, and in Toronto there are 21 high poverty areas. Unemployment is twice the National average.

3) These areas are subject to the neglect and discrimintion of Government at all levels. Poverty and Discrimination are one and the same.

4) Discrimination occurs in many shapes, and ways. The poor do not, as a whole, tend to belong to unions, interest groups, or any other entity that gives them a voice. In Toronto, unlike other large urban centers of American and Canadian Cities – the poor have been shuffled out of the inner cities in to the suburbs, and appear spread out.

5) Harrington: “The poor are politically invisible……..they do not, by and large, belong to unions, fraternal organizations, or to political parties. They are with out lobbies of their own; they put forward no legislative program. As a group they are atomized. They have no face; they have no voice”.

6) According to a study conducted by the Joint Economic Committee (Washington) in 1985, the cost of discrimination was in the order of 160 Billion per year. Given that the US has roughly ten times more population than Canada, and that the data is 25 years old……would it be reasonable to assume that the cost of discrimination in Canada is at least 16 Billion?

7) According to Nobel Peace Prize winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz: “the multiplier for calculating the amount of money that goes into the economy from employment is 1.5”.

For every dollar earned, .50 cents goes back to the community.

9) For every $1M spent on community programs $2.8M is generated in economic output.

11) Unfair taxation is the root cause of poverty.

12) Unfair taxation hurts the poor worse than the middle class and upper classes. Is the the tax system progressive enough?

13) In 1990 approximately 10% of the population had 70% of the wealth. Presently 2% of the population has 80% of the wealth. Can we assume that by 2030 1% of the population will have 90% of the wealth?

14) If the unemployment level of minorities was the same as whites; and if training and education were made available to minorities at the same level as whites than it is estimated the total output of the economy would rise by about 4%.

3) DEMOGRAPHICS:

These 21 neigbourhoods have lower average median income than most of the Province. New immigrants can’t speak English. As well, the amount of people that have been here for decades, and don’t speak English is highly underestimated.

Few English programs exist; and leave many new immigrants without the basic language skills to hold down a job.

North American demographics complicate matters for the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario. 60-80% of the population will be over the age of 65 in twenty years. The effect of these “age bomb” demographics has been incompetently managed by present and previous Councillors, and Provincial and Federal Governments. The three goverments have not worked together to: have a universal day care, to allow single parents to acquire training and skills and work, they have not provided basic adult education at the community school level to allow people to become good canditates for jobs, they have not helped small busineses by having a good supply of job ready candidates. And, these are the reasons the residents of impoverished areas are “stigmatized”. They are not suitible job candidates.

Canadian Immigration policy does not allow governments to adjust immigration to compliment or rectify the serious depopulation problem that exists. Your City Councillors have not been able to pursuade the Federal Government to adjust immigration policy to reflect the needs of Toronto, and have not provided the community with the resources to allow new immigrants to the country to be anything other than “impoverished”

According to Census Canada: The demographics will not allow future populations to support the aging, as the tax base will shrink by 50-75% over the next 20 years.

According to Census Canada: The democratic/capitalist system will fail in 20-40 years, because the economy will demand more tax money than it can supply by 50-75%. Our system will not be feasible; because the demand for tax money will outstrip the supply of tax money.

4) SOCIAL COSTS:

The costs associated with government neglect is staggering: Single parent families are “house bound” because there is little if any affordable daycare. Parents are unable to work, or in many cases, learn English. Single male parents, which represent 10-15% of single parent families – are unable to participate in the work force – and are on the public purse. The children of single parent families that do work, are often left unattended, whilst the parent works. The children of these families are denied the “right” to participate in the community and are unable to “socialize”. The resulting “isolation” causes serious psychological problems. The negative effect is often passed down, generation to generation.

An “inefficient and wasteful” immigration policy further burdens the public purse as new immigrants to the Country are unable to work – and entire families are on the public purse for years, waiting for the their immigration hearings and consequent status. To make matters worse they are not offered English as a second Language, or Adult Education classes in their community, and “never do become part of the work force.” They don’t help business who “can’t find good help” because they are poor candidates for jobs. Businesses, who find it increasingly harder to compete, do not get a “competitive advantage” with an able bodied work force. This is a failure of the City to persuade the Provincial and Federal Governments to give it the proper resources it needs to properly support immigration policy.

An opportunity to “positively socialize” new immigrants, and the impoverished is lost by denying them the benefits of community support. Community support should be made available at the the Community School level. Community support should include; but is not restricted to: day care, meal programs, and after school programs to children, and English classes, job and career councillors, and conflict resolution services to family, neighborhoods, and business. And adult education to the adults – at the community school level. “Negative socialization” occurs when these services are denied. This causes poor behavior in the community and at home and school. Criminal behavior results in some cases.

“Positive socialization” has many benefits for the community and society as a whole: Participating in a vibrant community provides support and deterrence. It fosters a more caring and supportive society. This allows for negative behavior to be identified and corrected in humane manners. Those who engage in “negative behavior” will “loose face” in the community. This deterrent, while difficult to quantify, is powerful, proactive and humane.

Government neglect is costly. The Government has failed to adjust the “progressive tax rate”; and to provide citizens with the basic necessities it deserves. The result is poverty.

Inequalities of Income:

The residents of these poor areas know that there are reasons why there is disparity of income; but may not be able to fully explain it in certian terms. Some of the ways and reasons income is not fully shared are noted below:

1) Ability differences: People have different psychological, mental, and emotional talents. Some have certain psychological attributes that make them more suitable for high paying jobs in areas like law and medicine. Others are rated as “dull normals” or “borderline”; some are blessed with physical capacity and coordination to make them become high paid athletes. Briefly “native talents” put some in positions to make larger contributions to society than others.

2) Education and Training: Individuals differ significantly in the amounts of education and training they have obtained and consequently in their ability to contribute to the output of society.

3) Job Tastes and Risks: Incomes differ because of job tastes. Some will take a job that requires long hours and unpleasant tasks, like a garbage man or truck driver; but they earn a good wage. Others will take a meaningless job that doesn’t require much expertise or responsibility; but doesn’t pay that well. Still others will supplement their incomes by going in to a sideline and moonlighting. Others will take risks and stand the chance of earning excellent incomes by starting businesses. Most fail, but the few who succeed earn higher than average incomes.

4) Property Ownership: Those with capital have dividends and income to collect on their wealth. Presently 2% of the population has 80% of the wealth. Others acquire wealth through inheritance. “Wealth begets wealth” this role reinforces the role played by unequal ownership of property in determining income inequality.

5) Market Power: The ability to “rig the market” on one’s own behalf is undoubtedly a major factor in accounting for income inequality.

6) Luck, Connections, Misfortune and Discrimination: “Being in the right place at the right time”. Personal contacts and political influence can be means of attaining higher income brackets. A host of economic misfortunes such as: prolonged illness, serious accident, death of a family breadwinner, unemployment, may all plunge a family into poverty. The burden of such misfortunes is borne very unevenly by the population and contributes to the degree of income inequality.

7) Discrimination: Minorities, women, children, immigrants, single parent families and students are all subject to discrimanation.

Economic Discrimination: Occurs when female or minority workers, who have the same abilities, education, and training, as white workers are accorded inferior treatment with respect to hiring and wage increases.

5) POVERTY & DISCRIMINATION:

With poverty comes discrimination. This is “the circle of dependence”. Discrimination occurs in many shapes, and ways. The poor do not, as a whole, tend to belong to unions, interest groups, or any other entity that gives them a voice. In Toronto, unlike other the large urban centers of American and Canadian Cities – the poor have been shuffled out of the inner cities in to the suburbs, and appear spread out. These are the hidden poor – with out a voice and, to a large degree hidden from the wealthy and more affluent.

Harrington: “The poor are politically invisible……..they do not, by and large, belong to unions, fraternal organizations, or to political parties. They are with out lobbies of their own; they put forward no legislative program. As a group they are atomized. They have no face; they have no voice”.

Dimensions of Discrimination:

a) Wage Discrimintion: Occurs when minorities are paid less than whites for doing the same work. Law has reduced this considerably; but it still exists when women are paid less than men for doing the same work.

b) Employment Discrimination: Means that unemployment is concentrated among minorities. When minorities are the last hired and the first fired. The unemployment rate for minorities is thought to be twice what it is for whites. Since this data isn’t produced in Canada – it is hard to quantify.

c) Human-capital Discrimination: Occurs when investments in education and training are lower for minorities than whites. The smaller amount and inferior nature of the education and training they have received have had the obvious effect of denying them the opportunity to increase their productivity and qualify for better jobs. Even when they are able to invest in their own education and training – they do get an inferior rate of return on their investment.

d) Occupational Discrimination: Means that: minority workers have been arbitrarily restricted or prohibitited from more desirable higher paying jobs. For women, this is a book on to itself.

Costs of Discrimination:

This is difficult to estimate; but if the unemployment level of minorities was the same as whites; and if training and education were made available to minorities at the same level as whites than it is estimated the total output of the economy would rise by about 4%.

According to a study conducted by the Joint Economic Committee (Washington) in 1985, the cost of discrimination was in the order of 160 Billion a year. Given that the US has roughly ten times more population than Canada, and that the data is 25 years old…would it be reasonable to assume that the cost of discrimination in Canada is at least 16 Billion per year?

6) UNFAIR TAXATION:

Unfair taxation is the root cause of poverty.

In 1990 approximately 10% of the population had 70% of the wealth. Presently 2% of the population has 80% of the wealth. Can it be assumed that by 2030 1% of the population will have 90% of the wealth? Can we assume that the poor have not been taxed fairly and the rich have not been pulling their share of the load?

This scenario is inequitable; and is the root cause of poverty.

Unfair taxation, such as H.S.T. and sales tax hurt the poor and middle class worse than those that are in far higher tax brackets. The government must adjust the “progressive tax rate” to make the rich “pull their share of the load” and stop getting rich on the backs of the poor. The government has failed in their job to redistribute income.

The argument that the “Liberals” have presented against a more progressive system is classic.

1) Jack makes $100,000 a year, and pays $40,000 a year in income tax leaving him with an income of $60,000 a year.

2) Jill makes $50,000 a year and pays $10,000 in income tax leaving her with an income of $40,000 a year.

Poor old Jack won’t have an incentive to work if he is taxed more; because he paid 40% in income tax and Jill only paid 20% in income tax! And, Jill doesn’t have any incentive to work harder either!

Why then do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?

Is this just another case of the “Liberals” trying to “rig the market” to their advantage?

Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to look at my website.

I update it regularly, so please drop by and check it out on a regular basis; and please don’t be shy about leaving a comment, calling or writing.

You will find that I critisize “left wing political philosphy” with some regularity. I take issue with “Liberalism” to be more to the point. I critisize Harper’s Conservatives equally, with good reason: http://www.globalresearch.ca

I am niether left or right when it comes to political philsophy. I work towards solutions that are are “mutal interest”, and do not discriminate against those that I have been in conflict with.

I truly appreciate the fact that you have enough interest in Politics to see what an eligible Candidate is all about – whether you vote for me or not.

Your vote counts!

http://crazedmonkey.com/blog/politics/low_municipal_voter_turnout.html

1) Are you sick and tired of getting taxed to death?

The fact is: taxation is the by-product of incompetent politicians. They lack the negotiating skills to work with one another – to create favorable and durable economic equilibrium – for business and for people. Arthur Smitherman is an anti-tax advocate. At the Federal level of government we are “socializing” the misfortunes of the Banks and CHMC through “unfair taxation”. The poor and middle class absorb business failures through taxation. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12007

2) Don’t you think that people suffer because they can’t get good jobs; and they don’t have the resources to survive?

Costs keep going up, making it more and more difficult to make ends meet.

Small business has it rough too! They have to compete with larger businesses, and increased competition. This is partly due to high taxation. Liberal economists say this theory is false. Why? Because it puts the resources in the hands of the corrupt. The Liberal politicians think they will prosper – in some way, and don’t care about the poor and disenfranchised that don’t have the resources to voice their displeasure with their corrupt practices!

Businesses have to acquire technology and machinery that makes them more competitive; but it puts people out of work. They don’t have any buying power. What can they do? Vote for me, Arthur Smitherman.

3) What is going on with the economy?

Capitalism, in some respects, has devolved into Imperialism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperialism

This concept was developed by Lenin. He claimed that after all the workers had become hard pressed, and lost their disposable income – that businesses would look to other countries and people to exploit. A “sweat shop” economy! Well, aren’t we there already? Who is producing most of the goods you buy at Walmart? China, and India and other South Asian countries. So then, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. But the smaller businesses can’t compete with the bigger ones, can they?

4) Kind of gloomy huh?

Maybe not! Marx (devoted 35 years of his life to the study of capitalism) thought that this would create a “worker’s revolt”. Generally, Capital Markets are “Liberalized” – the economic equilibrium is shifted in the interest of Capitalist and Imperalist interests, there is no fiscal responsilbility, and the right come in every once in a while to clean up after them.

However, the world is “waking up” to borrow a Buddhist term.

Unions are organizing and getting more politically motivated.

The following is the text of Andrew Gavin Marshall’s presentation at the book launch of The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of the XXI Century”, Michel Chossudovsky and Andrew Gavin Marshall (Editors). September 29, 2010, Montreal, Canada.

At the heart of the global political economy is the central banking system. Central banks are responsible for printing a nation’s currency and setting interest rates, thus determining the value of the currency. This should no doubt be the prerogative of a national government, however, central banks are of a particularly deceptive nature, in which while being imbued with governmental authority, they are in fact privately owned by the world’s major global banks, and are thus profit-seeking institutions. How do central banks make a profit? The answer is simple: how do all banks make a profit? Interest on debt. Loans are made, interest rates are set, and profits are made. It is a system of debt, imperial economics at its finest.

The global economic crisis arose as a result of decades of global imperialism – known recently as ‘globalization’ – and the reckless growth of– speculation, derivatives and an explosion of debt. As the economic crisis spread, nations of the world, particularly the United States, bailed out the major banks (which should have been made to fail and crumble under their own corruption and greed), and now the West has essentially privatized profits for the banks, and socialized the risk. In other words, the nations bought the debt from the banks, and now the people have to pay for it. The people, however, are immersed in their own personal debt to such degrees that today, the average Canadian is $39,000 in debt, and students are graduating into a jobless market with tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars of student debt that they will never repay. Hence, we are now faced with a global debt crisis.

At the recent G20 meeting in Toronto, the major nations of the world agreed to impose fiscal austerity – or in other words, commit social genocide – within their nations, in a veritable global structural adjustment program. So now we will see the beginnings of the Great Global Debt Depression, in which major western and global nations cut social spending, create mass unemployment by dismantling health, education, and social services. Further, state infrastructure – such as roads, bridges, airports, ports, railways, prisons, hospitals, electric transmission lines and water – will be privatized, so that global corporations and banks will own the entirely of national assets. Simultaneously, of course, taxes will be raised dramatically to levels never before seen. The BIS said that interest rates should rise at the same time, meaning that interest payments on debt will dramatically increase at both the national and individual level, forcing governments to turn to the IMF for loans – likely in the form of its new global reserve currency – to simply pay the interest, and will thus be absorbing more debt. Simultaneously, of course, the middle class will in effect have its debts called in, and since the middle class exists only as an illusion, the illusion will vanish.

No wonder then, that this month, the Managing Director of the IMF warned that America and Europe, in the midst of the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression, face an “explosion of social unrest.” Just yesterday, Europe experienced a wave of mass protests and social unrest in opposition to ‘austerity measures’, with a general strike in Spain involving millions of people, and a march on the EU headquarters in Brussels of nearly 100,000 people. As social unrest spreads, governments will likely react – as we saw in the case of the G20 in Toronto – with oppressive police state measures. Here, we see the true relevance of the emergence of ‘Homeland Security States’, designed not to protect people from terrorists, but to protect the powerful from the people.

So while things have never seemed quite so bleak, there is a dim and growing beacon of hope, in what Zbigniew Brzezinski has termed as the greatest threat to elite interests everywhere – the ‘global political awakening’. The global political awakening is representative of the fact that for the first time in all of human history, mankind is politically awakened and stirring, activated and aware, and that generally – as Zbigniew Brzezinski explains – generally is aware of global inequalities, exploitation, and disrespect. This awakening is largely the result of the information revolution – thus revealing the contradictory nature of the globalization project – as while it globalizes power and oppression, so too does it globalize awareness and opposition. This awakening is the greatest threat to entrenched elite interests everywhere. The awakening, while having taken root in the global south – already long subjected to exploitation and devastation – is now stirring in the west, and will grow as the economy crumbles. As the middle classes realize their consumption was an illusion of wealth, they will seek answers and demand true change, not the Wall Street packaged ‘brand-name’ change of Obama Inc., but true, inspired, and empowering change.

In 1967, Martin Luther King delivered a speech in which he spoke out against the Vietnam War and the American empire, and he stated that, “It seems as if we are on the wrong side of a world revolution.” So now it seems to me that the time has come for that to change.

www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21504

5) What are the social costs?

Lack of resources causes conflict. And conflict causes families to break up. This makes for child poverty. The children don’t have the support of two parents. They are forced into a competitive world as they get older, and don’t have the financial, spiritual, and psychic resources to compete. No wonder they turn to guns and gangs!
www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/02/04/​dropouts-costs.html

Make your human rights an election issue!

Do you want decent affordable housing, childcare, good wages, safe and healthy air water and food, access to the best possible healthcare and education, secure and enjoyable retirement?

Did you know these are all actually human rights that you have a right to claim from our governments in Canada?

In this election, we need to be talking about human rights! Before we lose them!

Canada is obligated by international law treaties to respect and provide for all human rights – including civil, political, economic, social and cultural. All governments are supposed to make the best use of our tax dollars to provide for and protect human rights before any other use of tax revenue.

In fact, our governments have to report on how well (or not) they are complying with human rights covenants they have ratified, including the rights of children, women, and other vulnerable groups. Ngos also get to report from the people’s point of view and groups like Amnesty International LIFT have been there to make sure the UN committees hear from those who live the realities created by government cutbacks.

In 1998 the UN found Canada to be in violation of basic human rights, in1999 the UN ruled that Canada was violating the right to life for allowing homelessness and hunger to grow in spite of having resources to prevent it.

In 2006 the UN again found Canada had chosen to continue to undermine basic human rights. Among many other violations they listed the failure to have a national housing strategy or adequate social security, in spite of our great wealth.

For a country to choose to cut back on human rights when other choices could be made and there is enough wealth to provide human rights is one of the worst kinds of human rights violation.

In the past 15 years our human rights have been undermined or lost on too many fronts. But because most Canadians have never been educated about their human rights we don’t claim them, and so our governments are not held accountable to treaties they have signed long ago and chosen to ignore.

Canada has failed to set up systems to ensure our parliaments respect human rights commitments when making legislation. Many human rights are poorly protected, especially for people facing discrimination, yet there is no effective remedy or recourse for those whose rights have been violated because they are poor.

However, the Senate has issued a report recommending that Canada create procedures for parliament to follow, to ensure that human rights laws are being applied and respected in domestic Canadian law. (see Promises to keep, Report of the standing committee on human rights

Suggestions for talking to candidates about human rights:

Ask: “Do you know that your first duty as an elected official is to work to ensure that the human rights of all people in Canada are respected and provided for?”

Ask: “Have you heard of the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights? It is a treaty Canada signed that says that everyone is entitled to the best possible healthcare, housing, healthy food, income security, fair wages and working conditions, access to higher education and more…”

If they haven’t heard of this treaty, tell them Canada and the provinces ratified it in 1976 and have to report every 4 years on their government’s compliance.

Do you know that the treaty on the rights of the child is the most powerful internaiotnal law in the world? That the rights of the child come first in Canadian law, according to the Supreme Court?

Do you wonder why you haven’t heard about human rights treaties? Even though educating the people about their human rights is an obligation under the treaty we signed?

Ask them: “Will you work to put a national housing strategy in place for providing affordable, safe and sustainable housing?” (… or focus on whatever human rights issue you choose.)

Ask them: “Will you work to ensure that Canada is governed according to human rights it has agreed are the primary purpose and responsibility of the government and all Canadians (1993 Vienna UN declaration – see www.www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/)

How can we funding for basic human rights as investment that increases our wealth, rather than labeling it as spending that increases the deficit?

Ask: Will you work to reinstate the original mandate of the Bank of Canada, to issue credit to fund government spending free of debt to ensure adequate resources for governments to invest in fully implementing human rights?

You could tell them something: “Our future and that of our children depends on governments and individual MPs doing their job to implement and protect human rights including a safe environment for all…
If you want my vote, make human rights for a sustainable future your top priority.”

By: Josephine Grey – LIFT

HEALTH & POVERTY
The Future and Importance of the Finch Site

“The social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions under which people live which determine their health”. [Public Health Agency of Canada, 2008]

1) Overview:

York-West is one of the most culturally diverse areas in Canada; and has two of the poorest postal codes in all of Canada. It has an unemployment rate that is more than double the national average. It also has one of the highest birth rates in Ontario, which is economically significant in that the population of Ontario will not increase dramatically over the next 20 years. But by 2030, for every person under 40, there will be two persons over 65; and a strong birth rate will stimulate much needed consumerism.

Economically and socially, the Finch Hospital is an important part of the York-West Economy and notably, the vulnerable Jane-Finch Community. A new hospital is proposed at Keele and Wilson; and little if any public consultation has occurred. Except for the ascertation that the Finch site will become an “ambulatory care center”, little information on the future of the Finch site is available.

• The health of the community is exacerbated by poverty and other social determinants.

• Poverty is “big business” to governments. They have austerity programs and measures dictated to them by the “banksters”. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21504

• The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The rich do not pay their fair share of tax, and the poor pay more than their fair share. http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2010/12/Richest%201%20Percent.pdf

The Bank of Canada could print money to carry the cost of World War II, and to build the St. Lawrence Seaway in the 40s; but……. we can’t get definitive answers about the future of the Finch site!

“…..humanity is at the crossroads of the most serious economic and social crisis in modern history.” Global Research Institute

2) Poverty:

Poverty: a human condition characterized by the sustained or chronic deprivation of the resources, capabilities, choices, security and power necessary for the enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.

In spite of solid economic growth over the last decade, there have been cuts in social services. This has had an adverse effect on the women and children of York-West who are far more likely to be in poverty then men.

Canada has entered into agreements such as the: Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). However, the problem of poverty and pay inequality is worsening.

Poverty for women and children is quite complex. And, the average income and the gap between the average income of the poor, and the amount needed to bring their income up to the level of LICO (low-income cut off) is increasing.

a) In Canada, one in seven women is in poverty. FAFIA, A Decade of Going Backwards: Canada in the Post-Beijing Era (Ottawa, 2004) p. 4

b) One in ten, or one in seven children are in poverty [depends on the source].

c) 51.6% of lone parent families headed by women are poor. http://www.statscan.ca/english/Pgdb/famil41a.htm

d) 41.5% of unattached, women over 65 are poor. http://www.statscan.ca/english/Pgdb/famil41a.htm

e) 35% of women under the age of 65, living on their own, live in poverty.

f) In 2008, the 20% of persons with the highest family after-tax income had, on average, 5.4 times the family after-tax income as those in the lowest 20%. This ratio has been virtually unchanged since 2000. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100617/dq100617c-eng.htm

The lack of day care and education are the two most important and overlooked determinants to poverty, and consequently, health. Women are often unemployed because they can’t get, or afford daycare, and haven’t finished high school or received additional training.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED) describes Canada’s child care system as a “chronically underfunded patchwork of programs with no overarching goals”. Canada ranks last amongst developed nations in terms of access to early years learning and child care spaces, and last in terms of public investment.

The lack of affordable or available child care limits the choices of women for paid employment. Many are “housebound as a consequence”. In 2006 the number of regulated child care spaces could accommodate only 17.2% of children age 0-12; and only one in five children aged 0-5 received coverage in full or part-time child care spaces.

The Liberals promised $5B to create 250,000 additional child care spaces during the 2004 federal election. But when the Harper-led Conservatives won the election they scraped the Liberal plan. Instead, they introduced a $100 per month allowance for all children under the age of six. This “taxable” payment pays for one child – for three days – if such a space could be found.

“Only Newfoundland and Quebec have comprehensive anti-poverty strategies similar to those adopted by European Countries. The UN emphasizes that equality and non discrimination are essential elements in a human rights approach to poverty reduction. Most comprehensive strategies make special efforts to address gender equality and the needs of women”. [Canadian Institute of Child Wealth]

The Government, media, and financial institutions have the disinformation apparatus in high gear. Over the next 20 years unemployment will rise to well over 25%. This is based on a shrinking economy, in that: consumerism is in decline; globalization is taking effect, and we are in an information/technology age that replaces workers with capital, machinery and technology. Poverty is spreading at pandemic rates.

Poverty is a “business” for the top 2% of income earners, who can not empathize with the poor. They understand that, for the most part the poor have not been as fortunate as them, and that they don’t belong to unions, or have political affiliations or political aspirations, and that they do not have a voice – they exploit them as a consequence.

“ . . . if past recessions are any guide, between 750,000 and 1.8 million more Canadians will be counted as poor before recovery is complete. More than one in seven Canadians may have tumbled into poverty before this is over. Many of them will be working.”
Armine Yalnizyan, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. 2010

3) Social Inequality:

The problem of social inequality amongst the poor; but particularly women [and children] is not thoroughly understood by the general public. It is a discriminatory practice that goes on unabated, and contributes to dependence. It has been exacerbated by funding cuts, and bad government policy at all levels of government. It undermines the Social Cohesion of communities and contributes too; and does exacerbate criminal behavior, in the home, school and community.

Funding for the following research facilities – designed to document women’s inequality has been scraped by the Harper-led Conservative government:
• Status of Women Canada
• The Law Commission of Canada
• Canadian Labour and Business Center
• The Court Challenges Program
• National Association of Women and the Law
The Harper Government has restricted the right to pay equity of women employed in the federal public service.

“Canada ranks 10th out of 93 countries on the UN’s gender empowerment measure (GEM). This reveals whether women are taking an active part in economic and political life. It tracks the share of seats held by women in Parliament, senior officials, managers, and of female professional and technical workers – and most notably the gender disparity in earned income.” [United Nations 2008:4]

4) Infant Mortality:

Canada’s health care system is in decline with respect to other countries on infant mortality. This is a very important economic indicator – - in that it indicates that things are going wrong with society and the economy.

• Canada ranks poorly among OECD nations on infant mortality (22 out of 31 nations).

http://www.oecd.org/document/16/0,3343,en_2649_34631_2085200_1_1_1_1,00.html

http://spon.ca/infant-mortality-figures-vary-across-canada/2010/05/24/

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22311

• “The infant mortality rates of those living in the poorest areas of Canada experience 60% higher infant mortality rates than the rest of Canada, and the prospects of low-birth rates is 43% higher. A Low-birth rate (less than 2500 grams) is an important measure of health status as it is related to the experience of some chronic diseases in adulthood”. [KPMG]

“The Infant mortality rate is more than a technical measure of the deaths of young children. It is an indicator of seismic fault lines in the delivery of the best we have to offer in health services for mothers and children. It is a proxy measure of the compassion of a society for its most vulnerable, and the commitment of a government to all of its citizens.”
UNICEF Canada 2009

5) Social Determinants on Health:

“The social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions under which people live which determine their health”. Public Health Agency of Canada, 2008

Income, social status, social support networks, education, employment, housing, food security, and early child hood development all effect a person’s overall health. The two most important social determinants are [early] education and income.

York-West has a high proportion of:
• older population
• low income families
• single parent families
• visible minorities
• non-graduated students
These determinants contribute to a higher incidence of poor health; and higher health costs per capita.

Total Pop. % Plan Area % 65 + Median $ % Low $ % Minority % Immig’ % ESL % 20 +
No H.S. Ed.
Ontario 12,986,332 13.46 $64,000 11.33 20.41 30.8 29.7 24.6
Central LHIN 1,651,681 12.68 12.36 $76,000 9.39 36.72 49 44.1 2.36
South Simcoe 113,257 6.86 11.48 $75,000 6.91 4.69 15.3 12.4 28
Central York Region 204,207 12.36 10.5 $94,000 4.84 8.87 20.6 15.7 17.32
South East York Region 465,683 28.19 10.46 $93,000 5.01 51.57 55.4 52.3 18.52
South West York Region 230,536 13.96 9.19 $97,000 3.69 21.87 45.4 50.6 22.66
North York-West 237,884 14.4 14.8 $44,000 20.47 50.51 61.9 54.4 38.65
North York-Central 276,973 16.77 16.91 $61,000 12.94 37.78 58.5 54.3 18.45
North York-East 123,141 7.46 14.41 $55,000 15.28 55.58 64.8 58.4 17.86
Source: Environics Analytics Demographics Estimates and Projections 2008, Infonaut

• “In all countries, it is well established that poorer people have substantially shorter life expectancies and more illnesses than the rich. This phenomenon has been observed since at least the nineteenth century when Chadwick (1965) investigated the health of the working classes in Victorian England.”

• “Social Determinants of health are the economic and social conditions that influence the health of individuals, communities and jurisdictions as a whole. Social determinants of health determine whether individuals stay healthy or become ill (a narrow definition of health). Social Determinants of health also determine the extent to which a person possesses the physical, social and personal resources to identify and achieve personal aspirations, satisfy needs and cope with the environment (a broader definition of health). Social Determinants of health are about the quantity and quality of a variety of resources that a society makes available to its members”. (Raphael, 2004)

Poverty:

• “Low income limits people’s choice and works against desirable changes in behavior”. (Raphael, 2004)

• “…….an individual’s health can be compromised by living in neighborhoods with concentrations of unemployment, poor housing, a poor environment and limited access to services”. (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003)

• “There is a graded relationship between household income and emotional and behavioral problems in childhood – the lower the household income, the higher the incidence of these problems”. (Canadian Institute for Health)

• “Material deprivation, such as: shelter, food and warmth removes the prerequistes for healthy development and the ability to participate in society”. (Canadian Nurses Association)

Economic Inequality:

• “The Gap between the rich and poor is a more significant social determinant of health than absolute poverty. The rich have better health than the poor! (Canadian Nurses Association)

Social Status:

The poor are exposed to a greater chance of being killed or being in an accident; and visiting the emergency department of a Hospital that the more “well off”.

• “People with less social standing usually run at least twice the risk of serious illness and premature death than those with more”. (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003)

Stress:

The silent killer! Stress is known to undermine health status. Cancer is a disease that is caused, or at least aggravated by stress.

• “Social and psychological circumstances can cause long-term stress”. (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003)

• “Continual anxiety, insecurity, low self esteem, social isolation, and lack of control, overwork and home life, have powerful effects on health, especially on cardio vascular and immune systems”. (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003)

6) Health Service Needs and Assessments:

Overview: As we will see, there is an increasing need for health care in the Jane-Finch area over the coming decades. Poverty will exacerbate health care needs. Many can not afford a bus token to the proposed sight at Keele and Wilson – when ill – and could die as a consequence. The feasibility of the new site and the “prospective” conversion of the Finch site into an ambulatory care center is the product of a fractured epistemology – by politicians and powerbrokers – who assume that just because they could get to a hospital if necessary – everyone else could too. The community has not been consulted. The convenience, from the Jane-Finch community, to the Finch site is a matter of extreme importance; because the new sight at Keele and Wilson just isn’t feasible for the poor to commute to!

York-West has the second highest rates in the Central LHIN for Emergency Department visits. This is because:
• The population tends to wait until they are quite ill.
• Limited access to primary care in the community.
• Can’t afford public transit.

By 2018 the incidents of Diabetes type 2 in York-West will more than double to 18,000 cases. Most Diabetics also have another chronic condition and are three times more likely to have cardiac or stroke related hospital admissions – and require dialysis because of chronic kidney failure. The topic is extensive. The concerns are many. Diabetes type 2 is exacerbated by the social determinants that manifest because of low income.

In 2007/2008 a team of researchers from York University’s School of Health Care Policy and Management and the School of Nursing made the following findings:

• “An explosive increase in death rates from diabetes among residents of low-income neighborhoods across Canadian cities”.

• “Accumulating evidence that the social determinants of health – the living conditions Canadians experience – are the primary factors shaping the incidence of type 2 diabetes and its successful management”.

• “Type 2 Diabetes is a complex, chronic condition resulting from the body’s inability to either adequately produce and/or effectively utilize insulin. It accounts for 90% of cases of diabetes in Canada. The mechanisms by which type 2 diabetes comes about are not well understood”.

• “Traditional explanations focus on genetic and lifestyle causes, but increasing evidence is coming to support the view that type 2 diabetes is primarily a disease of material and social deprivation associated with poverty and marginalization. If not controlled, it can lead to serious complications such as heart disease, kidney failure, lower limb amputation and blindness”.

• “Lower-income older Canadians are twice as likely – to have type 2 diabetes than wealthy, older Canadians”.

• “A Toronto Star compilation of data from various surveys shows that the maps of prevalence of diabetes, rates of poverty, and percentage of visible minorities in Toronto are virtually identical”. http://www.thestar.com/staticcontent/77209

• “It well documented that adverse early childhood experiences such as fetal malnutrition and poverty are important predictors of the onset of type 2 diabetes in later life”.

The prevalence of diabetes in Canada has increased dramatically in recent decades. According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, it is estimated that:

• 3 million or more Canadians suffer from diabetes;
• Life expectancy for people with type 2 diabetes may be reduced by 5 to 10 years;
• Healthcare costs for diabetes and its complications have reached $13.2 billion annually and are rising;
• Direct costs to individuals with diabetes for medicine and supplies can be as high as $15,000 per year.

Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent chronic disease in Ontario. This is expected to rise as the population ages. Women in York-West will have a higher than average prevalence rate and men will be at or below the provincial average.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) is most prevalent in the older age categories (55). Smoking is the cause in 80% of cases. York-West men and women are expected to be at the provincial average.

York-West will have higher than provincial average incidents of Hypertension and Cardiac Disease. Heart Disease increases with age, and one in four over the age of 75 will have it. It is the leading cause of death; and inpatient and emergency department usage. One in eight children under 12 report having hypertension. The prevalence rate is at 16.22%, over the provincial average of 15.29%. Heart Disease is not as chronic as many conditions – but the leading cause of death – inpatient separations – and emergency department visits.

Mental Health and Addictions: Poor females have higher suicide rates than those females that are better off.

• “Suicide rates are much higher for Canadians living in the poorest of conditions”. [Raphael, 2004]

7) Social Cohesion:

“Social cohesion is the ongoing process of developing a community of shared values, shared challenges and equal opportunity within Canada, based on a sense of trust, hope and reciprocity among all Canadians.” (Social Cohesion Research Workplan, March, 1997)

Poverty, low income, resulting poor health, and a number of other negative factors all undermine social cohesion. Government has been able to get a way with making decisions that don’t include the community. People are so busy just trying to survive that they don’t have the time to participate in their community and don’t know how. Few know how to work for change in a Parliamentary Democracy; and count on their governments to do the right thing. Municipal, Provincial and Federal governments deny newcomers and the impoverished, the opportunity to make the best of them selves, because they don’t provide the resources to do so.

The reluctance, of Government, to provide mutual support gives way even more to open antagonism. The root-cause of the Government’s moral bankruptcy, is the ability to be shielded from the consequences of its’ actions. The more apt someone is, to get away with harming others, without ever having to worry about the other’s reactions, the more that entity will profit from the habitual indifference about the fate of others.

• “Black and ethnic minorities have often found that, for them, the continuing reality has been one of racism and discrimination, as evidenced by disadvantage at just about every social and economic indicator.” [Cantle, 2004]

• “Race and community relations have always been vulnerable to the routine ‘playing of the race card’ by those usually on the extreme right of the political spectrum, to whip up the fear and hatred of minorities and to secure the support of the majority voting population”. [Cantle, 2004]

• “The concept of multiculturalism is now being questioned. However, in part because of the way in which it encompasses such a wide spectrum of difference and fails to reconcile them within a societal framework. Further, it has for some commentators at least, actually become the vehicle by which divisions and inequalities are reinforced”. [Cantle, 2004]

• “Multiculturalism has entrenched the divisions created by racism; and encouraged people to assert their cultural differences”. [Cantle, 2004]

• “The Liberal response has been to maintain the idea of ‘cultural pluralism’ or a ‘community of communities’ and this has been helpful in the past as a means to emphasizing the need to respect differences and avoid assimilation. However these models are no longer adequate and have become a justification for continual separation and coexistence, which has mutated against the development of mutual trust and co-development”. [Cantle, 2004]

• “There is, however a more collective national hypocrisy in which the indigenous population (or their governments) encourage immigration whenever it suits there economic circumstances and at the same time, do little or nothing to create an equal place for those migrants that inevitably become, or aspire to become, longer-term residents and citizens”. [Cantle, 2004]

• “As the powerful find that they can get away with making decisions affecting others with out the latter having a meaningful say about them, the more those decisions would neglect the needs of the wider community”. [Tam, 2009]

• “The subjects compete against one another to win the favor of those with the ruling power and those in control pursue, in the absence of a genuinely shared interest, a strategy of divide and conquer”. [Tam, 2009]

Summary and Recommendations:

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Nelson Mandella

As the population in the Jane-Finch community ages, it will depend on the Finch Hospital site more and more. Worsening economic conditions will escalate the health care needs of the citizens, due to the poor health they will experience as a consequence of their age, and poor social and economic environment. The community has not been consulted about the future of the Finch site with any level of fairness. The politicians and powerbrokers have marginalized the citizens. They do not have a voice. Clearly, a lack of social cohesion amongst the community has allowed the powerbrokers that control the Finch site to antagonize them. People are busy trying to survive. They count on their government. The government has let them down!

• “Community cohesion is created by sharing experiences and values; not entrenching separation, recognizing and reinforcing differences”. [Cantle, 2009]

• “Establishing a clearer sense of political unity is, nevertheless, no easy option, especially as mainstream politicians have been reluctant to enter into such debate because of fears that it may either provide extremists with a platform or create uncertainties within the minority communities upon which vote they depend”. [Cantle, 2009]

• “Clearly leadership has been lacking, reflecting the uncertainties and ambivalence of the political mood of the time”. [Cantle, 2009]

• “The capacity for whistle-blowing by the few and sustained protesting of the many must be reinforced and built in to the machinery of civic vigilance”. [Tam, 2009]

• Citizens should be routinely engaged in the exercise of collective decision making so that none becomes permanently marginalized”. [Tam, 2009]

Should the LSE be allowed to take over TSE?

Overview: Should we be careful with “deep metaphor”? All capitalists will salivate, hearing the words “access to capital”. Unfortunately the potential damage to the integrity of the TSE, Venture Exchange and the Canadian economy – far outweighs the benefits we would derive from such a takeover. And, yes, it is a takeover, not a merger. The carrot is dangled to the fledgling entrepreneurs and stockbrokers, law firms, and accountants who posture for that “groundbreaking IPO”. This take over represents the arming of an economic bomb. It could, in it’s potential, be a vehicle for the “financial elitists” in London and around the World – to penetrate the Canadian economy and use it to “manipulate food prices” and stock markets through derivative trading. Will we see Government “bailouts” when their ambiguous derivatives and ponzi schemes blow up? Is it an economic weapon, and threat to our sovereignty? Is this takeover a vehicle for the New World Order to posture itself to induce Government bankruptcies and then raid their Pension Plans, like in Iceland, Ireland, Greece, so many third world countries, and soon the US? Unequivocally? Yes. And they don’t mind waiting to do so. Be it ten, twenty, or a hundred years. The more poignant deep metaphor we should be considering is “malfeasance” which is why the LSE wants to take over the TSE. Part of the TSE is the Montreal Stock Exchange, and the MSE trades in energy and financial derivatives. It is the “red-headed step child of the New York and Chicago Mercantile Exchanges”. This takeover is a cheap way for the financial elitists in London to enter the North American market, and “deal in derivatives”, which are traded on the MSE. It should be noted that the MSE has a lot of the “old money” on it. Meaning? A culture of “banksters” reside there, it was and is, “a safe place to hide”. So then, this take over is about access to capital isn’t it? Yes it is! Yours!

1) Capital Market Liberalization: is a method that is deployed by the “banksters”, both big and small, to induce Government to introduce regulations on financial markets that are in their own interests. Typical of any entity of influence, deep metaphor, and ambiguous mantras that tear at our heart strings get our empathy, and attention. “We are working to eliminate poverty”, and improving “access to capital for third world countries and fledgling entrepreneurs”. A more academic description is written by Nobel Prize winning Economist Joseph Stieglitz “Capital Market Liberalization” and for a PDF copy, please write Arthur Smitherman.

2) Derivatives are the [vehicle] reason we have a 43% increase in food prices in the third world. Some of the best educated financial experts in the world wouldn’t touch a derivative if their life depended on it. They think of them [derivatives] as a “bag of snakes”. Derivatives can represent commodities or financial instruments, some are quite complex and some are just ambiguous.

Global Research: Michel Chossudovsky
“As Tunisia’s government collapsed under the protests of its citizens, in part spurred on by dramatically increasing food prices, with protests spreading to more countries in the region and around the world, this excerpt from the most recent publication by Global Research, “The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of the XXI Century,” provides an insight into the background of the current crisis:

A] The sugar-coated bullets of the “free market” are killing our children. The act to kill is instrumented in a detached fashion through computer program trading on the New York and Chicago mercantile exchanges, where the global prices of rice, wheat and corn are decided upon.

B] People in different countries are being impoverished simultaneously as a result of a global market mechanism. A small number of financial institutions and global corporations have the ability to determine the prices of basic food staples quoted on the commodity exchanges, thereby directly affecting the standard of living of millions of people around the world.

C] Spiraling food prices are in large part the result of market manipulation. They are largely attributable to speculative trade on the commodity markets. Grain prices are boosted artificially by large scale speculative operations on the New York and Chicago mercantile exchanges”.

3) It was the ambiguous Special Drawing Rites [SDRs] that were sold to unsuspecting Banks all over the world by the “financial elitists” in the US – and tagged “mortgage backed” – not worth the paper they were printed on – and leveraged by 95% to boot, that caused the financial bubble to burst – and caused the financial crisis in 2008. We have still not recovered. These hybrid inventions are toilet paper! We here in Canada, despite having one of the best regulated and best managed banking industries anywhere in the World, were not immune to the effects of the housing bubble that did eventually burst. Harper had to prop up the Canadian banks [CMHC, to a degree] with a $70B bailout. The Financial elitists pulled off the biggest rip off in the history of the World. And, the “banksters” who committed the fraud in the first place were reimbursed by the US Federal Government when they should have been going to jail. The Fed now has Congress under their thumb, and run the show. The US is a puppet democracy. Yes folks, our biggest trading partner! Every man, women and child in the US owes $250,000 as a consequence of this fraud. And here in Canada the burden was socialized, on to the poor and middle class, through an increase in the HST.

4) The Federal Reserve Bank, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund, all have one common theme. That same twelve or so names keeps showing up on their Board of Directors. And few of these entities have full transparency. For the most part, they are not accountable to any authority; and are above the law.

5) While there will always be those doubters and conservatives who can not perceive such a detailed ponzi scheme, [in their own interest] there are those amongst us that have been aware of this possibility for decades. It is no longer a “possibility” it is a reality, it happened. And it will happen again! Some have been cautious about adopting such “so-called, conspiracies”. Others have done their own research. Please see the paper: J.E. Stieglitz “You don’t have to be Nostradamus”. Write Arthur Smitherman for a PDF copy.

6) To a certain degree we are the potential victims of our own “human condition”. We tend to “perceive things the way we want” [Cialdini, 2009]. And we would like this “take over” to be a blessing to our economy and have access to easy capital so our fledgling entrepreneurs can go public; and our stockbrokers, law firms, and accountants can make a bundle.

7) The challenge is to Government: What is good government? Do we protect our sovereignty or let the fox into the hen house? The Global Strategy is ambiguous and always was. We bought into the Globalization propaganda with deep metaphor like “the depression was caused by protectionism” but what has Globalization done for Africa and other parts of the third world? They struggle to pay their loans to the IMF and have to adjust their social and public policy to their “dictates”.

The critics of Globalization, Federal Reserve Bank, the IMF and World Bank are numerous and include: Nobel Prize Laureate and former Economist for the World Bank, J. Stieglitz and Economist C. Payer to mention two. But for a “bird’s eye view” of the IMF, in a “Canadian perspective”, see the paper that won the Galbraith Prize in Economics by John Loxely, Professor of Economics at University of Manitoba.
http:/www.progressive-economics.ca/cea-meetings-and-jkg-prize/”

Bibliography:

On Derivatives:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23079

On Globalization:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22551

The Federal Reserve Bank:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22768

The “Fraud”:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22395

The Canadian “Bailouts”:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12007

Crisis as Opportunity:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22768

Firstly, I want to thank each and every one of you for coming out and taking an interest in your community.  If we had this kind of interest from all the constituents of Ward 8 we would have better success persuading the City, and Provincial and Federal governments to see things in our interest.

 I think it is necessary to point out that none of the previous Councillors have ever addressed the all-important issue of poverty in ward 8; and that since 1981, the M3N and M3J postal codes - have become the poorest in Canada. 

 As well, unemployment is well above the national average.

 Ward 8 consists of 13,000 single parent families.  Most new immigrants to the country can’t speak English.  Equally alarming is the fact that there are numerous adults in the community that have been here for decades and can’t speak English.  This equates to isolation as they age.

 I know that the children of single parent families are left unattended, while single moms work multiple jobs.  Other single parents are “house bound” looking after their children.  They can’t afford to pay day care and can’t enter the workforce, or improve themselves. This is a huge drain on the public purse; and a waste of human resources.

 To cure the ills of ward 8, I think we need to utilize a blend of integrative solutions at the community level.  To foster a vibrant community we need to bring day care, meal plans, adult education, career councilors, dispute resolvers, after school activities, and English classes at the community school level.

Furthermore we need to work with police to be more community orientated, and to be less adversarial; and to empathize with the youth of the ward – that have grown up with scarce resources and consequently subject to conflict at many levels.

With respect to utilizing our own human resources from York University and within the community we need to be our own solution.  I think it is necessary to foster our own home spun entrepreneurs rather than expect business to just materialize.  That includes having our own Chamber of Commerce, job matching blogs, and entrepreneur clubs where Venture Capitalists are brought in and entrepreneurs are taught how to develop their own business plans and seek private and public financings, and this is something I have first hand experience at.

 As your elected official at City Hall: I will fight to ensure that ward 8 gets its fair share of resources; and that the public purse is utilized more efficiently.  I will work with any and all community interests groups to ensure that we get our fair share of resources from the City and Provincial and Federal Governments.

Lastly, I ask you to consider voting for Arthur Smitherman on October 25^th - because a vote for Arthur Smitherman is a vote for Social Justice - and, Justice Delayed is Justice Denied!