Social Justice and Peace Club
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NOVEMBER 2009
YOUR NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST GO HERE!! Send us stories that YOU feel are newsworthy! | According to a new poll: www.globescan.com/news_archives/bbc2009_berlin_wall/backgrounder.html#, commissioned by BBC World Service, 20% of Canadians believe that "capitalism is fatally flawed and a different economic system is needed." Interestingly, this view is almost never heard expressed in any of Canada's newspapers, radio stations or television networks. And -- for better or worse -- even some major cities like London, Ontario, have almost no political organizations that are anti-capitalist, effectively disenfranchising millions of Canadians who oppose capitalism and want to see it replaced by a more egalitarian post-capitalist alternative. (I believe that in London, an anarchist organization called 'Common Cause' is the city's only formal organization that is specifically anti-capitalist. However, if there are others, please let me know, because I think that this poll suggests thatsuch groups need to be getting more attention. Also, the LPPS is "for apost-capitalist participatory economy," but does not at this time take any explicit stance for or against capitalism.) Over a thousand Canadians were surveyed in July 2009. The study found that for every three Canadians who believe that "Capitalism works well and increased regulation will makeit less efficient" (15% overall), there are four Canadians who believe that"Capitalism is fatally flawed and a different economic system is needed" (20% overall). http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/bbc2009_berlin_wall/demoquest.html Other results of the poll: 13% of Americans -- that is, tens of millions of US citizens -- believe that "Capitalism is fatally flawed and a different economic system is needed." 38% of Mexicans believe that "Capitalism is fatally flawed and a different economic system is needed," with only 2% believing that it "works well...." In Brazil, the ratio is 38% to 8%. In France, a whopping 43% believe that "Capitalism is fatally flawed...." In both Italy and Spain, 29% are anti-capitalist. For the full results, covering countries on every continent, visit the web site: http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/bbc2009_berlin_wall/backgrounder.html# For a brief BBC article summarizing the results, visit the BBC site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8347409.stm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Report Card on Child Poverty in Ontario TORONTO - Twenty years after the House of Commons resolved to end child poverty in Canada one in every nine children in Ontario still lives in poverty and the recession will deepen the problem, says the 2009 Ontario Report Card on Child Poverty by Ontario Campaign 2000. Even before the recession became full-blown in Ontario, the province's poverty rate was 11.7 per cent. One-third of all low-income children lived in working poor families where at least one parent had the equivalent of full-time, full-year work -- a problem that is about to get worse. "Since then, Ontario has been plunged into a year-long recession with no clear end in sight, so we can be sure the rate of child and family poverty today is even higher than 11.7%,” says Jacquie Maund, Coordinator of Ontario Campaign 2000. "Now, more than ever, Ontario children and their families need government supports to climb out of poverty." From Promise to Reality -- Recession Proofing Ontario Families, credits the Ontario government for bringing in a Poverty Reduction Strategy last December which commits to lift 90,000 children out of poverty between 2008 and 2013. But more needs to be done to prevent poverty from worsening due to the recession. "The Government of Ontario was brave enough to signal its intent to combat poverty in the midst of a full-blown recession as bad as anything the province has seen since the Great Depression,” says Armine Yalnizyan, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. "But intentions are not enough. Without strong and swift action, poverty in Ontario will grow deeper and slow down the province's economic recovery." The report calls on the Ontario government to take action in five core areas to prevent and alleviate poverty:
For further comment please contact: Jacquie Maund, 416-595-9230 x 241 Armine Yalnizyan 416- 884 -2776 To view the report see www.campaign2000.ca/Ontario/index.html Disclaimer: The information contained in this e-mail communication (and any attachments) is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email communication (and any attachments) please delete the e-mail immediately and notify me at the telephone number shown above or by return e-mail. Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Family Service Toronto. Neither the sender nor Family Service Toronto accepts liability for any errors or omissions in the content of this message that arise as a result of e-mail transmission. This message and any attachments have been scanned for viruses, however Family Service Toronto does not accept liability for any virus that may have been transmitted. |
