Privilege Convoy

For anyone who was on Bloor St. February 5, you likely heard some annoying honking by grown men who don’t like masks. The “Freedom Convoy”, in protest of masks, vaccines, and shutdowns, ironically, caused shutdowns at our borders and in our capital. Toronto got but a little taste of Ottawa’s stupidity.

Though they cloak this protest around words like “freedom”, it is anything but. It is a grown-up tantrum. It is also why climate change is so hard to tackle.

The convoy made little attempt to hide …

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Canadian Content is worth saving

Canadian Content is worth saving

The Minister of Canadian Heritage recently launched consultations on Canadian Content in a Digital World to explore how we can strengthen the creation, discovery and export of Canadian content in the 21st century. On November 15, we gathered some experts to explore the state of the industry and the potential impact of policy changes. We were joined by Kevin McMahon, writer, director and producer; Dave Sparrow, president of ACTRA Toronto (Alliance of Cinema, Television and Radio Artists); and Erin Lowers, writer, publicist, and digital strategist …

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Recognizing Foreign Credentials

Recognizing Foreign Credentials

On Wednesday, June 10, the Uptown branch of Why Should I Care gathered to discuss a major issue affecting Canadian society – Canada’s failure to recognize foreign credentials. We were joined by special guests Art Noordeh, director of the Internationally Educated Professionals Bridging Program at York University, and Omar Lujan, a PhD candidate at Ryerson University studying Mexican immigration in Toronto from a policy and citizenship perspective. The evening’s conversation focused on how this issue is affecting internationally trained professionals and Canadian society, and what can be done …

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Fewer Barriers to Entrepreneurship key to helping Underemployed Young Canadians

Fewer Barriers to Entrepreneurship key to helping Underemployed Young Canadians

This past Monday, September 23, WSIC hosted a vibrant discussion on youth underemployment in Canada. Leading the discussion was Michael Hlinka, a University of Toronto instructor and regular business commentator for CBC, and Julia Deans, CEO of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation. Michael and Julia were joined in the Q&A part of the evening by Leanne Abdulla, a young woman willing to speak openly about her ongoing challenges of finding permanent employment in Toronto.

Leanne is a registered social service worker with two diplomas yet is …

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Patient engagement is key to Healthcare Sustainability

Patient engagement is key to Healthcare Sustainability

“Patient engagement is the blockbuster drug of this century” said Dr. Zayna Khayat; a great way to sum up her vision for the future of health care. A senior leader with the International Centre for Health Innovation, she and Dr. Ernie Lightman, an economics and social policy professor at UofT, led the Why Should I Care discussion on August 10 2013 at the Duke of York on health care sustainability. Both agree that major changes are needed and coming.

A great deal of health dollars are …

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Pros and Cons of a Casino in Toronto

Pros and Cons of a Casino in Toronto

There was a large and lively crowd on Monday to hear a strong discussion about the Toronto Casino proposal.

Rosario Marchese, MPP of Trinity-Spadina (a downtown riding often proposed as a location for the casino), started the evening off with some arguments against a putting a casino so close to residential neighbourhoods.  Residents of Liberty Village are worried that a casino at the Ex would “suck the life out” of the area.  While Casinos themselves are often vibrant, businesses around them do not remain so.  Over …

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Pension Discussion Summary

Pension Discussion Summary

Money. We love it. We hate it. We need it. Planning on growing old? You’re definitely going to need it. How much? Some say about $2 million.

No matter what your take on the issue, our governments are trying to encourage us to save on our own for retirement rather than expecting our employer, or future governments to pick up the tab. The federal government has been floating the idea of Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPPs).

At WSIC’s November 19th meeting at the Duke of York, pension …

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Pensions: What’s left for the youth?

Pensions: What’s left for the youth?

Pension coverage is shrinking. It’s an open secret that today’s young people are looking at retirements less prosperous than their parents enjoyed. The have and have-nots of tomorrow will be defined by who does and doesn’t have a pension.

The federal government has proposed a new pension scheme: pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs). In a paper published by the C.D. Howe Institute, in August, James Pierlot explained why this scheme will do little for the middle class and in fact could put many Canadians in a worse financial position.

With …

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