Angela Truong
Mrs. L. Smith
English 3/4C
18 November 2015
Oh, Canada
In the article “Charity is not social justice”, former TD bank head Ed Clark has observed that the rich give less to charity than the middle class, and wants them to give more. As the Nordic countries have demonstrated, the answer is higher wages, more social welfare, and a progressive tax system to pay for it. If the wealthy can afford to give more to charity, they can afford to pay more taxes. A Progressive Conservative MPP states that the Liberals will take the easy way out by raising taxes instead of reduce spending. It takes a compassionate and sensible person to balance taxes and spending to support what was once the unique character of being Canadian. Canada is portrayed as a country that reaches out to the poor, helps the young, raises and lower taxes, and balances budgets.
In the article “Charity is not social justice”, I believe the social justice issues that are being portrayed in the article are economic inequality, and racial inequality. There has always been a gap between the rich and the poor in Canada. Wealthy Canadians are taking home fat pay cheques, meanwhile a growing number of working people are seeing their income drop. As discussed in the article, the economic inequality between rich and poor has continued to grow. Clearly it is written between the lines that racial inequality is related to the article “Charity is not social justice”. Charity and poverty are two different words, but can have the same meaning. When you give to the poor, some say it can be considered as a “charity case”. There are higher rates of poverty due to racial inequality. As discussed in the article, there is a rising inequality in income and wealth between racialized communities and other Canadians.
The conditions that contributed to economic inequality are wealthy Canadians are given more opportunity to succeed with loaded pay cheques, while working Canadians work longer and harder for less pay or they’re grasping at any kind of work. The conditions contributed to racial inequality are the growing income and unemployment gap between racialized groups and white Canadians. The result is racial discrimination – tolerating inequality increasingly based on racial lines, which the government is not taking seriously.
In the article “New program Women Speak out gives the marginalized a voice”, three morning a week 12 women gather at spirit spa at Parkdale to learn how to talk again. These are the unspoken stories of Toronto’s ghosts the women who disappear in broad daylight on Bloor St. After years of silently bleeding, they are learning the curative power of their voices. These 12 women are part of an incredible new program called Women Speak Out. The program are run by four non-profit agencies two that help women, one that helps newcomers, and Voices from the Street, a program that trains people with mental illnesses to come advocates. Countless wars have been waged over one story (the Bible) or another (the Koran). Stories are what lure people to Canada; listen to these women’s stories.