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Child care is an integral part of our post-pandemic recovery. Let’s go big and act now
Monday, May 24th, 2021
Provinces will need to meet two tests of credibility in response to the federal offer. The first is one of commitment… because previous efforts haven’t built an accessible system, new commitments need to be significant… The other test is one of detail, of viability. Does the plan actually build up a high-quality, accessible child-care system in the province, led by well-trained and well-paid workers?
Tags: child care, economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Why democracy is in trouble, and what Canadians can do about it
Wednesday, January 16th, 2019
The less attention communities pay to how they are governed, the easier it is to intrude on the rule of law, the rights of minorities, or threaten the values that we do share… So what can Canadians do to shift these trends? It starts with recognizing democracy is about more than elections… “democracy is a verb”… it can be cultivated, grown and improved upon… start conversations, build networks, invest in skills development, mobilize communities and get people to take notice.
Tags: ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
McGuinty’s economic activism faces off against pocketbook relief
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
Sep. 21, 2011
We know that higher educational outcomes are correlated with economic success, and that Mr. McGuinty is singularly enthused with education, but we can’t be sure that his specific educational priorities will lead to that economic success… for the Tories, pocketbook relief predominates as the main way to grow the economy. It’s an increasingly familiar refrain, and a welcome one for many whose standard of living is declining. But whether pocketbook relief will actually create jobs the way the Tories say is an open question.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »
We need a Grand Bargain to save our public services
Monday, August 9th, 2010
August 9, 2010
Ottawa is again posting large deficits, federal transfers expire in 2014, and provinces could fall victim to unilateral cuts to transfers as they did in the 1990s, when the federal government balanced its books by drastically reducing transfers at no apparent political cost to itself… But Canada doesn’t simply need “protection” of current transfers. It needs a Grand Bargain, where greater, more transparent and more reliable federal funding is combined with a realignment of the way the provinces deliver those services, and of the whole fiscal relationship between the provinces and the federal government.
Tags: budget, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
We can’t fix the public sector in one budget
Monday, March 8th, 2010
Mar. 08, 2010
It makes for an attractive target. By most estimates, 70 per cent to 80 per cent of provincial government spending goes on salaries and wages. Public-sector work features benefits that have withstood the recession, including defined benefit pension plans, which are fading from the private sector. Public-sector wage settlements have outpaced those in the private sector for seven of the past nine years.
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »
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