Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
What’s behind Canada’s housing crisis?
Wednesday, November 6th, 2024
Canada had a strong housing welfare system in the 1960s and 1970s, but this changed in 1993 when the federal government stopped funding social housing programs. It shifted toward a commodified system that emphasized individual responsibility… This shift was driven by two neoliberal beliefs. The first is that the private market is the most efficient way to provide housing… The second belief is that homeownership promotes autonomy and reduces reliance on governments by building property assets, although the reality defies this belief.
Tags: economy, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights
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CMA calls for elimination of sick note requirements by employers
Monday, October 28th, 2024
The association says sick notes burden physicians with unnecessary administrative tasks and detract from patient care. In a new position paper, the CMA calls for legislative changes to restrict the requirement for sick notes and promote alternatives such as self-certification and flexible leave policies… the move aims to ease the administrative burden on health care providers and improve patients’ access to care and the overall efficiency of the health care system.
Tags: economy, Health
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Corporate profits continue to rise as corporate taxes fall
Monday, October 21st, 2024
Rising corporate profits and falling corporate tax rates are related. Corporate tax cuts encourage higher profits by increasing the share of profits that shareholders get to keep. Proponents of cutting corporate taxes typically argue that it will promote investment and eventually lead to higher productivity. But, over the past 30 years, the opposite has happened. In the late 1990s, annual labour productivity growth was over 2%. Now, it is less than 1%.
Tags: economy, jurisdiction, tax
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Ontario taxpayers fork over $4.3 million to settle legal costs in Bill 124 cases
Wednesday, October 16th, 2024
In a 2-1 decision earlier this year, the Appeal Court struck down the law, saying it infringed on workers’ Charter rights. The province accepted defeat and, soon after, repealed the law in its entirety… The province has so far paid out $6.7 billion for retroactive pay increases to broader public-sector workers after the law was struck down. Taxpayers would have been on the hook for those salary bumps either way, but the additional legal costs were a waste of money, leaders of the opposition parties said.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, rights
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What’s behind Canada’s housing crisis? Experts break down the different factors at play
Friday, October 4th, 2024
The market is most likely to respond to the housing needs of those with strong purchasing power, leaving behind low and moderate income families whose housing needs cannot generate effective market demand. The consequence is growing housing inequality, with many low-income families trapped in precarious living conditions… De-commodifying and de-financializing housing is key. This means expanding community housing, prioritizing community-based solutions and ensuring long-term security for all.
Tags: economy, homelessness, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization
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The hard truths Mark Carney’s economic turnaround plan must address
Sunday, September 29th, 2024
… trade barriers among provinces and territories reduce economic activity by as much as $200 billion per year. And lack of harmonization of rules, regulations and standards among jurisdictions stunts economic and productivity growth, elevates consumer prices, restricts labour mobility and slows the pace of new housing construction… Restoring the federal portion of the GST to its original seven per cent would generate about $28 billion in government revenues in 2028-29… equal to almost three-quarters of this year’s projected federal deficit.
Tags: economy, pensions, Seniors, tax
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This group of [Indigenous] investors is making major acquisitions in Canada. The results could benefit us all
Saturday, August 10th, 2024
… at least 111 Indigenous communities have obtained or announced equity stakes in Canadian businesses in the past two years alone… Wind power, oil and gas, solar generation and electricity transmission account for about three-quarters of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit investments… Indigenous ownership in projects mitigates land-claims conflict, reduces regulatory risks for all investors, and creates other spinoff benefits.
Tags: economy, Indigenous, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
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International Monetary Fund paints a rosy picture of Canada — maybe the country isn’t broken after all
Monday, June 17th, 2024
The IMF says Ottawa should seek additional revenue sources to reduce its reliance on deficit financing. It suggests raising the federal portion of the GST, as this space earlier advocated in also calling for a higher OAS eligibility age of 67… removing interprovincial trade barriers would boost the Canadian economy by about $80 billion a year… The IMF urges Canada to resume provision of social housing, a field Ottawa abandoned in the 1990s with disastrous consequences.
Tags: economy, housing, ideology, standard of living
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Mark Carney had a chance to weigh in one of the defining issues facing Canada. The answer he gave suggests he isn’t ready for public life
Tuesday, May 14th, 2024
Around the world, almost no serious person continues to believe that cutting taxes on the wealthy will unlock growth for working and middle-income people. Most advanced industrial democracies are dealing with inequality and challenges to economic growth by rejecting market fundamentalism and investing in things like public transit, child care, affordable housing and ensuring that low- and middle-income people have money to spend in the local economy.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology
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Economic growth tops the priority list for Canadian policymakers — here’s why
Thursday, April 25th, 2024
We should be making room for measures of personal and collective well-being other than GDP. But we also need economic growth — not just so we can consume more, or generate more revenue for governments, but so we can take better care of one another… growth could include better housing, better food and better health care, or even a better defence posture. And it need not require consuming more natural resources.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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