Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
New federal wage protections for part-time and temp workers are coming soon. Will they work?
Friday, October 9th, 2026
Under the new rules, employers are required to pay workers equally, regardless of whether they are full-time, part-time, permanent or temporary, as long as they perform “substantially the same kind of work” in “the same industrial establishment.” Federally regulated temporary help agencies will also be prohibited from paying their employees less than a client company pays its own workers for comparable work, or charging workers fees to secure job assignments.
Tags: economy, standard of living
Posted in Debates | 5 Comments »
Ontario’s minimum wage is falling further behind the living wage
Wednesday, September 30th, 2026
The 2018 minimum wage freeze, coupled with the weakening of rent control, dealt a double blow to low-wage workers and working families across Ontario. Poverty—measured in various ways—has increased in recent years as a direct result of these policies. The provincial government should raise the minimum wage to the living wage rate – a single change that would considerably improve the lives of more than 1.5 million workers in Ontario. That measure would go further in reducing working poverty ifpaired with regulatory changes that halt price gouging in rental housing and groceries.
Tags: economy, featured, jurisdiction, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Debates | 4 Comments »
Alternative federal budget 2026-27: Summary
Thursday, September 17th, 2026
Simply arguing for a strong Canada, without any other criteria, clearly isn’t cutting it… Recent federal budgets have been something of a wishlist from Canada’s corporate elites. The AFB… is a wishlist from below—of regular, working people and the movements they build. It is also a benchmark: a realistic, achievable outline of the Canada that we could have, if policymakers chose a route of ambition—a route of strength, but also a route of solidarity.
Tags: budget, child care, economy, Education, featured, Health, homelessness, immigration, Indigenous, Seniors, tax
Posted in Debates | 6 Comments »
Canada’s oil giants are cashing in on conflict. Consumers are paying the price
Sunday, August 9th, 2026
It is neither inevitable nor reasonable that one industry should profit so obscenely from a war that is killing thousands, dislocating millions, and undermining the livings standards of billions. This situation reflects a deliberate policy choice: to give a few corporations power to charge whatever the market will bear for an essential commodity, regardless of cost of production or harm to society.
Tags: economy, featured, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | 6 Comments »
Canada’s quiet economic driver: Universities and colleges
Friday, May 1st, 2026
Universities and colleges lead the way on driving economic growth: Universities and colleges’ economic output was worth $61 billion in 2025, which was 2.1 per cent of Canada’s total GDP—just $5 billion behind residential building construction, much more than all oil sands extraction ($49 billion), and almost twice as much as mining or transportation manufacturing (at $33 billion each)… Despite only making up about two per cent of Canada’s economy, the post-secondary education sector represents over 34 per cent of all research and development, which was much higher than Canada’s peer countries.
Tags: economy, Education, standard of living
Posted in Debates | 8 Comments »
What Pierre Poilievre Doesn’t Get About His Economic Hero
Monday, April 27th, 2026
Poilievre presents justice — fairness, poverty reduction, the well-being of those left behind — as something that markets produce incidentally when they are left alone. The claim is that free markets lifted billions out of poverty; therefore the path forward is more free markets, fewer regulations, lower taxes, more oil and gas. But this framing depends on a separation of efficiency and justice that doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.
Tags: economy, ideology, privatization, rights, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Every President Tries It. It Never Works.
Thursday, April 2nd, 2026
Efforts to revive manufacturing are rooted in nostalgia. Once upon a time, manufacturing jobs provided a reliable pathway to the middle class… Not anymore… A smarter economic strategy would stop measuring success by the number of assembly lines reopened and start focusing on what actually raises living standards: productivity, affordability and the growth of the whole economy.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
What Canada can learn from Mexico’s approach to U.S. trade
Tuesday, January 20th, 2026
Mexico’s strategy offers a template for aligning with the U.S. without sacrificing sovereignty or respect for the rule of law. It is a far cry from a full North American customs union that some hope to achieve as part of the upcoming CUSMA review, which would unduly tie Mexican and Canadian trade policy to the whims of Washington, D.C… The recent China deal is a step in the right direction.
Tags: economy, globalization
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Elbows up: A practical program for Canadian sovereignty
Sunday, December 7th, 2025
A strong industrial strategy is needed so this frontal attack does not consign Canada to its previous role as supplier of primary staples products… Canada’s trade-oriented, goods-producing industries receive most attention, yet almost 80 per cent of our GDP is produced in non-traded sectors. This includes the care economy, like health care and education, which need more investment, too—not austerity.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
I have lived on three continents and I know what is preventing Canada from thriving
Sunday, November 30th, 2025
A healthy economy sustains strong public systems. Our goal has never been growth at any cost, but growth that keeps health care accessible, schools excellent and a safety net for those who need it. Prosperity and fairness are not opposites; they rise together when rules are fair and ambition has room to run. Immigration belongs in that frame.
Tags: economy, globalization, immigration, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Debates | 6 Comments »
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