Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Canada’s free-trade deal with South Korea offers warnings about TPP
If we want to improve our Asia-Pacific trade performance – and we should certainly try – free-trade deals won’t make it happen. Instead, we should emulate measures that Asian countries themselves have used to great effect: industrial planning, subsidized exports and conscious efforts to maximize domestic content in supply chains. Those governments don’t trust their future to “free markets,” and neither should we.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
The world according to business
… the Fraser Institute pointed out that the CPP, despite the size of its asset base, was not cheaper to administer (in a ratio between assets and costs) than other public sector pension funds. The finding, essentially? That CPP should not be expanded and an Ontario Pension Plan should not be launched (thereby saving business owners money). What the study didn’t point out, is that an ever-growing number of Canadians will have none of those better-performing pension funds to fall back on. CPP may be their only option — but don’t expand it, for God’s sake.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, pensions, poverty, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Canada mustn’t walk away from ratifying TPP trade deal
World trade was stalled with the demise of the WTO’s trade negotiations (known as the Doha Round). TPP is by far the most ambitious attempt to restart it… No country in the world is more dependent on the progress of multilateral trade than Canada. Are we better off fighting trade disputes with huge countries alone or with an army of partners? The question answers itself… There are sectors in Canada that will be challenged by the agreement, to be sure.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, privatization, rights, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Employees with disabilities can have a positive impact on profitability
Employers believe in a series of stereotypes, myths and misperceptions about including disabled people on their payrolls… In fact, including workers with disabilities in real jobs with equal pay tends to have a direct and positive impact on a business’s profitability. Workers with disabilities are more productive, work more safely, stay longer, require less supervision, are more innovative and have less absenteeism.
Tags: disabilities, economy, ideology, mental Health, participation
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Amid wave of layoffs, Canadian labour force in need of employment insurance reform, better support for workers: C.D. Howe |
The wave of resource sector layoffs coincides with a longer-term trend that is seeing the labour market shift from lower- and medium-skilled jobs to higher-skilled jobs… [due to] globalization, technical change and aging demographics… “Different rules for access to, and the duration of, EI benefits are inappropriate” … regionally separate criteria should instead be replaced by a “uniform, countrywide” employment insurance program.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Let’s Talk About How My Job at Bell Gave Me Mental Health Issues and No Benefits
… the concept of raising awareness, reducing the stigma and giving millions of dollars to mental health initiatives is great and important… What isn’t so great is how Bell’s failure to acknowledge how it participates in the systemic problems affecting the mental health of its own staff. If I needed to take a sick day for a cold or a panic attack, I would lose a day’s pay. No benefits… For many, casual, contract and hourly work is a necessary stepping stone or means to pay basic bills, especially when layoffs and closures continue to mount.
Tags: disabilities, economy, Health, ideology, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
A better deal – for Canada, the U.S. and Europe
The Europeans’ concern has to do with the process for investment arbitration, and the quality of the adjudicators selected to render decisions… a permanent investment-court system is likely to mean “greater uniformity of jurisprudence and a greater measure of public confidence.” Fixing CETA in this way would respond to critics of the deal, while improving it.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Shovel-ready economic stimulus? That’s employment insurance
… the most shovel-ready and targeted fiscal stimulus is employment insurance. Meaningful infrastructure spending can take months or years to get off the ground, but unemployed workers get (and spend) EI benefits within weeks… Increasing access to benefits will make the stimulus more effective and equitable. The Liberals’ EI election promises aren’t scheduled to take effect until January, 2017, but some would be straightforward to implement now.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Why outdated thinking means Canada spends too much money on policing
… dozens of best practices that have allowed police departments around the world to reduce staffing while increasing the effectiveness of their patrols… it makes no sense having an armed, trained police officer earning $100,000 a year directing traffic, investigating bylaw infractions, typing up notes from a taped interview, providing courthouse security, or doing any number of jobs that are below their pay grade.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, featured, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Ottawa looks to speed up EI reforms as job losses mount in West
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mandate letter to Ms. Mihychuk suggests significant changes are coming to the EI program. The Employment Minister has been asked to undertake “a broad review of the EI system.”Specific changes the government is looking at include reducing the wait time for new recipients from two weeks to one week and working with labour unions to fund training facilities.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Recent Comments