Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category

« Older Entries | Newer Entries »

Labour shortage? The answer is to bring older adults back into the workforce

Monday, November 15th, 2021

Bringing older adults back into the workforce is one answer to the current talent shortage. Extended working lives create benefits for everyone. Individuals experience improved physical and mental well-being. Employers profit from loyal, engaged employees who bring guidance, expertise and balance. The economy enjoys increased spending, income tax and charitable contributions.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


Labour shortage? The answer is to bring older adults back into the workforce

Tuesday, November 9th, 2021

Canada is due for a rethink when it comes to age. None of life’s traditional milestones hold true today… Extended working lives create benefits for everyone. Individuals experience improved physical and mental well-being. Employers profit from loyal, engaged employees who bring guidance, expertise and balance. The economy enjoys increased spending, income tax and charitable contributions.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


Ontario’s higher minimum wage is long overdue. Now go for a ‘living wage’

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021

In no Ontario community does $15 an hour provide a living wage. By living wage we mean the sum required for shelter, food, childcare, transportation and other necessities. To determine the living wage rates, the network crunches and averages costs for a single adult, a single parent and a family of four… If anything, Ford’s announcement places a focus on other not-wonderful elements of how his government is, or really isn’t, working for workers.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


Ford government should dump old-school thinking on minimum wage

Wednesday, October 13th, 2021

In awarding Canadian economist David Card the Nobel Prize in economics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has given a huge boost to the value of empirical study in the field of labour economics. For it was Card, working alongside American economist Alan Krueger, who put real world wage increases in New Jersey under the microscope and found no support for the theory that a rise in the minimum wage reduced employment.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


The key to Canada’s economic recovery is obvious. Why isn’t anyone talking about it?

Monday, September 13th, 2021

The federal budget estimates that a national child care program would add about 240,000 workers to the labour force. And since those workers are already here in Canada with Canadian credentials, integration into the labour force is seamless. An in-depth study of the economic impact of investing in early childhood education… shows that serious investment in high-quality child care boosts economic growth, reduces poverty, enhances equality, and sets the younger generation on a path to take on the world.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


Stronger EI and paid sick days are vital for workers. Labour Day is a moment for voters to judge parties on that

Monday, September 6th, 2021

… Canada needs a modern Employment Insurance system that covers all workers, including gig workers, self-employed people and the many misclassified workers who have been abandoned on the sidelines of so-called economic progress… If the pandemic has shown anything, it’s that systemic change is needed in how we view and regulate employment, and that how we treat workers (especially those in low-wage jobs) affects us all.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


When it comes to election promises on housing, it’s the details that matter

Monday, August 30th, 2021

The pledges with a far greater chance of creating positive change are the ones that push municipalities to make better and faster planning decisions to increase housing supply, and target federal funding to create housing that’s affordable for lower earners — a niche the market will never fill… Ottawa usually works through the provinces, but it’s welcome to see federal leaders contemplating a more direct relationship with cities.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


As a server, hearing others blame CERB for restaurant staff shortages is dehumanizing. If an industry is harmful, why blame low-wage workers?

Thursday, August 5th, 2021

Nobody wants to live in poverty. The idea that the government assistance available is more than what a business can pay makes you think: is it workers in the wrong or is the structure open to oppressive and abusive business models? I hear a lot of talk about how “this is just the way it is,” or “we’ll all go under if we raise wages.”

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


If employers can’t find workers, they should stop complaining and start offering better jobs

Sunday, August 1st, 2021

The pandemic provided some unexpected benefits.

It freed workers from soul-crushing commutes. People found more time to prepare healthy meals, to get more exercise. They spent less on clothing and styling and worked harder to explore and support local businesses… Perhaps that is what the workforce is doing, imagining a better way to live. Rather than casting insults and wishing for the old normal, perhaps business should do some reimagining, too, about improving an economic model that left most people too stressed to live well and struggling to make ends meet.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


The future of work in Ontario is at a crossroads. Will we ensure decent employment for all?

Monday, July 26th, 2021

The government has indicated the temporary wage enhancement for personal support workers will be made permanent, which is great news. It should also be expanded to include front-line housing, shelter and child-care staff — all of whom are inadequately compensated for their essential labour. Prioritizing investment in the non-profit sector — a feminized workforce that employs more than 800,000 women across Ontario — would also be a sensible policy decision

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


« Older Entries | Newer Entries »