Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
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We need business to speed up our sluggish recovery
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Sep. 01, 2010
Business should be leading economic recovery, borrowing money (from households and banks) to fund new investments and jobs. That’s how capitalism is supposed to work. In today’s lean-and-mean world, however, business is free-riding on the spending efforts of others. Despite tax cuts and other business-friendly policies, the private sector isn’t taking on the risks, and taking on the debt, necessary to fuel broader recovery.
Tags: economy
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Inner-city job project cuts welfare costs, turns profit
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
30/08/2010
During its first seven years in business, Inner City Renovations has saved the public purse close to three-quarters of a million dollars. That calculation of social assistance payments saved and income taxes paid is one indication of the success of the construction/renovation firm, which was formed in 2002 with a dual bottom-line mandate: the traditional financial one and a far-less-common social one.
Tags: housing, participation, poverty
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Don’t swallow these innovation nostrums
Monday, August 30th, 2010
Aug. 27, 2010
… one report after another has identified innovation gaps in Canada and offered warnings about our lagging productivity and future prosperity… a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship should be promoted in all sectors of the economy, not least social agencies, non-profit enterprises, public administration, and postsecondary and health-care institutions. Such a shift depends on long-term planning and sustained effort. There are no short cuts, and quick fixes may do more harm than good.
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living
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Stephen Harper’s $130 Million Chapter 11 Giveaway
Friday, August 27th, 2010
Aug. 27, 2010
Stephen Harper’s Conservative government reached a $130 million out-of-court settlement with the bankruptcy trustees overseeing the restructuring of AbitibiBowater Inc., a failed forestry and paper giant… The Abitibi settlement ranks as the largest Chapter 11 payout ever made by any North American government. Ottawa’s capitulation will clearly encourage more companies to take aggressive action through the NAFTA kangaroo court, over any government action (nationally prejudicial or otherwise) seen to hurt business profits and the interests of any investors, whatever their nationality.
Tags: globalization, privatization, rights, standard of living
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The Employment Insurance crutch
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
August 16, 2010
… it seems the government takes such good care of us that taking care of ourselves has become optional. And if the number of 20-somethings in Toronto on employment insurance is any indication, a shameful number of us are opting out… If the spirit of social assistance is that it prevents the most disadvantaged among us from having to live below a minimum standard, then somewhere along the line, something has gone terribly wrong… young Canadians appear to harbour an alarming sense of entitlement, one the government encourages through an EI system that helps those unwilling to help themselves.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
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Canada’s ‘more humane society’ saved economy: Krugman
Monday, August 16th, 2010
Aug 16 2010
“It is not at all clear when and how this ends.”… A “combination of good luck but mostly good policy” have allowed Canadians to be spared the horrors that Americans have faced, he added. And that good policy includes a safety net of employment insurance and social programs. Canada being “a basically more humane society,” Krugman said, “has meant the suffering is far less.”
Tags: economy, globalization, poverty
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Reform EI now
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
August 10, 2010
… as jobs disappeared in the late fall of 2008, killing jobs with higher payroll taxes simply was not in the cards. The government held the line on premiums but, as the economy slowly recovers, payroll taxes will surely rise in the next few years. The issue is whether the EI payroll taxes rather than general revenues should be used to pay for costs unrelated to unemployment. EI premiums, even those paid by the employer, fall on the backs of workers. With maximum contribution limits, payroll taxes represent a greater burden on workers with low and modest incomes.
Tags: economy, standard of living
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Step backward in labour laws
Monday, August 9th, 2010
Aug 06 2010
… the government proposes to “modernize” the Employment Standards Act. Under new rules, workers would be required to confront their boss about unpaid wages, overtime or other breaches of the law before filing a claim with the labor ministry… “This is like asking someone who’s had their purse stolen to go and confront the thief before they’re allowed to make a complaint with the police,” said Sonia Singh, an organizer at the Workers’ Action Centre… B.C. passed similar legislation eight years ago. Thousands of exploited workers simply stopped filing claims.
Tags: globalization, immigration, poverty, standard of living
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CEOs are overpaid, not workers
Friday, August 6th, 2010
Aug 06 2010
The inequity keeps growing. Profitable corporations are still squeezing employee wages, replacing permanent staff with temporary work, and shipping Canadian jobs overseas. And they are getting rewarded with massive tax breaks, which will eventually drain government revenue by $16 billion a year. Access to good public services is crucial to our quality of life as Canadians, and good public services depend upon front line workers. We need to challenge the race-to-the-bottom mentality. All workers — both private and public sector — have the right to earn a decent wage so they can live in dignity.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
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Economic ‘rights’ don’t need their own charter
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Aug 04 2010
Under our existing Charter, the courts can strike down a law as unconstitutional if it’s deemed to violate our fundamental rights, such as freedom of religion or freedom of the press. An economic charter, reinforced by a proposed “economic freedom commission,” would give the courts a similar ability to strike down government regulations on business, including everything from environmental policies to health and safety standards… Canadians should support all sensible and democratic measures to reduce interprovincial trade barriers. But a charter of economic rights, designed to impose a deregulatory bias from above, is simply not one of them.
Tags: economy, ideology, rights
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