Archive for the ‘Economy/Employment’ Category
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Cutting off workers from benefits at 65 unconstitutional, human rights tribunal rules
In 2006, Ontario passed a law that ended the ability of employers to terminate workers when they turned 65. But the province’s Human Rights Code and Employment Standards Act still allow employers to cut workers off benefits when they turn 65, which the tribunal decision called a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The decision means employers will no longer be able to rely on the Human Rights Code and Employment Standards Act to justify excluding workers over 65 from their benefits plans, and will make them vulnerable to lawsuits if they do.
Tags: economy, featured, participation, rights
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Trump’s beggar-thy-neighbour trade strategy is anything but foolish
… for decades the United States played by the rules; everyone grew richer and the United States grew richer faster than everyone else. In the postwar world, the United States’ support of free trade was a key – perhaps the key – to its rise to global economic leader. Nowadays, however, the game has changed. Where once the goal of the United States was to rise to global hegemony, today its goal is to maintain that dominance.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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NAFTA is dead and Canada should move on
The compelling reason that Canada signed onto NAFTA (and to the original free-trade agreement) in the first place was to shield our economy from this type of capricious protectionism. It largely – if not completely – worked for us for the better part of three decades… But now we are locked in a relationship with an unpredictable and (economically) aggressive partner. No amount of nostalgia or wishful thinking can change that.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology
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Ontario divided: Anger, economics and the fault lines that could decide the election
Over the past decade, Ontario has created 580,000 new positions, as measured by the increase in employed people. Metro Toronto, which accounts for less than half of the province’s population, nabbed 80 per cent of those jobs. Ottawa accounts for another 10 per cent. The rest of Ontario, with millions of people from Cornwall to Thunder Bay, accounts for the remaining 10 per cent.
The situation is ripe for a populist to rip through the province and attract voters by exploiting the grievances of those who have been left out of the boom.
Tags: economy, globalization, participation, standard of living
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Ignore the gossip and guesswork. The facts prove that Canada’s competitive
… it will require all of us to take a broad view of what competitiveness means. Yes, that means taking a look at tax rules. But competitiveness rests on so much more than that — from workforce participation to skilled workers to modern infrastructure to science and innovation to global trade… I also believe in making decisions based on the facts, and the fact is that Canada remains one of the best places in the world to start, grow, and invest in a business.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Offshore tax havens set to overtake Canada in corporate transparency
Britain’s House of Commons passed legislation that will lift generations of corporate secrecy in its offshore territories by compelling company owners registered on the islands to reveal themselves in public databases. That kind of transparency is only an idea in Canada, where corporate owners can mask their identity behind lawyers and “figurehead” directors. There is no requirement for real company owners — or “beneficial” owners — to list their names in provincial or federal registries.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, economy, globalization, jurisdiction, rights, tax
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Can Canada reinvent the plastic economy?
Stop the irrational level of plastic waste; Systematically ensure reduction of unnecessary products; Ensure reuse and recycling – with thoughtful cradle-to-grave product design; Replace petroleum inputs with benign materials… Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has already called for the G7 to develop a “zero plastics waste charter,” and there is talk of a global treaty… there must be more than a photo op, a news release and a general call for global action.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, Health, jurisdiction
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Comeau ruling about more than beer and the Supreme Court got it right
… at any given point, one Canadian province or another will be leading the way on health, safety, energy-efficiency, or carbon standards. Thanks to Comeau, the innovators have a shield to protect their public-interest regulations from section 121 challenges. Otherwise, provinces with better standards would risk being dragged down to the lowest common denominator by those with lax or inexistent regulations.
Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction
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A measly $292.50 that could have changed it all
“The Supreme Court failed to rule that Provinces have no right to erect interprovincial tariff barriers. This is indeed unfortunate news for Canadian consumers, but a relief for provinces who have allowed fiscal priorities to supersede consumer choice, for years. For the agrifood sector, the decision would have had tremendous significance.” … Some favorable to the current regime believe the Comeau ruling could have triggered a race to the bottom, in terms of health standards and food safety. Such an argument is nonsense. Risk management practices in the Canadian agrifood sector are exemplary.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
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Resource jobs are sustaining Canada’s middle class. Period.
To maintain public support for pro-growth initiatives such as trade agreements and for doing Canada’s part in limiting climate change, we need to ensure that economic growth is felt by everybody in society. Economic growth that brings everyone along gives all families a stake in Canadian economic success. This increased economic security energizes social forces that pull us together. The polarizing alternatives to our social model can be seen in other countries
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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