Archive for the ‘Economy/Employment’ Category
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Court victory for Ontario couple sets new precedent for precarious workers
The pair went on to spend three decades working together for a Toronto-area furniture company renovating kitchens. When the business closed in 2009, the Keenans were abruptly let go, with no notice or severance. The reason: their company had classified them as “independent contractors,” a category with no protection under Ontario’s employment laws.
Tags: crime prevention, economy, participation, pensions, rights, standard of living
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Big Pharma’s lesson on the perils of private-sector research
The core problem remains weak R&D in the Canadian private sector. The public sector, by OECD standards, is generous. So is university funding for research… But the private sector remains way behind businesses in, for example, Scandinavian countries, the United States, Israel, Japan and South Korea… R&D rose in countries with lower drug prices than Canada, the United States being the exception… Canada has among the highest drug prices in the world… but the country is losing its share of pharmaceutical R&D.
Tags: economy, globalization, pharmaceutical, standard of living
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Does Canada really need $16 billion in business subsidies?
While small businesses do create most jobs in Canada, the contribution comes from a surprisingly small share of small businesses… the overwhelming majority of small businesses start small and stay small, or exit. That makes the small business deduction, which provides support for investment by all small businesses (at a cost of $3 billion in 2013), wasteful, since most of the benefits are received by firms that do not grow…
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
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Reasons for optimism among the energy sector gloom
A proposal to extend equity stakes in resource projects to affected communities is building growing support among aboriginal, business and political leaders. The concept requires further work, but it shows the type of goodwill and novel thinking that’s occurring… The Minister of Natural Resources has said that “developing our resources is truly a nation-building exercise at a critical moment in Canada’s history.” We share the minister’s optimism.
Tags: economy, Indigenous, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
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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
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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
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Amid avalanche of lost jobs, confusion reigns about EI eligibility
Claims that cutbacks to EI are eroding the safety net for workers who pay into the program are mostly untrue. The program is working reasonably well for those it aims to cover. Nonetheless, improvements can and should be made for certain pockets of workers… The existence of a large proportion of unemployed Canadians without benefits doesn’t mean that EI is broken. Instead, it implies that a sizable share of today’s labour force cannot be served by an insurance-like program.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
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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
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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
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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
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