Archive for the ‘Policy Context’ 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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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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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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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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Later Retirement versus Higher Immigration as Remedies for an Aging Population
Increasing the age at which Canadians typically cease work and access benefits such as pensions is a far more practical and powerful tool to mitigate the economic and fiscal stresses of aging… Safeguarding our living standards and public programs against the stresses of aging requires other tools – in particular, rewards for people who stay economically active into their 60s and beyond. If we foster longer working life and address other challenges facing our pensions and healthcare, we will handle demographic change much better
Tags: economy, featured, immigration, pensions, standard of living
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New law to make employers accountable for temp worker injuries
Employers who use temporary employment agencies will no longer be able to evade liability for workplace accidents… as new legislation promises to hold them responsible when temps are injured or killed on the job… they would remove existing incentives for employers to shift risky work onto temp agency workers who often receive little training or protection… The ministry is also undertaking an in-depth investigation into the temp agency sector with results expected to be available in the spring.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, rights, standard of living
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Ontario to introduce ‘pay transparency’ legislation
If passed, the “pay transparency” bill would require all publicly advertised job postings to include a salary rate or range, bar employers from asking about past compensation and prohibit reprisal against employees who do discuss or disclose compensation. It would also create a framework that would require large employers to track and report compensation gaps based on gender and other diversity characteristics, and disclose the information to the province.
Tags: economy, featured, rights, standard of living, women
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After the Sears debacle, why is Ontario making it easier to underfund pensions?
Leaving retirees to scramble in their golden years is cruel, and it is unconscionable to expect an overtaxed middle class to foot the bill for corporate chicanery. If governments won’t stop companies from dodging their pension obligations, it’s just a matter of time before we see the next Sears Canada. And that’s a prospect that should worry us all.
Tags: crime prevention, economy, featured, jurisdiction, pensions, rights
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Why a guaranteed minimum income is a better option than raising the minimum wage
Rather than blithely decreeing that employers must pay their employees an amount the rest of us think appropriate, and hoping it all works out for the best, the option is open to us as a society to put our money where our mouths are: to finance a decent minimum income for all with our taxes — which unlike wages are not so easily avoided. Maybe this latest increase in the minimum wage will prove less harmful than feared, but it is certain to be more harmful than the alternative: a minimum income, socially guaranteed and socially financed.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
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