Archive for the ‘Policy Context’ Category
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How not to fix EI
the CTF’s call to turn the program into a personal savings account — as argued by Gregory Thomas in a Citizen oped — is misguided and should be rejected… A program established to provide a temporary safety net to Canadians who lose their jobs has morphed into a giant bureaucracy with complex rules that doesn’t even serve the interests of all workers — at least not equitably… reform is certainly needed, but we should be careful not to make the problem worse by leaving many vulnerable Canadians unprotected.
Tags: economy, participation, poverty, standard of living
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Making Every Job a Good Job [minimum wages]
This paper proposes a core benchmark against which to set the minimum wage: 60% of the average industrial wage, which would be roughly $14.50 today. Once the benchmark is reached, it proposes that the minimum wage be adjusted annually for inflation. This is an approach that balances the needs of vulnerable workers with the dual goal of shared prosperity and ensuring that every job in Ontario is a good job.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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No let-up in influx of foreign workers
… the wage structure for entry-level jobs is so badly skewed that it will take years to straighten it out. Firms that can’t get workers at the going rate normally have two choices; pay higher wages or invest in labour-saving technology. Ottawa gave them a cheaper option: Hire abroad. Many employers have become so dependent on migrant workers that they would have trouble surviving if market forces were allowed to prevail.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, rights, standard of living
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Stephen Harper’s new employment insurance rules whack Ontario hard
Ottawa has quietly changed the definition of who is eligible for what. So-called long-tenured workers — those who have paid into the program for at least seven of the last ten years but haven’t used it much — will be treated best. Frequent claimants, such as seasonal workers, will be treated worst. But the bulk of claimants, all of whom are now defined by the government as “occasional” will be treated almost as badly as seasonal workers.
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights, standard of living
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Ottawa launches business incubator visa
… entrepreneurs seeking permanent residency in Canada must first gain the support of an angel investor group, venture capital fund or new business incubator before they can apply for the startup visa. The backers are supposed to provide seed money and mentorship to fledgling companies in order to help them attract investors and grow their startups into sustainable businesses that can create jobs in Canada.
Tags: economy, globalization, immigration, privatization, standard of living
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Report calls for cap on temporary foreign workers
A new report is calling for a cap on the number of temporary foreign workers admitted to Canada on an annual basis, pending wholesale changes to the beleaguered program that currently risks taking jobs away from young Canadians entering the labour market and lower-skilled Canadian workers… “One could imagine a fee structure where the fee rises with the number of temporary foreign workers hired in a given year and with the number of years for which an employer hires temporary foreign workers”
Tags: economy, globalization, immigration, standard of living, youth
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Ontario’s minimum wage frozen too long
… both inflation and the rise in productivity should be taken into account when considering wage increases. There are very few jobs that have not been made dramatically more productive by technological change in recent decades. The resulting wealth creation should be fairly shared by both employers and employees. In unionized workplaces, this is traditionally achieved through collective bargaining. But in the low-wage service sector, it happens only when the minimum wage is increased.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, rights, standard of living
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Hike the minimum wage, indeed
A fair minimum wage is a basic issue of justice. It’s also a key element of Ontario’s poverty reduction strategy, which has shown disappointing results in recent years. The minimum wage should be set at a level that ensures that work is truly a pathway out of poverty. If Premier Kathleen Wynne is sincere about her professed desire to be the “social justice Premier,” she needs to affirm her commitment to real progress against poverty and quickly implement a substantial increase in the minimum wage.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Don’t wait, boost minimum wage
… a lot of people are working very hard just to remain in poverty. The emergence of such a huge underclass does not bode well for Ontario… To both alleviate poverty and increase consumer spending, the government should move as quickly as possible on minimum wage reform. It should speed up the work of the advisory panel it set up on the issue this summer and get ready to make a substantial increase in Ontario’s minimum wage.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, rights, standard of living
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Ontario should set minimum wage in regular, predictable way
Why do businesses support regular hikes? Because the current ad hoc process is opaque, politicized, and benefits nobody. Workers are subjected to long wage freezes and deteriorating purchasing power. On the other hand, employers must deal with sudden and unforeseen increases in the cost of doing business. Businesses need a minimum wage system that is predictable, transparent, and fair—one that accounts for potential impacts on Ontario’s economic competitiveness.
Tags: economy, ideology, rights, standard of living
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