Archive for the ‘Governance Debates’ Category
Ranked ballots for municipal elections matter and why Doug Ford should care
Monday, October 26th, 2020
… what is Premier Doug Ford afraid of? Municipalities deserve to decide how they conduct their own affairs, including how they elect their leaders. In fact, in referendums in Kingston and Cambridge, ranked ballots were chosen by voters as the way to elect their representatives.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, multiculturalism, participation, rights
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Ottawa now has a road map to rein in digital giants
Thursday, October 22nd, 2020
… an Australian-type regime in Canada would allow news publishers to recover about $620 million in ad revenue a year that’s now going to swell the bottom lines of Google and Facebook. That would make up most of the revenue losses the publishers are expected to suffer in the next few years. And it would be enough to save the jobs of an estimated 700 journalists (and all the content they produce), along with some 1,400 others in the news industry alone.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, rights
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Federal NDP chooses wealth taxes as the wedge issue party needs right now
Wednesday, October 14th, 2020
The biggest knocks against wealth taxes is that they encourage the flight of capital and tax avoidance, and they shrink incentives for investment. The Parliamentary Budget Officer costed the 1-per-cent tax proposal and estimated it would raise $5.6-billion in the current fiscal year, but also that each family’s net worth would shrink by 35 per cent in a vast expansion of avoidance behaviour.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
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An ambitious plan for an alternate reality
Friday, September 25th, 2020
This is the prospect that has so entranced the Prime Minister’s Office: bundling all the policies they’d ever dreamed of together and passing them all in a rush – in the name of “the pandemic” – and doing it all with borrowed funds. The government that failed at so basic a state responsibility as safeguarding public health is eager to take on new challenges.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, standard of living, tax
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New survey shows Canadians want lasting change to accompany economic recovery
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020
… change should be “fundamental.” … most often cited… is the need to reduce inequality… a priority shared by the higher and lower income alike… in a society that provides quality long-term care for the elderly, that covers all essential medicines through public drug plans, that makes sure employees can take paid sick days when they need to, and that makes affordable and high-quality daycare for young children available to all parents who need it.
Tags: budget, child care, economy, Health, ideology, participation, pharmaceutical
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Can Canada pivot from pandemic to progress?
Sunday, September 20th, 2020
… the Liberals’ Throne Speech on Sept. 23 will be an opportunity to set out policies and programs to carry us forward in ways that are more inclusive and equitable… a guaranteed livable income, along with adequate wages and benefits for the employed – as well as other social and health supports such as child care, education, pharma, mental health and dental care – would be a way to protect all Canadians.
Tags: budget, child care, corrections, crime prevention, economy, Health, ideology, Indigenous, participation, pharmaceutical, poverty
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With the pandemic war still on, can we afford a postpandemic Throne Speech?
Thursday, September 10th, 2020
Team Trudeau’s original 2015 idea of using that extra borrowing to pay for a temporary surge in long-term investment fell by the wayside. There’s a strong hint it might be revived later this month. Would that make sense? The only fair answer is: It depends on what the money is being spent on… If it’s permanent, how will it be paid for?
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction
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For Canada to truly recover economically, we need new thinking around access to justice
Wednesday, August 19th, 2020
… while legal aid organizations across the country play a crucial role in access to justice, there is so much more that can be done. The expansion of specialized courts such as drug courts, mental health courts, Indigenous courts and so on provide off-ramps for those for whom traditional justice measures are costly and wouldn’t be effective.
Tags: ideology, rights, standard of living
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Dare we broach the subject of higher taxes?
Thursday, July 30th, 2020
Current interest rates are so low that… with long-term bonds, debt-servicing costs will remain manageable for decades to come… When the economy is back on its feet, taxes are something Canadians are going to have to talk about. Canadians can have a future of stronger health care, better education, less poverty, less inequality and more opportunity. These are good things, but they’re not free. They’re going to have to be paid for.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Solidarity after the Pandemic: Basic Income or Basic Services?
Monday, July 27th, 2020
A move towards meaningful universal basic services is no small task. Canadians are ready. Only 12 per cent of us think we will return to our pre-pandemic way of life. As Nik Nanos has put it, the old status quo of consumerism and individualism is dead… Instead of going “back to normal”, leaders can enable greater health and resilience for all by investing in national basic services to strengthen our social infrastructure.
Tags: child care, economy, featured, Health, housing, ideology, pharmaceutical, standard of living
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