Archive for the ‘Governance Debates’ Category
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A throne speech short on words, long on ambition
… this is a radical government. Expanding the Canada Pension Plan, pricing carbon, reforming the electoral system, adopting all 94 recommendations of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, combining four different child benefits into one $23-billion plan: whatever else may be said about it, this is indeed “real change.” Much… will depend on cooperation from the provinces: the carbon pricing plan, CPP expansion, a new health accord… [and] the state of the federal government’s finances.
Tags: budget, globalization, ideology, Indigenous, jurisdiction, participation, tax
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Because it’s (only) 2015: Trudeau’s childcare still considered his wife’s job
As a society, we have not embraced the idea of collective responsibility for caring for the next generation of Canadians. If individuals choose to have children, then they must be prepared to take financial responsibility for them. It is exactly the same set of ideas that makes any kind of national childcare program so elusive… The unstated – and sometimes even stated – assumption is that women should be taking care of the children.
Tags: budget, child care, ideology, women
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It’s time to reform the role of Speaker of the House of Commons
… there is a pressing need for House of Commons reform to make our central democratic institution a significantly fairer, more rigorous and more dignified forum… There are literally dozens of necessary and doable reforms… Many specific House reforms, however, could end up as virtual dead letters without first, or simultaneously, addressing a lynchpin reform — namely, the role and powers of the Speaker of the House of Commons.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights
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Restore GST rate to pay for government agenda
At seven per cent, the GST rate was already comparably low: Australia’s is 10 per cent, New Zealand’s 15 per cent, and the U.K.’s comparable VAT (value-added tax) at 20 per cent… many tens of billions of dollars in government revenue have been forfeited over the past eight years as a result of the cuts. This is money that could have gone toward reducing the national debt, or alleviating poverty on native reserves, or funding infrastructure, or relocating refugees.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, tax
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Time to give credit where it is due [Harper Gov’t.]
They made training in the skilled trades a priority… They made departmental spending reviews the norm in Ottawa… They made life easier for families with disabled members… They refrained from slashing provincial transfers… They steered Canada through the 2008-2009 recession with minimal damage… On the negative side of the ledger, the Harper government turned Ottawa into an increasingly impenetrable bastion, weakened democratic institutions, divided Canadians into friends and foes and enacted harsh, punitive laws.
Tags: budget, corrections, crime prevention, disabilities, economy, ideology
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How the Liberals can pay for their platform
The first is to clean up the tax credits, deductions, exemptions and deferrals (known collectively as “tax expenditures”) that cost Ottawa billions of dollars. The Conservatives brought in at least 70 of them… A second alternative is to stop spending money on… jailing young offenders for drug possession and other non-violent crimes… building mega prisons… buying top-of-the-line stealth fighter jets; or airing prime-time government ads. A third choice is to terminate, or substantially scale back, corporate subsidies.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Trudeau begins to reverse Harper’s ugly legacy of over-reaching legislation
Given the growing number of court challenges to these laws, the Liberals should fix what’s wrong, as speedily as possible, then turn their attention to other issues… Here are a few places to start: Bill C-51… Citizenship… Sentencing… Refugees… On Harper’s watch Canadian law grew ever more heedless of civil rights, contemptuous of the judiciary, unreasonably punitive, and unfriendly to minorities and refugees. Canadians voted for something better on Oct. 19.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, featured, ideology, immigration, multiculturalism
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The Liberals’ taxing challenge
The Liberals, had they been willing, could have proposed raising the GST back to 7 per cent, and had plenty of money to pay for their middle-class tax cut, offsets for low-income earners and spending in whatever configuration they chose. Economists would have cheered, but not likely the voters… what is sorely needed: a group outside government examining the Canadian tax system that is now shot full with distortions.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, tax
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An Antidote to Cynicism in Canada
… for a majority of Canadians, Mr. Trudeau and his cabinet symbolize a renewed sense of national identity rooted in diversity, in humane and inclusive social policies at home and in humanitarian service overseas. The thrill of the moment may be fleeting, but it is invaluable for awakening new generations to public service and as an antidote to the cynicism about politics that has sadly become the norm in established democracies.
Tags: disabilities, economy, ideology, multiculturalism, participation
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Justin Trudeau won by redefining what ‘good government’ can mean
… Trudeau often wasn’t speaking merely of skilfulness or efficiency. He meant morally good. Virtuous. Right. It was a little shocking to hear. It echoed the language of an earlier generation before the relentless Conservative assault on the size, scope and nature of democratic government impoverished our speech and slackened our hopes… it dramatically evoked the notion of a Canadian body politic with a conscience — and a national economy with a human purpose.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, Indigenous, multiculturalism, participation, standard of living, tax, women, youth
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