Archive for the ‘Governance Policy Context’ Category
New Ontario water and sanitation law could pave the way for the financialization of public water
Wednesday, May 13th, 2026
Whether the WCA leads to outright privatization, its proposed reforms are consistent with an insidious global push to make municipal water and sanitation systems more amenable to private investment. This essentially transforms them into tradeable assets. This process, known as financialization, would erode the public health and social mandate of public water infrastructure, undermining the capacity of communities to cope with growing ecological and financial stresses.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Governance Policy Context | 23 Comments »
When Canada negotiates with Donald Trump’s America, it’s not just trade that’s at stake. It’s our sovereignty
Wednesday, May 6th, 2026
… CUSMA… does not just regulate trade. It restricts what Parliament can legislate, what regulators can require and what courts can enforce… Canada needs to govern its own digital economy. We need sovereignty over data, accountability for algorithms, and protection of critical digital infrastructure… We have just under sixty days until we move dangerously close to becoming the fifty-first state. We can still reverse course, but only if we act before the review’s July 1 Canada Day deadline.
Tags: economy, globalization, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Governance Policy Context | 7 Comments »
The Trump era demands we rethink Canada’s constitutional ‘nuclear option’
Tuesday, March 31st, 2026
… everything that is happening in the United States, more or less, could happen here in a perfectly constitutional manner,” … thanks to the notwithstanding clause… The question is not whether Section 33 can be used, however, but when and how… In just the past six years, however, various governments have used it nine times… voters have proved generally disinclined to punish political parties who use and abuse the notwithstanding clause.
Tags: ideology, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Privacy commissioner challenges Doug Ford’s reasons for changing access-to-information rules
Friday, March 27th, 2026
Information and privacy commissioner Patricia Kosseim has filed a six-point rebuttal to Premier Doug Ford’s “various” reasons for exempting himself, his cabinet ministers and political aides from access-to-information laws… in a response to Ford’s suggestion that only the media and opposition parties use the laws, the commission said that in the 2024 FOI requests, “more than 95 per cent were submitted by “individuals, businesses, researchers, and community organizations.”
Tags: featured, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, rights
Posted in Governance Policy Context | 6 Comments »
How Mark Carney’s federal budget would impact your taxes, from automatic tax filing to axing luxury tax
Monday, November 10th, 2025
The 2025 federal budget proposes lowering the first marginal personal income tax rate to 14.5 per cent in 2025 and automatically filing taxes for 1 million low-income Canadians by 2027. First-time homebuyers could receive a GST rebate up to $50,000 on some new homes, while the Underused Housing Tax would be eliminated. The budget also proposes eliminating luxury taxes on some boats and aircraft
Tags: budget, economy, featured, jurisdiction, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
If the notwithstanding clause is the nuclear option, Ottawa should respond proportionately
Monday, September 22nd, 2025
… the original constitutional bargain, the one at our founding in 1867, was that the federal government would be the defender of rights against the depredations of local majorities. And the instrument of that defence… was to be the disallowance power… Disallowance, to be sure, has lately fallen into disuse. So, for more than 30 years, had notwithstanding. That has not prevented provincial governments from reviving it; neither should the mere passage of time prevent Ottawa from invoking disallowance.
Tags: featured, ideology, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Don’t be fooled by big numbers—Ontario budget fails to address years-long funding shortfalls
Thursday, July 10th, 2025
Underfunding trends persist in total program spending, education, post-secondary education, and health. Public services provide the support Ontarians need and good jobs that support the economy—investing in them is the best way to shield the province. But that’s not happening. On the job protection front, we expect more—much more—given the alarming job losses we’re already witnessing. The 2025 budget fails to grasp the importance of protecting workers, not only for their families’ sake, but also as a mitigating strategy that prevents a deep recession.
Tags: budget, economy, Education, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
How governments can get back to building affordable housing
Wednesday, June 4th, 2025
… the financialization of housing is undermining our ability to build homes people can afford. We saw it clearly when the Ford government scrapped affordable housing rules in Toronto after pressure from corporate landlords… a new approach… means: Rapidly scale non-market and deeply affordable housing. Unlock and mobilize public land for housing construction. Ensure investments create good union jobs and build industrial capacity. Streamline timelines, remove barriers and build the infrastructure our communities need.
Tags: housing, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
We are rich Canadians and we support higher capital gains taxes
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024
Ottawa wants to raise taxes for Canada’s ultra-rich. Rich people like us want that, too… with 1 per cent of the country’s residents holding over a quarter of all wealth. We need higher taxes to level out this rising wealth inequality… to fund new spending on priorities like Old Age Security, clean economy, medical care, child care, and housing, but it doesn’t go far enough to address class distortions… we’d also like to see a “super wealth tax,” an inheritance tax, and progressive property taxes
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Federal government goes big on housing—is it enough?
Wednesday, April 17th, 2024
2024 federal budget makes biggest investments in housing, care economy in generations with its second-to-last budget before an election… “This government has done more for housing than previous, more recent federal governments…” it will impose a higher tax on capital gains above $250,000 a year… “While the pharmacare program is still quite limited in scope… Combined with dental care, the confidence and supply agreement has driven major changes in the health care landscape in a very short period of time.”
Tags: Health, housing, participation, pharmaceutical, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Recent Comments