Archive for the ‘Governance’ Category

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Federal government plans to accelerate investments in high-speed internet for remote parts of Canada

Tuesday, May 26th, 2020

The federal government is preparing to launch an online portal where communities can track the progress of broadband infrastructure projects as it looks to accelerate its investments in rural internet in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The website… is an attempt to increase accounta-bility and transparency as Ottawa faces growing pressure to bring faster, more reliable internet service to Canadians living outside of major cities.

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COVID-19’s impact on women investigated by Canadian government

Sunday, May 24th, 2020

The pandemic has revealed the importance of essential services… that’s what we’re learning — that childcare is an essential service, and so is drugs, dental and vision. It shouldn’t be tied to whoever your employer is… Boosting spending power will be essential to the economic recovery, and one way to do that for women whose marginal service- and retail-sector jobs have disappeared is for government to take over paying for and providing essential services…

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Power will flow to a post-pandemic Ottawa

Sunday, May 24th, 2020

… if you are a near-bankrupt borrower, as several Canadian provinces and cities will soon be, you cannot demand money from the printing press owner without it coming with strings attached. For the first time since the Depression and the following war, Ottawa will be propelled into a much more powerful policy decision-making role, as a result of this shift in power dynamics, in ways that will seriously test the old boundaries of Canadian federalism.

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Liberals should take a cue from Mulroney, not Chrétien

Wednesday, May 20th, 2020

Mulroney could have adopted the approach that Chrétien took, slashing transfer payments to the provinces and eliminating the deficit entirely. But he judged it to be irresponsible and not worthy of a prime minister in our federal system. So he didn’t… The free trade agreement with the United States had been signed, the GST and deregulation put in place and privatization begun.

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There’s no such thing as a non-partisan recovery plan. Deal with it

Saturday, May 16th, 2020

… it’s worth being honest about COVID-19 recovery efforts: Trudeau’s plans are going to be different from Ford’s because they believe very different things… If you were a small-government conservative before the pandemic, Trudeau’s response will upset you; if you were a socialist before Ontario’s first coronavirus case, I regret to inform you that Doug Ford will not be leading the people in glorious revolution… conservative premiers will have enormous power to shape and constrain the federal response.

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COVID-19 has exposed ugly failings of our politics. Here’s how Ottawa can build on the lessons of the pandemic

Saturday, May 9th, 2020

COVID-19. It has proved that the Employment Insurance system is out of step with today’s workforce. It has stirred questions about globalization and whether international supply networks are truly a virtue in times of desperate need. It has spurred plodding bureaucracies, known for their cautious approach to issues, into impossibly speedy policy decisions to rush aid to Canadians. And it’s left Canadians with a deficit hangover… the pandemic has laid bare problems and blown up old ways of doing things.

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COVID-19 creates opportunities for Canada’s centre-left

Sunday, May 3rd, 2020

The Parliamentary Budget Officer predicts that the federal deficit will hit a staggering $252 billion this year thanks largely to a fall-off in tax revenues. Yet few predict fiscal doom. Indeed, many analysts argue that in an economy where the private sector has shut down, more government is needed not less… By comparison, a universal public pharmacare plan would be a bargain. It would cost Ottawa only $20 billion a year… an amount that would be more than offset by savings to individuals and provinces.

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Submission to the Government of Ontario regarding a provincial poverty reduction strategy

Thursday, April 30th, 2020

Maytree outlines the principles that should make up the foundation of the province’s five-year poverty reduction strategy and illustrates how these principles translate into action. This strategy will be implemented amid and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. This crisis will have ripple effects across the province for years to come… It is crucial that Ontario’s poverty reduction strategy strengthens or builds systems to protect people from the worst impacts and facilitates an economic recovery that benefits all.

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Ontario’s front-line workers getting pay hike of $4 an hour during pandemic

Sunday, April 26th, 2020

Effective immediately, employees who are providing front-line and support services, including cleaning and meal preparation at health-care facilities, are eligible for a raise of $4 per hour for the next 16 weeks… Staff who work more than 100 hours per month would receive an additional $250 per month for each of the next four months… The money is also intended to help “front-line providers attract and hire extra staff they need to continue taking care of patients and residents,” Ford said.

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Our civil justice system needs to be brought into the 21st century

Sunday, April 26th, 2020

We can’t keep telling the public that this increasingly incomprehensible complicated process is in their interests and for their benefit, because they’re not buying it any more… It’s time to think about designing a whole new way to deliver justice to ordinary people with ordinary disputes and ordinary bank accounts. That’s what real access to justice needs and that’s what the public is entitled to get.

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