What is modern monetary theory? An economist explains how it could help Canada
Tuesday, May 27th, 2025
As a country with currency sovereignty and substantial natural and human resources, Canada has the ability to use targeted public spending to address pressing challenges such as housing affordability, health-care and child-care expansion, and climate change mitigation. MMT encourages us to shift the conversation from artificial fiscal constraints to real-world economic possibilities. Instead of asking, “Can we afford it?” we should be asking, “What do we need, and how can we mobilize our resources to achieve it?”
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
How Donald Trump’s tariffs threaten Canadians’ access to prescription drugs
Friday, May 9th, 2025
Thirty-two per cent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients that go into the medicines that North Americans take originate in China. U.S President Donald Trump has now threatened to slap U.S. tariffs on Chinese drugs and drug ingredients that were previously exempt… Canada already imports $8.76 billion annually in prescription drugs from the U.S. To the extent that tariffed drugs go from China to the U.S. to Canada, the cost of both publicly and privately funded drug plans will increase.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Why Canadian-trained doctors should be allowed to practise anywhere in Canada without additional licensing
Monday, March 24th, 2025
Why, then, are doctors with identical training and qualifications confined to practising in just one province or territory? The answer lies not in medical competence, but in bureaucracy. Despite national standards for training and qualification, the power to grant a licence rests with 13 separate provincial and territorial regulatory colleges. This fragmented system creates artificial barriers, limiting the mobility of our highly skilled physicians across Canada.
Tags: Health, jurisdiction
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Pharmacare is now law in Canada, but negotiations with provinces could slow progress
Monday, March 24th, 2025
Pharmacare could have been implemented nationally, like it was for the Canadian Dental Care Plan, offering federal coverage for essential medications like contraceptives and diabetes medications, while insurers and provincial plans cover the rest. This would have been a simple approach that would have allowed for future changes, and could have been implemented by provinces much like vaccines are — paid for using people’s provincial health numbers, sidestepping the difficulty of enrolling people in a new plan.
Tags: Health, jurisdiction, participation, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Why Canadian-trained doctors should be allowed to practise anywhere in Canada without additional licensing
Monday, March 17th, 2025
Why, then, are doctors with identical training and qualifications confined to practising in just one province or territory? … Despite national standards for training and qualification, the power to grant a licence rests with 13 separate provincial and territorial regulatory colleges. This fragmented system creates artificial barriers, limiting the mobility of our highly skilled physicians across Canada.
Tags: Education, Health, jurisdiction
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
A basic income can be a strong investment in mental health
Wednesday, March 5th, 2025
Research shows how poor mental health is a direct consequence of poverty. Money not only helps meet people’s material needs but also alleviates their worries. Reducing poverty translates into significant savings for the economy and the public purse. Canada could save $4 to $10 for every dollar spent on mental health supports. Poverty is not caused by personal failings. It is the social environment people live in that has the greatest impact on life trajectories.
Tags: featured, mental Health, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Access to care: 5 principles for action on primary health-care teams
Friday, January 10th, 2025
… a “health home”…would guarantee every person access to a primary care team close to where they live. The Primary Care Action Team has announced its plans to achieve this goal within five years. A health home is the front door to the health system and includes a team of primary care providers that supports an individual’s health and wellness; co-ordinating care across the system and through every stage of their lives… based on where you live… just as you would have access to your local school.
Tags: featured, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Canada, the 51st state? Eliminating interprovincial trade barriers could ward off Donald Trump
Thursday, January 9th, 2025
… if interprovincial trade barriers were removed, there would be an improvement in Canadian productivity of between three and seven per cent. In dollar terms, that would add $50-$130 billion dollars to Canada’s economy. The CFIB findings put the figure at $200 billion, or $5,100 per person… Bringing down barriers to trade across Canadian provinces would create conditions that could enable Canadian companies to be more competitive internationally, and beyond the U.S. market in particular.
Tags: economy, globalization, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Canada-wide child care: It’s now less expensive, but finding it is more difficult
Friday, December 27th, 2024
All provinces and territories have met their affordability targets. Parent costs were reduced by 50 per cent by the 2022 deadline… some jurisdictions are not using the federal funding available to them. Governments have added just over $4.5 billion to their child-care spending since 2020, well below the $15 billion available to date through CWELCC. If concerns about funding is pressing provincial and territorial governments could, of course, add their own funding, but few have done so. Relying on federal funds is now the norm.
Tags: budget, child care, featured, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Canadians are feeling increasingly powerless amid economic struggles and rising inequality
Thursday, December 26th, 2024
The perception of a worsening cost of living, combined with seeing Canada as significantly more unequal, is creating a perfect storm for a deteriorating sense of control in everyday life… This is a worrying trend for our collective psychological well-being. The most powerless people tend to be the most distressed and distrustful of others — two indicators that reflect the daily sense of alarm, hopelessness and suspicion that powerless Canadians may feel when thinking of the economy.
Tags: economy, ideology
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
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