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We can’t just pick up the pieces after the pandemic subsides – we need to keep them together
Monday, March 30th, 2020
… All governments are being affected by dramatic losses in revenues, but, as with a virus, the impact is not universally the same. Some economies are more robust than others. These issues cannot be allowed to fester. They will need to be addressed. So too the continuing inequalities affecting Indigenous people and communities as well as the homeless and others deeply marginalized now stare us in the face…
Tags: economy, globalization, Health, homelessness, ideology, Indigenous, participation
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Coronavirus has shown us we were living in an economic fairy tale
Monday, March 30th, 2020
… in late 2008, something extraordinary happens. Instead of allowing the system to fail as capitalism calls for, governments bail out the system. By doing so, they save the same people that created the crisis in the first place, effectively guaranteeing their wins and socializing their losses.
The “real” value of your cash is destroyed as new money is created out of thin air and the system is bailed out… Everyone once again believes in the fairy tale.
Tags: economy, ideology
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Trudeau says businesses, non-profits, charities all eligible for wage subsidy
Monday, March 30th, 2020
The federal government has vastly expanded the 75-per-cent wage subsidy for small businesses to include large companies as well as charities and non-profits to encourage them to keep workers on the payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his daily news conference Monday that the generous subsidy will be open to any business or organization that has suffered a 30-per-cent drop in revenue as a result of the coronavirus.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
There is no perfect economic response for Canada’s coronavirus shutdown
Friday, March 27th, 2020
There’s been a flurry of debate about the best method to get help to individuals in this crisis. Should it be delivered by way of targeted income-support programs, such as the CERB? Should the money instead go to employers, in the form of a wage subsidy, enabling them to keep paying their employees, even if they aren’t doing anything? Or should the government just mail everyone a cheque… the amount depending on their income – a universal, if temporary, basic income?
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, participation, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
A wartime economy is a very particular thing
Wednesday, March 25th, 2020
When there is only one economic objective, and everyone agrees what it is, central planning works tolerably well… Good policy ideas that are, for one reason or another, politically impractical at most times often become possible in crises, when the risks and rewards of experimentation are seen rather differently. The baby bonus came out of the Second World War. Perhaps some form of basic income will be the legacy of “World War C.”
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, rights, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
For the homeless, the coronavirus crisis is untenable – but so is the social-distancing response
Tuesday, March 24th, 2020
With the overcrowding of shelters and closings of many important services during this time, it is obvious that many of the public-health measures made to protect people during the pandemic have neglected the needs of the homeless… We need a moratorium on evictions… more outreach support… to rapidly house people – or maintain their housing… Addiction medicines must be made available to people for the full length of their quarantine…
Tags: Health, homelessness, housing, ideology, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | No Comments »
When does social distancing end? These graphs show where we’re heading and why
Monday, March 23rd, 2020
… how and when to emerge from the current state of isolation[?] It’s a decision that means weighing the serious health risk that the new coronavirus poses against the crushing impact of prolonged social distancing on the economy, jobs, education and public life. It will also depend crucially on how long individuals are willing to maintain social-distancing practices.
Tags: globalization, Health, participation
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Beyond the fog of the pandemic, there is a new energy future in sight. Let’s go build it
Monday, March 23rd, 2020
Canada’s energy industry is part of the solution to the global climate crisis. We are developing Canadian technologies and processes that dramatically reduce carbon emissions and provide the world with cleaner sources of energy… The COVID-19 crisis can be the turning point we needed.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
If social distancing is going to succeed, Canadian workers will need better supports
Tuesday, March 17th, 2020
… the reality of the labour market means workers without protections will bear the financial brunt of any preventative pandemic measures… there is a clear link between employment laws and the protection of public health. Health-care providers have long recommended that workers have access to at least seven paid sick days and access to additional paid leave during public-health crises. This pandemic has exacerbated that need…
Tags: budget, child care, economy
Posted in Economy/Employment | No Comments »
Beyond pipelines: The nation-building project that could electrify Canada
Tuesday, March 17th, 2020
… consumers on both sides of the power lines benefit from lower prices… a national plan to build out our electricity-transmission infrastructure could also provide a worthy outlet for the economic stimulus… Capitalizing on minuscule interest rates, the economic recovery effort can leave a legacy of infrastructure upon which deeper decarbonization of our electricity grids can occur.
Tags: budget, economy, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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