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Justin Trudeau goes all in on the carbon tax. It’s the right thing – for the environment, and the economy
Monday, December 14th, 2020
The aim is for people to do such a good job of reducing emissions, and thereby avoiding the tax, that revenues eventually spiral to zero. The carbon tax’s goal is its own obsolescence… Among economists, putting a price on carbon is generally seen as the most efficient way to push people and businesses to use less carbon… In taking the 2030 climate goals seriously, and choosing carbon pricing to achieve them, Ottawa is making the right move, rather than the easy move.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, jurisdiction, tax
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Premiers call dibs on federal money before it’s all spent
Friday, December 11th, 2020
Health care is provincial jurisdiction. They can levy taxes like Ottawa. If they need more money, they could raise taxes… A lot of what Ottawa does is sending money to people or provinces. But health care? … Mr. Trudeau doesn’t want to just send cheques. He wants to say he paid for something new and specific that Canadians want. He told the premiers that Ottawa might fund better long-term care, or pharmacare.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
How Canada is fighting the war on talent
Wednesday, December 9th, 2020
… evidence suggests Canada has largely reversed its brain drain. This country’s fast-growing technology sector is more than holding its own in the global race for talent, even after the deep economic shock of the pandemic… there are nearly 100,000 more jobs now in so-called STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering and math – in this country than there were before the pandemic. There is still a gaping hole in Canada’s job market, but not for these people.
Tags: economy, globalization, immigration, standard of living
Posted in Delivery System | No Comments »
What if we were as serious about ending violence as ending the pandemic?
Tuesday, December 8th, 2020
At the beginning of the lockdowns, women found it difficult to flee their abusers; as lockdowns eased and they returned to shelters, workers noticed an escalation in the severity of violence they were reporting – more broken bones, more strangulation, more sexual violence… If this year has taught us anything, it’s our ability to work collectively to end a public health crisis. But we have to open our eyes first.
Tags: crime prevention, Health, ideology, mental Health, women
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
What Canadians should understand about the federal UNDRIP bill
Tuesday, December 8th, 2020
The first and second articles of the UNDRIP reiterate the basics of equality and non-discrimination: fundamental Canadian values, enshrined in our Constitution, that we should all rally behind. When people oppose implementing the declaration, they are opposing efforts to ensure Indigenous peoples enjoy the same fundamental rights to equality and non-discrimination that many Canadians take for granted. Achieving this equality may require the government to take specific measures to address current inequalities; non-discrimination requires us to celebrate and accommodate the uniqueness of Indigenous peoples, as well.
Tags: ideology, Indigenous, jurisdiction, participation, rights
Posted in Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Canada’s rapidly approaching fiscal crisis isn’t driven by the pandemic
Sunday, December 6th, 2020
… thanks to the remorseless arithmetic of population aging, with its crushing combination of higher costs (mostly for health care) and lower revenues (with fewer people of working age to earn income or pay taxes on it)… the provinces’ collective debt-to-GDP ratio is likely to hit 120 per cent by mid-century.
Tags: economy, jurisdiction, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
The answer to people with anti-vaccine beliefs is to address the cause of their anger
Friday, December 4th, 2020
Deepening social divisions created by an economy that does not value or reward their skills have left millions of people in developed countries economically and culturally insecure. On social media, they find allies and abettors… politicians who only consider the needs of those who are well-educated and financially secure, while ignoring those who fear the future and are right to fear it, must share the blame for the anger that comes with that fear.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
‘It’s been 50 years … 50 years!’ A national child care program in Canada?
Thursday, December 3rd, 2020
It’s been 50 years since the Royal Commission on the Status of Women recommended child-care services for women who choose to work outside the home… Since then, governments of all stripes have promised a program. None have actually made it happen… This is the value society seems to place on rearing children and granting the women who bear them an equal opportunity to thrive in the workplace: none.
Tags: child care, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, women
Posted in Child & Family History | No Comments »
We need a homegrown solution for making enough vaccines for every Canadian
Thursday, December 3rd, 2020
… pandemic preparedness… includes, at its core, an arms-length national vaccine manufacturing facility that, first and foremost, has the capacity to produce enough vaccines for every Canadian… The facility could be made available to the private sector to make large batches at cost during normal times and commandeered by the federal government for large-scale vaccine deployment during a pandemic… It would be a partnership between biopharmaceutical companies, academia and the federal government.
Tags: economy, featured, Health, ideology, pharmaceutical, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Jason Kenney doesn’t seem to understand what the Charter actually says
Thursday, November 26th, 2020
“as a general rule, individual rights in Canada are more circumscribed, and collective or ‘group’ rights, protecting linguistic, religious or aboriginal communities, are more generous than in the United States. In the United States the ethic of the individual is foremost; in Canada there is more concern for the general public welfare and members of disadvantaged groups.” … the Charter doesn’t give cover to governments that don’t want to do what’s required to limit the devastating effects of a pandemic, and it doesn’t explain their decision to slow-roll any public health measures or restrictions.
Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction, rights
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
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