Posts Tagged ‘budget’
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 »
Ontario adding 2,600 teacher college spaces amid shortage
Friday, May 23rd, 2025
Teachers union presidents say adding 2,600 new teacher education spots is a good start toward addressing the shortage but the government needs to work on not just recruitment, but retention… “There’s 40,000 people who are fully qualified, who aren’t working in education right now, and that’s because of the working conditions — the crumbling buildings, the overcrowding, the violence in the classroom… “You can put more bodies in, but are they going to stay?”
Tags: budget, Education, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario budget leaves universities and colleges twisting in the wind
Sunday, May 18th, 2025
In 2019, the Ontario government cut tuition fees by 10 per cent and froze them. The measure cost universities $360 million and colleges $80 million, because the government didn’t make up for the budget shortfall. The government also cancelled free tuition for eligible low-income families…The budget also needed to address the structural underfunding of post-secondary education. Instead, funding is falling from $14.2 billion last year to $13 billion this year, to $12.8 billion in 2027-28… at a time when we should be investing heavily in our people.
Tags: budget, economy, Education, featured
Posted in Education Debates | 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 »
Where do the federal election candidates stand on postsecondary education?
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025
On April 28, Canadians will go to the polls to vote for the next federal government… To learn where each party stands on postsecondary education, according to their platforms and statements from party leaders during the campaign, see the list below, which will be updated weekly throughout the election.
Tags: budget, Education, featured, ideology, jurisdiction
Posted in Education Debates | 1 Comment »
Mark Carney unveils Liberal party’s election platform, promises $129 billion in new spending
Saturday, April 19th, 2025
The platform defines capital spending as “anything that builds an asset” owned by the federal government, another level of government, or a private company… not “spending” but “investing” that will prompt private sector investment to grow the economy… Carney also repeated his promise that his government would not cut health and social transfers to provinces, and would preserve programs like national child care, dental care, pharmacare and an emerging school food program.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
There is no way this Ontario agency should have such a large surplus. Here’s what it needs to do
Sunday, March 9th, 2025
Legal Aid Ontario’s surplus offers a chance to address systemic issues by raising eligibility thresholds to reflect real living costs. Current thresholds barely align with poverty levels, excluding many in need. Setting realistic criteria would expand access to justice. Expanding legal aid coverage is crucial, especially in family, immigration and housing law, where representation can prevent crises like evictions, deportations and custody losses. A well-funded system must treat these as essential, not secondary, issues.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Equality Delivery System | No Comments »
In the Ontario election, we’re not talking about money—which the province urgently needs
Wednesday, February 26th, 2025
Ontario is a rich province. We have the resources, but the provincial government needs to act with resolve in collecting revenue and investing it… Ontario also raises less revenue than almost all provinces on a per capita basis. Every year, it raises $2,400 less in revenue per person than British Columbia and $4,100 less than Quebec… Ontario’s low revenues mean less funding for public services
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, housing, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
The Dutch and Danes have much to teach Canada about better health care
Friday, February 7th, 2025
Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands all spend roughly the same per capita on health care… But both Denmark and the Netherlands have many more physicians per capita than Canada – about 60 per cent more… One of the best lessons Canada can take from European and Nordic countries with great primary care is the importance of teamwork. Nurses and practice assistants… do a lot of triage and care, and physicians focus on more serious issues.
Tags: budget, Health
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
What would it take to end chronic homelessness? Now we know
Friday, January 31st, 2025
Addressing chronic homelessness begins with offering stable, deeply affordable housing… a costed ten-year plan to end chronic homelessness in Ontario… [would call for] a new cumulative investment of $11 billion over the next decade… The Ontario government is currently spending a little over half of what is needed… It’s time the government stepped up with a real strategy, real targets, and real accountability for ending chronic homelessness
Tags: budget, economy, homelessness, housing
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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