Posts Tagged ‘economy’

« Older Entries | Newer Entries »

COVID-19 presents lessons in how a guaranteed basic income program could work

Monday, May 4th, 2020

Basic income can be designed to target only those who need a top-up to provide for and maintain a very basic standard of living. And it can be implemented with speed, simplicity and efficiency by the keepers of our tax files, the Canada Revenue Agency… Fifty members of the present Senate (from the left, right and centre) have written to the government recommending that transition planning work be done now…

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »


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.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »


A progressive approach to COVID-19 recovery

Sunday, May 3rd, 2020

a COVID-19 recovery strategy, governed by progressive principles and values, would look something like the following : 1. Prioritize the needs of people… 2. Reinforce people’s economic and social rights… 3. Public investment… 4. Transition to greater national self-sufficiency in some sectors… 5. Spend what it takes… In implementing all of the above, dogmatism should be avoided.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


Completing the promise of Medicare

Sunday, May 3rd, 2020

Because of COVID-19, millions more have now lost their jobs thereby losing access to private drug insurance programmes. If Canada already had universal Pharmacare, Canadians would be far better off in this current crisis… This begs the question of who is advocating for a national universal Pharmacare program within the current Liberal government… A coalition of the willing in Parliament, followed by a coalition of the willing among the provinces and territories that will eventually come to include them all.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Health History | No Comments »


Ontario expands emergency child care to include families of grocery-store workers, truck drivers

Thursday, April 30th, 2020

“While our front-line workers are looking after us, we need to make sure we’re looking after them and their families,” Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday… The workers now to be covered also include those employed in meat packing and other food supply businesses, members of the armed forces, truck drivers, cooks and cleaning staff in health-care facilities and nursing homes, and on-site staff in Ontario’s courts.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »


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.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »


Ottawa boosts aid package to students, pledges incentives to find work

Thursday, April 30th, 2020

Under the program, post-secondary students, recent graduates and those headed to school in the fall are eligible to get monthly payments of $1,250 a month between May and August. It also promises up to $5,000 for students who volunteer… The government agreed to increase the monthly payments to those with dependants and disabilities by $250 to $2,000 a month… The government agreed to implement new financial incentives and measures to “connect Canadians, particularly students and Canadian youth, to the various jobs available.”

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Delivery System, Equality Debates | No Comments »


How is Ottawa going to pay off its COVID-19 debt? With any luck, it won’t have to

Tuesday, April 28th, 2020

… the country’s long-term fiscal game plan is likely to look like the one that financed the Second World War… In the 30 years after the war, Canada did not pay off the national debt. It even added to it… The reason was economic growth. The debt was large and growing, but the economy grew slightly faster. That’s how Canada got rid of its war debt without literally paying it off… borrowing costs, low then, are at record lows now.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


COVID-19 prompted previously unthinkable spending from Ottawa. Here’s how it will reshape our future

Saturday, April 25th, 2020

… just two months ago… COVID-19 management gripped our economy and we collectively decided to put health and well-being above — far above — economic growth and fiscal discipline… but few foresaw a lockdown that is now more than six weeks long, with many more to come. Few could predict that the cost would be so enormous. But the most surprising part? The consensus that it’s all still worth it is holding strong.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


Trudeau rejects turning CERB’s $2,000 a month into a universal benefit for Canadians

Thursday, April 23rd, 2020

“We feel that targeting the maximum amount of help to the people who needed it quickly was the right way to begin to get through this process.” … A group of 50 senators from different political and partisan backgrounds signed an open letter to Trudeau on Tuesday, also calling for the CERB to be turned into a universal benefit… A universal payment would ensure greater social and economic equity as well as greater efficiency, the senators say.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »


« Older Entries | Newer Entries »