Posts Tagged ‘pensions’
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Though business sits on $500 billion, workers’ salaries are under seige
Tuesday, August 28th, 2012
August 27, 2012
The point of job security — a key right won by unions — is to give employees security against arbitrary firing. But removing that sort of security — leaving workers fearful and therefore malleable to the demands of their employers — has been a central aim of the right and segments of the business community… As long as the right can keep workers envious and suspicious of each other, the focus won’t be on those at the top, where the benefits have actually gone… Labour’s share of Canada’s national income has fallen from 65 to 60 per cent since 1990, partly because of policies like privatization and deregulation
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, pensions, privatization, rights, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Ottawa’s pooled-pension proposal gets thumbs-down
Monday, August 27th, 2012
23 August 2012
Ottawa’s proposed new pension system is little more than the existing RRSP program with a new label, and could actually be a worse option for low-income earners, according to a new analysis by the C.D. Howe Institute… the program needs provincial buy-in to be introduced across the country… Ontario said earlier this year it has concerns about the program and believes a better option might be to expand existing Canada Pension Plan coverage.
Tags: economy, ideology, pensions, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | No Comments »
Canada’s new immigration rules put premium on young people
Monday, August 27th, 2012
21 August 2012
New immigration rules will target workers aged 18 to 35… Canada will rely on young immigrants to soften the fiscal pain of a demographic crunch… Driving the change is the concern that the ratio of working-age Canadians to retirees is shifting dramatically… “If you were going to design an immigration system that was going to help employers keep wages low, this is pretty close to what you’d want”…
Tags: economy, globalization, immigration, pensions, standard of living, youth
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Policy, not cutting labour costs, is the key to preserving our auto industry
Monday, August 27th, 2012
20 August 2012
Direct hourly labour costs are less than 5 per cent of the total cost of designing, engineering, manufacturing, transporting and selling a new vehicle. Yet they capture 99 per cent of the attention. If the analysts are serious about preserving and building this industry for the long term, they’d better… start to imagine an all-round industrial policy framework – like those in other successful jurisdictions – that offers a more promising economic recipe.
Tags: economy, globalization, pensions, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Saving Welfare Incomes and Poverty Profile
Friday, June 29th, 2012
June 29, 2012
Information is under attack in Ottawa… Social Security Statistics: Canada and Provinces, a treasure trove of information on federal, provincial/territorial and municipal government programs, has simply disappeared. In June 2012, Ottawa jettisoned the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) which gathered priceless information on changes experienced by individuals over time, such as movement in and out of poverty… The Caledon Institute of Social Policy will take over the task of gathering and analyzing the welfare and low income data… This vital information will form the first elements of a new Caledon product, the Canada Social Report.
Tags: budget, disabilities, homelessness, housing, pensions, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Delivery System | No Comments »
Do No Harm [OAS]
Tuesday, June 5th, 2012
June 04, 2012
The 2012 federal Budget’s announcement that the age of eligibility for Old Age Security will be increased from 65 to 67 violates the first principle of social policy. Low-income seniors will be hurt, not helped, by this decision. Worse still, poor seniors will be hit harder than the better-off… This move will reduce income overall for low-income Canadians aged 65 and 66 and, as a result, raise their poverty rate… Caledon has proposed a fix: provide an income-tested benefit for low-income seniors ages 65 and 66, to shield them from the age raise.
Tags: ideology, pensions, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
How the Liberals buried a $14 billion liability late in the day [WSIB]
Tuesday, June 5th, 2012
Jun 04 2012
The WSIB has only 55 per cent of what it needs to meet its obligations. In other provinces, its counterparts are more or less fully funded. The problem is that Ontario businesses keep complaining they’re tapped out, while payouts and other costs keep rising… Businesses demand that the WSIB operate in a more businesslike way, but then demand a break on premiums. If car or home insurance companies provided insurance at a loss — or without well-paid actuaries — they wouldn’t stay in business… the government promises it will be fixed ASAP. Target date: 2027.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, pensions, tax
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Is the ‘Living Wage’ Enough?
Monday, May 14th, 2012
May 14, 2012
Reports in the days to come will detail the merits and drawbacks of a guaranteed annual income and of government wage subsidies… “The [guaranteed] income is looking at people who are on welfare, ensuring that they have a dignified existence and [getting] rid of the bureaucracy, whereas the living wage looks at the working poor… a living wage would allow those who have been taking the most from our social safety net to start paying back into it… to become fully engaged, productive, contributing members of society.
Tags: disabilities, ideology, pensions, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | 1 Comment »
Thousands descend on Queen’s Park to protest McGuinty budget
Sunday, April 22nd, 2012
Apr 21 2012
More than 15,000 protesters from labour unions and community organizations across the province rallied outside Ontario’s Legislature Saturday afternoon to vent their fury over the minority Liberal government’s austerity-focused budget. “We’re sending a signal to Dalton McGuinty that the budget he’s introduced is grossly unfair”… “They need to step back. Touching pensions, it’s just not the right way to go”… “All we want to see is a little bit of fairness. The very least we can ask for is that the very top earners in Ontario put in a little bit more when times are tough.”
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, participation, pensions, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »
Tax cuts would hold aging workers
Friday, April 13th, 2012
April 12, 2012
At a time of continued concern about the federal deficit, it may seem strange to suggest that the way to deal with rising retirement costs and looming labour shortages in Canada is for the federal government to collect less tax from workers. But unless we undertake a major overhaul of Canada’s progressive income tax system to bring tax policy more in line with public policy, a growing number of older Canadians are going to leave the workforce, taking their skills with them and reducing their ability to save for a more secure retirement in their later years.
Tags: economy, globalization, pensions, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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