Posts Tagged ‘poverty’
Basic income is the answer to a COVID-stricken economy
Wednesday, March 25th, 2020
Let’s choose universal payments that can be in the mail next week rather than applying complex new formulas to an already dysfunctional system. It’s time for an emergency basic income to ensure hundreds of thousands of Canadians don’t fall through the cracks. Perhaps, like other plans that are drawn up in a crisis, we’ll discover that it makes sense to keep a basic income once this particular emergency is over. Because COVID-19 won’t be the last major setback to the Canadian economy.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
There’s less than meets the eye in Ontario’s COVID-19 plan
Wednesday, March 25th, 2020
Hospitals… are getting $935 million under this plan, which isn’t far off what they said they needed just to maintain the existing level of care before the coronavirus… there’s no plan for direct cash payments to help those who have lost work or been forced to isolate because of COVID-19…. plenty of other provinces are jumping in to enhance the Trudeau government’s stimulus package with their own measures, believing it is a necessary provincial role… The Ford government, by contrast, seems keen to leave the heavy lifting to Ottawa.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | 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 »
To address the needs of Canadians during the COVID-19 crisis, we need a targeted basic income
Tuesday, March 24th, 2020
A targeted income maintenance approach that is conditional on income — what we refer to as a “targeted basic income” — meets the urgency of the current crisis. And, because seniors and children already have a guaranteed annual income through the Old Age Security, Guaranteed Income Supplement and CCB programs, the major remaining gap in social policy must address the needs of low-income working-age people — particularly those without children.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Coronavirus shows it’s time to mend the safety net
Friday, March 20th, 2020
Having now accepted that better job protections and income supports are necessary in this crisis, how can we go back to pretending they’re not needed all the time? … This should be a learning experience that guides better policies for the long-term — not simply one-offs that will disappear when the crisis passes.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, poverty
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Here’s how to apply for government help during the coronavirus pandemic
Friday, March 20th, 2020
Finance Minister Bill Morneau unveiled a bundle of measures on Wednesday designed to help Canadians and businesses through the downturn caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Here’s how to find out if you qualify for help and how to apply if you do.
Tags: budget, economy, jurisdiction, poverty
Posted in Governance Delivery System | 1 Comment »
In the midst of converging crises, the Green New Deal is the answer
Sunday, March 15th, 2020
… the response to this period of converging crises is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the federal government to initiate a reset of our economy and society, putting Canada on a path toward zero emissions, and bringing immediate material benefits and enhanced, 21st century universal public services to everyone – prioritizing Indigenous, racialized and working class communities – that is, the people who need them most.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Our tax system is too costly for the poorest Canadians
Sunday, March 15th, 2020
… a lack of financial literacy – or even general literacy – has an impact. Insufficient computer skills and lack of access to accounting resources also play a role. Yet, the predominant cause remains the mind-boggling and growing complexity of our tax system… Even chartered professional accountants think that the current system of tax deductions and credits is too complex… tax credits and exemptions targeting middle and higher-income Canadians should be abolished and replaced by broad-based tax cuts.
Tags: featured, ideology, participation, poverty, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Did free cash drive people to quit work? Not according to a new study of Ontario’s basic income experiment
Thursday, March 5th, 2020
Three-quarters of people who were employed before joining Ontario’s ill-fated basic income pilot project continued to work while receiving the no-strings-attached monthly stipend, according to a new study. And more than one-third of those low-wage workers were able to move to higher paying and more secure jobs… The findings shatter the belief among skeptics that basic income discourages people from working.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Pull Yourself Up by Bootstraps? Go Ahead, Try It
Sunday, March 1st, 2020
… this bootstraps narrative drives out good policy in three ways. First, it suggests that historically Americans rose purely through rugged individualism… Second, the bootstraps narrative often suggests that benefits programs are counterproductive because they foster “dependency.” … Third, the bootstraps narrative implies that… because some people can run a four-minute mile, everyone can… American children need fewer wagging fingers or homilies about bootstraps, and more helping hands.
Tags: ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living, youth
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
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