When the Ontario government rolled out its five-year child care action plan for children under 4 years earlier this month, the child care movement applauded—perhaps for the first time, and more or less enthusiastically, since the Paul Martin Liberals introduced their Canada-wide “QUAD” plan in 2004, which advanced quality, universal inclusivity…
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Eighteen months into the federal government’s mandate, with several provincial elections approaching, child care is once again a topic of debate. And, inevitably, Quebec’s system of providing and paying for child care (European-inspired and unique in North America) comes up in the discussion. While Quebec’s program is by no means…
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An economic slump is behind Erdoğan’s power grab, but democracy and unity will be its first victims, writes Asad Ismi. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed a narrow victory (51.3%) in Sunday’s referendum on constitutional reform amid charges of widespread electoral fraud by his opponents. The vote allows Erdoğan and…
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The federal government’s promised Canada Infrastructure Bank is supposed to be a new government institution to fund infrastructure projects, but it’s a risky gamble. While details on the infrastructure bank are expected in the upcoming federal budget, we know it is being positioned as a new source of funds dedicated…
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The following remarks are excerpted from the 2017 Alternative Federal Budget press conference, featuring Kate McInturff, David Macdonald and Peter Bleyer (March 9th, Parliament Hill).
Here we are again reviewing the evidence that private business can deliver essential public services and infrastructure at less cost and with better results than the public sector. With the recent federal government announcement of the public infrastructure bank public-private partnerships (p3s), it is now seeking to reassure Canadians that…
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Last week, the Belgian region of Wallonia ground the signing of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) to an unexpected halt. Although the Walloons have since won some concessions that persuaded them to let Belgium sign CETA (which is now proceeding to the ratification phase), their intervention was,…
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The following remarks are excerpted from the 2016 Alternative Federal Budget press conference, featuring Kate McInturff, David Macdonald and Peter Bleyer (March 10th, Parliament Hill). Budgets may appear to be dry, technical financial documents. In fact budgets are the product of values and they contain some of the most important choices…
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In the final days of the federal election, with the Liberals leapfrogging over the NDP on an ostensibly progressive platform, one question dogged Trudeau to the end: what was his position on the recently completed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement (TPP)? We still don’t quite know the answer, though we may…
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It seems increasingly likely that none of the federal parties will win enough seats on October 19 to form a majority government. Broadly speaking, this leaves two possibilities: a minority or a coalition government. Both options demand cooperation and compromise between our parliamentarians—and both may offer many advantages over a…
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