Kate came to work with us as a result of a very CCPA mashup of serendipity, optimism, and a leap of faith. But rarely have those ingredients produced such a fantastic result. The stage was set in the midst of a meeting of the Alternative Federal Budget steering committee in…
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Recently, CBC analyzed two years worth of financial statements for seven schools in the Halifax area to determine the degree to which fundraising was playing a part in school finances. The results were instructive, pointing to a significant disparity in the amounts raised between schools. Volunteers at one school—in a…
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As if we needed more evidence of growing workforce precarity, the 2016 census recently pointed to the “broader shift from full-time, full-year employment to part-time, part-year work. Overall, in 2015, less than half of all Canadian workers (49.8%) between the ages of 25 and 54 worked full time, all year.”…
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The recent minimum wage increase in Ontario has underscored business sector fear-mongering and mainstream media’s misreporting of the projected economic impacts. But, interestingly, the increase has received significant public support, according to a survey from Forum Research. And while one would expect those currently earning below $15/hr to be enthusiastic,…
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Apparently, it’s not just prospective homebuyers being priced out of the GTA. How many young families can easily come up with an extra $14,455 a year, on top of other expenses? Why $14,455? That’s the median annual cost of a preschool child care space in Toronto, according to our recent…
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Education data nerds, are you ready? Statistics Canada has released their 2017 tuition fee figures. So, I checked. And guess what? They’ve gone up. Again. Tuition for undergraduate programs for Canadian full-time students was, on average, $6,571 in 2017/2018, up 3.1% from the previous academic year. The average cost for…
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We recently received our first school email of the year – the list of required school supplies. It’s the precursor to the “other” email that parents anticipate with irritation at best and real anxiety at worst. I’m talking about the fundraising email that suggests a sum and, for those who…
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[A] library extends cultural services by providing everyone with an open area which serves as a venue for civil activity and creative ability. Libraries, which deviate from other cultural establishments, cover all fields of art and convey both information and experiences. Libraries do not present limits, rather they expand and…
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It’s no surprise—to anyone with even a modest awareness of the subject—that child care is expensive. But when we released our recent report (A Growing Concern: 2016 child care fees in Canada’s big cities), what did raise some eyebrows was the speed and intensity with which fees have increased over…
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The arguments against the elimination of tuition fees are deeply flawed. More to the point, they’re often hilariously dependant on the complete suspension of reality. For example, we’re asked to believe: Debt is bad for governments but builds character for students. “Public” is the same as “free.” The progressive tax…
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