Québec nage dans les surplus. Le bilan de la dernière année financière nous apprend que pour l’exercice qui s’est terminé au 31 mars, c’est 4,5 G$ en surplus qui se retrouvent dans les coffres du gouvernement. Gérald Fillion, dans un texte publié la semaine dernière, résume bien comment nous en…
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The cost of living keeps going up, but new Statistics Canada data shows that slow earnings growth means pay raises aren’t keeping up with inflation. The latest Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) tells the story of slow earnings growth in Canada. Average weekly Canadian earnings have not changed…
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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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L’IRIS publiait une étude proposant une révolution complète du le système de santé et de services sociaux du Québec. Les médias ont surtout retenu la proposition visant à faire des médecins des salarié·e·s, mais il ne s’agit que d’une des idées dans l’ensemble de celles que nous avons formulées pour…
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The BBC once told the story of Wang Lai Ming, who decided to change his name to Terence King when he emigrated to New Zealand so it would be easier for him to find a job. It was a sad reminder that, in many countries, immigrants have trouble entering the…
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Malgré des mois d’objections et de propositions fondées venues de toutes parts, le gouvernement sera resté inflexible dans sa détermination d’introduire de nouvelles obligations et sanctions à l’aide sociale. L’adoption du projet de loi 70 est chose faite et le programme Objectif emploi deviendra la porte d’entrée pour les premiers…
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Last month, Quebec’s debt reached new record heights. Now standing at over $280 billion, our collective debt (incurred by the government of Quebec) is, as you might have guessed, an ever-increasing burden on our economy and our futures. The debt is increasing, that’s a fact. But is it increasing too rapidly?…
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Since greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles have risen more than 33% since 1990, governments’ failure to take action and promote alternatives comes as quite a surprise. In fact, even if they keep on telling us that they want to solve the problem, their policies are often counterproductive. For instance, even…
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In the eyes of fans of the free market, the fact that Crown corporations are granted exclusivity over certain sectors of the economy comes across as one of the most scandalous of aberrations. For this reason, the idea that the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) should be privatized pops…
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It’s been three years since the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster. It killed 47 people — 49 including two suicides directly related to the tragedy. It left 27 children orphaned. It spilled six million litres of crude oil, poisoning the land and waterways. It destroyed the town centre and traumatized a…
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